Table Nesting

Could someone please tell me what table nesting is or give me an example of what it looks like? Is it bad to have nesting tabkles??

Thanks

 

Nested tables are simply tables built completely within another table.

<table>
<tr>
<td>
<table><tr><td>I'm a nested table</td></tr></table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

HTML:

Tables should be used to display tabular data... like spreadsheet data. They should be avoided to use for formatting the layout of a page.

 

Thanks alot for the info. I think I have a few of them. Why would you avoid doing it, what are the consequenses from doing it?

 

too many nested tables can cause formating issues in older browsers, i think netscape is one of them.

other than that they are just a messy way of coding

 

personally i think nested tables are OK, lots of major sites use them.

 

There is a good article over at Wired that talks about using XHTML, CSS, etc versus the old HTML, nested tables way. While the article doesn't spend too much time specifically talking about table-based layouts, it is the bigger picture of what we are talking about there.

Tables were created to display tabular data (spreadsheet data) but people often use them to control layout. That isn't what they were designed for. Always try to use the best tool for the job, and a tool designed to perform that job. You can use a hammer to put a thumbtack into a wall, but eventually you will shatter the plastic head of the thumbtack.

 

I with the group of folks that think tables are ok. Sure, tables were invented to show spreadsheet like data - but that was back in the day when websites were made for geeks and not people.

Ok, so you've got divs now and css layouts. Their good for clean code and many argue better for SEO. But, the fact remains that tables can make any layout work and divs can't. Many web designers use tables, I use tables, it just makes things easier. Until divs can give full control over the layout of web pages then I'm not gonna use them.

And, theirs been tests, tables have been nested dozens of times and it doesn't affect the spiderability of the page. Theirs also been no tests to show that css divs give better serps than tables either.

 

I agree with most everything you said except this. I've yet to come across a layout that couldn't be built with CSS. Browser support for complex layouts using CSS isn't great, but that isn't the fault of the code, it is the fault of the browser (normally IE). Older browsers don't always deal with nested tables well either.

I agree with this, however also keep in mind people using text browsers, screen readers for the disabled, etc. Sites built with nested tables are nearly impossible to navigate for those people. Sites built with CSS based layouts are much easier for them to navigate.

I still occasionally use nested tables as well, but it isn't one of my "best practices".

 

ive been developing websites for a long while using tables and after some research and learning there is no layout i cant build with css/xhtml

 

tables are fine if you are a beginner but divs are more advanced and have more flexibility for adding attributes

 

I make sure all my CSS pages work in IE5.5, among other browsers, and have thus far been successful. IE5.5 was released with WinME. So by your assertion here you should have begun using DIVs/CSS for layout a little over five years ago. At the very least you should begin today.

http://www.glish.com/css/

 

I'm one of the few still using nested tables for my site. Mainly for the appearance. But usually tried not to have more than 3 nested tables in a page. Yes, it's quite a bad coding practice. And too much nested tables will also confuse me when I need to revamp the layout.