xmatter

well i tried a bunch of different things and no luck, but i did notice that when i remove the bg color from div=content, then the bg becomes black like the body. So i assume that maybe i may have the div’s misplaced. the container starts before header and ends between get_sidebar and get_footer. This is so the footer is not inside the container.
again, here is the css:

body, html{font:normal 16px verdana, arial, sans-serif; background:black; margin:0px; padding:0px;}
#container{width:950px;margin:10px auto 0px; background-color:#ffffff; }
#header{width:950px; height:140px; background:url(images/header.jpg) top no-repeat;}
#content{width:730px; padding:10px 10px; float:left; border-right:1px solid gray; height:99%;}
#sidebar{float:right; width:179px; padding:10px; background:white; height:99%;}
#footer{clear:both; height:30px; background:url(images/footer.png); width:950px; margin:0 auto;}
#searchbox{float:right; width:210px; margin-top:110px;}

I need both the content (left side) and sidebar (right side) to remain the same size at all times per page, even though some pages are longer than others. I appreciate your help, but nothing seems to work. inside the container is the header, content, and sidebar. The footer is outside the container (not that that matters).
<div container>
<div content>
<div sidebar>
<div close container>
<div footer>

here is the current css again:

body, html{font:normal 16px verdana, arial, sans-serif; background:black; margin:0px; padding:0px;}
#container{width:950px; min-height:400px; height:100%; margin:0 auto; background:white; }
#header{width:950px; height:140px; background:url(images/header.jpg) top no-repeat;}
#content{background:white; width:730px; padding:10px 10px; float:left;}
#sidebar{float:right; min-height:200px; width:179px; padding:10px; background:white; border-left:1px solid gray;}
#footer{clear:both; height:30px; background:url(images/footer.png); width:950px; margin:0 auto;}
#searchbox{float:right; width:210px; margin-top:110px;}

when i add an absolute value (400px) both the container and sidebar go to 400px, but when more is added to the container within the content section, and sidebar stops expanding.

i have added the height:100% after the 950px in the div container. and that did not work!