I'm not sure there is a way to get around their required links without buying a domain, so I don't know how to help you there. As for them being in the middle instead of the top and bottom, that may be a problem with your div size or page wrapper. Can you screencap it for me so I can see what it looks like?
Code:
<html>
<head>
<meta>
<title>Black Liquorice</title>
<meta>
<meta>
<link>
<script> </script>
</head>
<body><DOCTYPE>
<html>
<head>
<title>untitled</title>
<style>
ul#sBar { list-style-type: none; text-align: center; margin: auto; padding: 0px; height: 29px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 728px; background-color: #fff; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; }
#sBar li { list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0; float: left; }
#sBar li img { float: left; border: 0px;}
#sBar li strong span.checkItOut { color:#0000ff; font-size: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline; }
#sBar li strong { float: left; margin: 6px 0px 0px 5px; font-size: 17px; font-family: arial, helvetica; cursor: hand; }
#sBar li.trial { padding: 0px; margin: 0px; float: none;}
#sBar li.trial img { float: right;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center">
<tr>
<td align="center" valign="top">
<ul id="sBar">
<li><a href="http://www.bravenet.com/"><img src="http://assets.bravenet.com/common/images/shell/small_logo.gif"></a><strong><span>Hey Webmasters!</span> <span>New Photo Album Service Launched -</span> <span>Check it out!</span></strong></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" valign="top">
<div align="center">
<script></script><noscript><iframe><img src="http://mercury.bravenet.com/rover/d?dbfile=SPONSORBAR_DB&serv=hosting-sites" alt="" border="0"></iframe></noscript>
<div></div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<script></script>
That's what I have before the HTML in my thing starts on my website's Page Source.
Code:
<div>
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com/webhosting/">Web Hosting</a>
·
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/journal">Blog</a>
·
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/guestbook/" target="_blank">Guestbooks</a>
·
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/forum/" target="_blank">Message Forums</a>
·
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/elist/" target="_blank">Mailing Lists</a><br>
<a href="http://allwebcodesign.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Allwebco Web Templates</a>
·
<a href="http://resources.bravenet.com/bravenet_toolbar" target="_blank">Build your own toolbar</a>
·
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com/c/o.php?id=52376" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Accept Credit Cards</a>
·
<a href="http://resources.bravenet.com" target="_blank">Audio, Fonts, Clipart</a><br>
<a href="http://www.bravenet.com" target="_blank">powered by <img src="http://assets.bravenet.com/bravenet/images/poweredby.gif" border="0" alt="a free webtools company"> bravenet.com</a>
</div><br>
</body>
</html>
</body>
</html>
That's what I have after my footer on my website's Page Source.
I'm by no means HTML savvy, but I'm pretty sure there's an alignment thing in there somewhere that anchors them at the top and the bottom. You might just be missing a closing tag somewhere.
And freewebs stopped being a pain...stupid web hosts. Maybe it heard me threatening it.
Silly webhosts. I actually like bravehost a WHOLE lot better once you get the hang of using it. It's really a breeze after that, all you have to do is tweak a few things here and there.