[SOLVED] Building a website with tables

thewebkid · October 23rd, 2007, 02:04 PM

I am still a beginner at this, so my technique has always been using tables to layout a website. Is that wise?

View this site that I built

http://theyout_atwolm.bravehost.com

karinne · October 23rd, 2007, 02:23 PM

No ... Using tables for layout was the preferred method when browser support for CSS was nowhere to be seen. Granted, IE6 support is not that great and there are still quite a few properties that would make our life easy that still aren't supported even by Firefox but ... it's alot better, faster loading and SEO friendly to use CSS

See this thread - Resources for learning how to use CSS for layout - for all your questions on layouts.

alexgeek · October 23rd, 2007, 02:24 PM

Link is not loading.
But absolutely no! Tables are for data.
Learn to handcode via the stickies in the CSS forum.
Good luck!

Edit - Beat me K

AdRock · October 23rd, 2007, 03:43 PM

CSS is the way to go as you have more flexibility of where you position your content.

Tables shoud be used for tabular data only.

prizm · October 23rd, 2007, 05:18 PM

I too learned using tables and I'm still switching things over with CSS properties. You do need to make sure to test in IE 6 & 7 and FF. They do render things differently. I have the most problems with IE6 supporting things as well.

alexgeek · October 23rd, 2007, 05:22 PM

Prizm, everyone has problems in IE6.
And to top it all off, it's still one of (if not) the most widely used browsers.

thewebkid · October 23rd, 2007, 06:30 PM

Sorry the link had a typo http://theyouth_atwolm.bravehost.com
I know the one thing I encountered was the slow load up in IE7.
Unortuanetly I have just started learning css, and I know diddly squat.

alexgeek · October 23rd, 2007, 06:37 PM

It would be best for you now to scrap it and start again in CSS.
Check the CSS forum for some great tutorials aswell as the newsletter (in my sig) that has many tips, tricks, tutorials and articles to do with CSS and such!
Good luck.

thewebkid · October 24th, 2007, 09:23 AM

cool thanks

mickaldinho · October 24th, 2007, 04:00 PM

Thanks i have used tables for a long time now but i think i will look into CSS...again thanks for the tip guys...

thewebkid · October 25th, 2007, 01:31 AM

Solved????? Is CSS the only solution? Should I also incorporate java and maybe some multimedia as well?

AdRock · October 25th, 2007, 04:15 AM

I wouldn't worry about Java too much as you need to compile it etc and unless you know how to use Java it's a pain in the rear end (i got to use it at uni)

You could use some JavaScript if you wanted to and I would recommend using some php (if you can) for form processing etc

alexgeek · October 25th, 2007, 04:19 AM

Try PHP first, it allows you to do some great things.
Also, if you learn PHP first you won't be tempted to use frames because you will already know about includes!
After that you can learn Javascript to enhance the users experience on your sites.
Good luck!

thewebkid · October 25th, 2007, 09:21 AM

Thank you very much.