CSS vs Tables
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- vena
in light of an effort to separate praising the awesome cuban council site and a potentially nasty debate:
which is correct, which is better, why, and for who?
do standards dictate what is correct, or does kowtowing to obsolete browsers?
- ximeraLabs0
Both serve their purpose.
saying that one or the other is "wrong" is ignorant towards the evolution of webdesign and its technology. Yes, css are the preferred way to separate design/structure from content; yet tables were (and still are) a sure fire way to build a solid site that is functional on a variety of platforms. As the technology/standards and public usage are today, i'd say a responsible and thoughtfull mix of the 2 will be a good solution.my 2 cents.
- doveink0
we used both css and tables on our site at work http://www.enginedigital.com . we hoped to have it all done in css but we had issues with aligning certain things.
css = fun, but so is my transparent pixel.gif
- MrDinky0
i agree
(i am too lazy)
- kpl0
same here.
- 4cY0
lol, dinky.
I think we are in a too early stage for serious XHTML/CSS(2) practice. A debate is good tho.
Tables do have their less shiny qualities, and as soon as CSS/divs will be somewhat more sophisticated I do advice to get rid of tables...but that is a long story I explained in a thread now gone..
Anyway, I might explain more later.
But mark my words:
XHTML/CSS (using div's) is the future!
- lifeinsodium0
*marks 4CY's words*
- schjetne0
I still use tables for layout purposes, mainly because it works very well with what I do, and I've had some problems using css for layout in the past, so I have decided to put that on the shelf for a while.
But if you guys say css is the way to go right now, I'll probably look more into it. I use css for all text formatting and stuff, though.
I DO agree with Vena, but I just haven't felt secure enough to throw away all my table habits yet.
Like this: I KNOW it's dangerous to smoke, but I like it, and I don't feel ready to quit quite yet.
- abizzyman0
I'm EXTREMELY new to the web... and lack alot of knowledge-- but I'm all for advancement...
any good sites for me to goto to get better aquainted w/xhtml and css?
I use some css for body and link formatting... that's all... I didn't even know you could format a page w/out tables -- what does that tell you about me? ;)
Links to sites that correctly use xhtml would be nice... along with a solid resource(s) page.
I want to be a part of the debate!
- 4cY0
- unfittoprint0
who cares, i use flash.
no really. CSS gives you more control.
And more code.
use Tables.
damn. use Flash.
- 4cY0
- MrDinky0
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmon…
not the best source but easy to understand for beginers
- mrdobolina0
imageready uses tables.
I use imageready at work all the time. I've used css for body and link treatments but... I use imageready at work. when I have to bump out a section to a site by the time I leave, Im using tables. My boss uses Netscape 4.75 on his laptop. lots o reasons to just use tables.
- jevad0
FINALLY!
A fucking decent debate thred on NT!
WHOO-HOO!
I'm gonna go get a beer!
- MrDinky0
i also agree about the beer
- abizzyman0
beer
- 4cY0
grrr....jevad...look what you have done to a serious design thread.
pass me a beer too, btw.
- kpl0
beer sucks.
- jevad0
It's a really tough call, and most of the time it relies on how flexible and open to learning your client(s) is(are).
For example, when we were redoing http://www.ubinetics.com, the client had said they wanted it working for IE4 and NN4.7 up. We thought about it, and decided to sit them down one meeting and talk to them about standards.
They are, after all, a company at the forefront of new technology, so why not have a website to complement that.
They were very receptive to the idea, and as such, that website is strict standards compliant. Users with a non-standards compliant browser are redirected to an explanation page where there are links to upgrade your browsers, and a link to webstandards.rg, as an explanation to why their browser needs to be upgraded.
Conversley, when I am doing a small knock-off site for a small company or client - I don't use CSS to layout the pages. I use tables and our old friend mr 1px gif. Part of it is down to lazyness, the other part is down to not wanting to explain to them WHY it isn;t working in their browser properly, or rather, getting tired of TRYING to explain to them. But I do try....
- jevad0
WTF?! forget what I said about http://www.ubinetics.com - someone has been fuckign with it because when I coded the fucker over the autumn that was all divs!! GRAHAHAHA
HULK MAAAADDD!
http://www.fireflyrecordings.com… is gonna be standards compliant when I get round to finishing it....