I know that in posting this there are people out there who do not agree with me and thats ok, to each their own right? Wrong. Over the past few months as I have transitioned myself from a self-titled king of table layouts to a rookie with CSS layouts. I am often pressed why is it so wrong to use tables, if it looks good and the user doesn’t know the difference why should it matter. I have tried several approaches to answering this question and it is quite valid. If the user is all that matters and a site can be served with a pleasing look and a functional base whats it matter if the layout is done with tables? Makes sense doesn’t it?
Sure on the surface it may look good, it may even function flawlessly, BUT it isn’t made correctly. Tables were original used for layouts because the existance of CSS wasn’t widely accepted by all browsers. Those browsers are now in yesterday’s trash of the past. In comes browsers that follow and render pages that follow the web standards. Tables were originally intended however for tabular data and can now be utilized as such. I was reading my newsfeeds a few days ago and came across an article that articulates 5 reasons to design with standards.
it is possible to develop web pages entirely using standards-compliant CSS, which opens up a new realm of cross-platform compatibility, improved handicap accessibility, printer-friendly pages, and easier-to-update content.
It has also been suggested that using standards inhibits creativity and limits the designer. You have got to be joking. Here are a few sites to look at to dispell that: 9Rules, CSS Zen Garden, CSS Beauty, Style Gala, CSS Reboot, and the list goes on.
Before someone jumps down my throat and posts all sorts of standards nut, table-hater, and stuff like that comments, let me say something. Tables are not dead, and they should not be treated as such. There is still room for tables and there are still times in which tables are called for and are quite prefered when displaying data.
Forward compatability when using CSS is key. If web designers design, code, and serve their pages following some sort of standard it makes updating older sites much easier. Isn’t that what we are after all along anyway, something to make our jobs easier in the long run?
Till then… Stay Focused.
January 10th, 2006 at 1:06 am
Well said.
I was just evaluating a site today that was made with tables, and the idea of doing any kind of modification to it made me cringe.
It is difficult sometimes to convince people that there is a better way to make web pages. But I think once you can let go of the old way of doing things and get the hang of CSS, you won’t want to go back. Sure CSS is far from ideal, but it is a huge step up from the old way of layout with tables.
January 10th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Ryan - I have to agree. I cringed at the thought of dropping my tables, especially after my first CSS site attempt bombed badly and I needed so much help. Yet just a few months later and a table-less journey, I can do most of the CSS myself w/o help. As you said once you get a taste of it you wont go back.
January 10th, 2006 at 11:33 am
So how about a tutorial of some sort for doing designs without tables? Yeah so it might be possible but there are times when I have trouble making a design look the way I want. For instance, what if I want to have 9 photos in rows of 3, with some photos being larger than others?
January 10th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I feel as if I was responsible for this posting =P. James is helping me to create a tableless layout for my website (Nephesh Studios) which I am releasing sometime in the next two weeks.
But I’m not posting to advertise (though that is always a side goal ~_^ ) I am posting to answer your question Tim =).
Try cracking apart some websites that have been made in CSS. The neat thing about CSS is that it is almost as easy to backwards engineer as it is to write in the first place. All you need to do is grab the linked CSS document from the webpage and then trace the IDs and Classes.
If you don’t know how that all operates, here is one of a million quick starts to learning about it: http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/csslayout.html.
God Bless,
-Dan
January 10th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Tim- I may just work up a tutorial for doing a design without tables (for another one of my new sites, that will be tutorial geared - stay tuned for more info). And I just ran across a forum post that covers your concern. Let me dig it up and send it over to you.
Dan- Although you are not soley responsible for this topic, it has come up more times than I can count this week. In addition to reading the article at Godbit and countless others, I felt it was about time to address it.
January 10th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Tim - Dan Cederholm has a great book called Bulletproof Web Design that is basic enough to help you get started and solid enough to give you some great CSS techniques.
January 11th, 2006 at 10:02 am
Ryan - That book is pretty good. I also have some good CSS links that may help. One in particular I will be blogging about soon.