Firefox can't handle absolute positioning within 'display:table-cell'?

Question

I needed two columns of equal height, so used display:table. So far so good.

I then needed links to line up at the base of the table-cells, so went for absolute positioning.

Looks perfect, except in Firefox where the links aren't constrained by the 'position: relative' table-cells. Is there a way to fool Firefox into displaying this correctly?

Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/andy_lamb/C7qpX/

HTML:

<div id="equal_cols">
    <div class="largeleft">
        <img style="padding: 5px; margin: 10px; float: right; border: 1px solid #ccc;" src="images/some_img.jpg" width="205" height="126" alt="image" />
        <h2>Heading</h2>
        <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque mattis auctor metus, sit amet sollicitudin elit imperdiet sit amet.</p>
        <div class="alignlink"><a class="greybg" href="#">Read more</a></div>
    </div>
    <div class="col10px"></div>
    <div class="smallright">
        <h2>Heading</h2>
        <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque mattis auctor metus, sit amet sollicitudin elit imperdiet sit amet. Nunc laoreet leo nec sem porta scelerisque. In vestibulum fermentum metus, mattis placerat orci ornare quis. Maecenas vitae accumsan tellus.</p>
        <div class="alignlink"><a class="greybg" href="#">Read more</a></div>
    </div>
</div>

CSS:

a.greybg {
    padding: 3px;
    background: #464646;
    color: #ffffff;
}
p {
    padding: 10px 20px;
    margin: 0;
    font-size: 0.875em;
}
div.alignlink {
    position: absolute;
    bottom: 10px;
    right: 10px;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}
.equal_cols {
    display: table;
    width: 798px;
}
.largeleft {
    display: table-cell;
    width: 500px;
    border: 1px solid #ccc;
    position: relative;
    padding: 0 0 30px 0; /*ensures enough room for absoutely positioned .greybg link*/
}
.col10px {
    display: table-cell;
    position: relative;
    width: 10px;
}
.smallright {
    display: table-cell;
    width: 288px;
    border: 1px solid #ccc;
    position: relative;
    padding: 0 0 30px 0; /*ensures enough room for absoutely positioned .greybg link*/
}

Other than creating an HTML table, I can't think of a way around it. This must be possible with CSS...

Answer 1

By adding an extra inner wrapper and using some JS you can achieve this: http://jsfiddle.net/David_Knowles/wyTga/

//  This clean plugin layout provieds typical jQuery syntax such as $("element").plugin() or $.plugin("element")
(function($) {
    if (!$.equalHeights) {  //  checks to make sure this namespace is not already used in jQuery object (its not!)
        $.extend({  //  allows you to add methods to jQuery Object to be called, such as $.ajax
            equalHeights: function(elm) {   //  our function to be added
                //  the following simply checks to see if a jQuery Object is being passed in, or an element tag name/id/class
                if (typeof elm === "string") elm = $(elm);  //  now convert possible string to object
                //  the following maps all of our elements passed in and returns an array of their heights,
                //  then by using the math max method, we grab the biggest one
                var maxHeight = Math.max.apply(null, $(".inner").map(function () { return $(this).height(); }).get());
                //  the following maintains with jQuery's "chainability"
                return elm.each(function(index){ $(this).height(maxHeight); });
            }
        });
        $.fn.extend({   //  here we add element object methods, such as $("element").toggle
            equalHeights: function() {
                //  simply return our already made function, maintaining chainability
                return $.equalHeights($(this));
            }
        });
    }
})(jQuery);

$(function(){ 
    $(".inner").equalHeights();
    //  force resize on window height change if needed
    $(window).resize(function(e) { $(".inner").equalHeights(); });
});