What's So Cool About Tableless CSS?

I posted a poll below because I have wondered about using tableless CSS.

Personally, after trying it I think it is overcomplicated and hard to make work well...but maybe someone has good arguements for it?

let me know!

 

OK well first of all I agree that it is complicated to code.. but so is trying to fix your HTML table so it looks good both on FF and IE. When you use HTML tables the width properties are sometimes completely different on FF and IE.. which makes it difficult for positioning your layout..

With CSS, the width appears the same width on FF and IE. This is the safest route to go. You want your site to look good both in FF and IE.. not "broken"

 

This phrase was actually referring to tables, wasn't it..

My vote in the poll should be somewhere between "Q waste of time. tried it but would rather use html tables" and "It rocks! Highly recommend it. Huge timesaver and or improves design."

It takes time to study and get experienced with. But once you can handle it well (that includes being versed at finding workarounds to endless display issues with a CSS design because of cross browser support differences) it simply rocks.

 

I just think it's cool and it looks cleaner in the code.

But really though, it isn't necessarily that complicated to do, the complication comes in when you try to make it work the same for all browsers. FireFox and Opera seem to do it the same or very a like, whilst Internet Explorer seems to add pixels here and there and doesn't like some containers with floats.

The complication is mainly just the hacks or work-arounds to get it to work the same in all browsers, as making it work for just say only FireFox is really easy compared to making it work for all.

And also, there is the whole table-less is faster (and less bw usage) because it takes the browsers extra time to render the tables, or something like that.

 

Tableless CSS is Search engine friendly as the HTML code is less. I've designed 6 or 7 tableless designs. Most of my designs have a left side navigation menu. So in my opinion its best to use one table and for the rest use div and pure css.

 

Tableless layouts aren't that hard to make once you get familiar with CSS. A lot of attributes needed to make tables look right in various browsers winds up making your html code invalid, which can lead to more problems.

Tables should be used for content purposes, not to make the layout.

 

Isn't one of the main benefits of doing it CSS that you're more likely to keep your font sizing constant, in spite of users changing it in their browsers?

And regarding IE and FF, absolutely. I always check my pages out carefully in both.

 

it loads fast and the code looks cleaner. the design usually looks clean aswell.

 

CSS has way more benefits than that. For one, it sets a style throughout your entire website which can easily be edited from one page. So if you have a 100 page site and you want to change the color of a link on EVERY page, you can do that in one line of code with css.

Layouts also become a completely different world when you start using CSS. There are way more options when using divs and different positioning techniques.

There are also rollover effects that can be achieved using css.

There is just so much more you can do with css than using stuff like <font> and what not through out your html.

 

Pro: loading time, flexible design, time saver, more beautiful, cross browser reference, easier and so much more.. CSS Is the bomb!

Check this http://www.csszengarden.com/ for the ultimate examples.

 

That is so true !

If only every saw it that way. I always hated seeing the sites with tables nested basically millions of times, or tables used for a little box that'll appear in the center of the page, whilst a little bit of css and a div could do it all...

 

CSS simply divides presentation and data, hence we see a cleaner source code.

I struggled a lot with CSS initially. But once I got the hang of it, I found it tough doing the tables now. CSS simply rocks. I wonder what is installed in CSS3. Wish they bring in logical selectors.. if, else and loops.

 

I have recently started using divs instead of tables and I can't rly say it's a timesaver. But believe me, it's way more fun to code with divs and css then tables.
Once you get the hang of CSS (which isn't too hard) you'll notice.

 

hmmm interesting.

I love css for styling text and tables and backgrounds but actually don't make the blocks out of it. anyone know of great resources on it?

also, if it works in FF and IE 5+ then do you assume it is good to go?

thanks

 

I like CSS because 1. it cuts out a lot of html that you don't need when doing a table layout and 2. you can make some really cool dropdowns/flyouts using lists rather than javascript (which is a huge benefit in itself)

 

do you have any infor on dropdowns/flyouts with css?

 

Here, maybe this is what your looking for:

http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menus/dropdownfun.html

 

Hell yes.

So much less code!