Tables V CSS

Hi,

Im just about to undertake a new project and wondered if I should use tables for my layout or go completely table free using CSS?

Whats everyones opinions on this?

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You mean xhtml? Is it possible to avoid tables with css and how can you do that?

Yeah, apparantly - although I have never done it before - you can create your site completely table free using CSS to position all your content and navigation.

Yeah it can be done - although im no expert in CSS and struggle to get everything spot on using just CSS. However i have seen some great examples of table-less designs over at www.oswd.org . Its an open source template site and has loads of nice decent templates that are completely table free, ok they are not spectacular looking but you can get an idea of what you can do

Yeah it can be done - although im no expert in CSS and struggle to get everything spot on using just CSS. However i have seen some great examples of table-less designs over at www.oswd.org . Its an open source template site and has loads of nice decent templates that are completely table free, ok they are not spectacular looking but you can get an idea of what you can do

there some pretty nice designs there when you think that they are all done with CSS! I would really like to go this route - however I have heard rumours that it doesnt make for a SEO friendly site. Has anyone got any knowldege on this?

No. CSS is ok with search engines. And actually a lot of people using css to optimize their sites.

For example you can use the h1 tag (which is very common used for SEO) and optimize it to be smaller than it usual is :

Code:

h1
{
     font-size:9px;
     font-weight:regular;
}

[<style type="text/css">#div1{position:absolute;left: 30px;top: 20px;}</style>]

I'm working a site for my self that has no tables and uses CSS. You may want to look at it:
http://www.perosnal.saskwebs.com

Its all positioned.

You would use something like this:

<style type="text/css">

#div1
{
position:absolute;
left: 30px;
top: 20px;
}
</style>


Then in the html/xhtml you would put:
<div id="div1">
This div is postioned 20 pixels from the top of the page and 30 pixels from the right.
</div>

I do table-less XHTML/CSS coding for clients, so yes it is possible!

The important thing when coding table-less layouts though, is making sure your layout is cross-browser/platform compaitible. That's the difficulty in CSS, not just coding it table-less, because of rendering differences in browsers. There are still a large number of internet users using IE5.5, and a page that looks good on IE6 may not look so hot in 5.5.

I'd still say go for CSS over tables - loads faster and its great for SEO.

No. CSS is ok with search engines. And actually a lot of people using css to optimize their sites.

For example you can use the h1 tag (which is very common used for SEO) and optimize it to be smaller than it usual is :

Code:

h1
{
     font-size:9px;
     font-weight:regular;
}

Can I  just ask - what would be the benefit of making it smaller? Are you talking about just an asthetics view or something else?

I was talking about asthetic

XHTML is okay, I prefer tables.

Go for tabless css/xhtml. It avoids most of the IE bugs, and it's much more search engine friendly. Not to mention the page loads quciker and it's easier to edit.

CSS is much better. In the future I don't think anyone will use tables for layout anymore. Check out this website for more information on CSS design and start learning!
http://www.csszengarden.com

It is amazing what you can do with css. All of the designs on this page use the same xhtml code, the only thing that is changed is the CSS and the images.

That's a very nice resource Adrevel.

Thanks for sharing

I'm afraid I'm still guilty of keeping sites with tables - it's an old habit that I couldn't get rid of until now!  This means that I now have to go back and redesign my old sites using CSS.  I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I like doing it   I'm actually excited

I'm afraid I'm still guilty of keeping sites with tables - it's an old habit that I couldn't get rid of until now! This means that I now have to go back and redesign my old sites using CSS. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I like doing it I'm actually excited

And you will be more excited when you see your sites loading faster

I'm still trying to convert into a CSS coder I'm finding it difficult to learn, I don't know why. It is just so much different than coding with tables.

You

I'm still trying to convert into a CSS coder I'm finding it difficult to learn, I don't know why. It is just so much different than coding with tables.

You just need some experience with CSS. Think how difficult it was to code with tables when you was at the beginning

This CSS stuff looks interesting, maybe I should start coding with it.

[SEO Voter]

I say use css all the way! I use it instead of tables these days cause it is better for control of the site and SE friendly! The last site I did was all css and it got PR6 with google in 6 weeks! If you are interested - www.liezelscause.com

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