Tables

• Tables allow web designers to place data into rows and columns of cells.

• Organizing Content

• • Tables are most often used to organize data on a web page. As with spreadsheets, tables allow you to arrange data into rows and columns of cells. Any sort of data can be placed in the table -- even other tables.

• Page Layout

• • Creative web page designers often use tables for page layout. By hiding the border of the table, the cells can hold elements of the page and place them more precisely on the page. This method allows for more creativity and control by the author.
  • The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an organization dedicated to providing guidance and structure to the Internet. In 2002, the W3C recommended that web designers stop using tables to control page layout, and to instead use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). As web browsers are becoming more compliant with CSS, the need for using tables as a page layout tool is fast becoming an obsolete method. That said, not all browsers properly display CSS. So, for the time being, it is still prudent to learn (and use) page layout techniques using tables.