Tables have always been popular for simplifying the layout of information on web pages. Style sheets, however, are replacing the idea of a tabulated format. Tables are still popular, though, as they present a very popular layout for design-friendly interfaces. So the need for some kind of combination between plain table tags and styles has arisen.
Learn to Use HTML Tables and DIV tags Quickly (Page 1 of 4 )
Introduction
Content is easily readable in a tabular form. Most web sites that use tables are seen to be very smooth in appearance. For those who want to know a little more about tables and how they can be complemented by <STYLE> and <DIV> tags to quickly create a web page, here goes.
First, let me give you a little overview of table usage that is still popular among designers today with or without the use of style sheets. The main reason for this is spacing. Composition is always a problem among novice designers and can be hard on the eye if not corrected.
<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>row 2, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>
This is a typical example of a 2x2 table, rows by columns. The tables themselves can become as complex as the coder requires. Tabulated sheets can become quite intricate using tables alone.
Here is an example of the above table with no border:
<html>
<body>
<h4>This table has no borders:</h4>
<table>
<tr>
<td>100</td>
<td>200</td>
<td>300</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>400</td>
<td>500</td>
<td>600</td>
</tr>
</table>
</html>
The spacing in the table cells can be padded out as required, if we insert the line - border="1" cellpadding="10" - into the <TABLE> tag like this:
<table border="1" cellpadding="10" >
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>row 2, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>
The cellpadding element can be customized according to your needs. What normally happens is once the table has been designed like this into a tabular form, those cells can begin to take shape. Look at this simple table web site plan for example. With the style sheets to one side, there is left-right design here with data in the center and down the right. Here is a standard table with 3 rows and 3 columns:
LOGO
HERE
BANNER ADVERTISING COMPANY SERVICES THROUGH AN ANIMATED GIF OR FLASH HEADER
DATE
MENU ITEMS
CONTENT
here is the code for this 3x3 table:
<table border="1" cellpadding="10" >
<tr>
<td> LOGO HERE </td>
<td> BANNER ADVERTISING COMPANY SERVICES THROUGH AN ANIMATED GIF OR FLASH HEADER </td>
<td>DATE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>MENU ITEMS</td>
<td>CONTENT</td>
<td>ADS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>OTHER MENU ITEMS</td>
<td>CONTENT</td>
<td>ADS</td>
</tr>
</table>
ADS
OTHER MENU ITEMS
CONTENT
ADS
This is a pretty generic view but illustrates how important table design is for composition of web page elements. It can be made to be much more intricate but this shows how a table is used to design a web page. It is shows how the placement of images, menus and content can be planned.
Cell spacing can add some nice composition to the page. It will increase the spacing between each cell. Here are the cells spaced out using the above code:
<table border="1" cellspacing="10">
<tr>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>
If no border is required, simply change the border=1 to border="0". Tables allow for smooth composition results.
In the next section I will give you some tips on using tables.
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