Webmaster Tips for Using Tables

Posted by David | Filed under Web Design Tips

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Using tables is probably something every webmaster has to do from time to time, they are an important way of getting across a large amount of data, in a way that is useful to viewers. They can be used both to compare and list data. Despite what you may hear about using  tables online in this context they are not bad because they serve a useful purpose and if made correctly will not impede your search engine listings or anything.

Creating tables is quite a time consuming process, even with a HTML editor available like SharePoint they still takes time. It’s important that when you create data tables they look neat, and similar in all browsers and the main screen resolutions, and for this reason it can be difficult to create universally good looking practical tables.

Key things to remember when creating a table, is to make sure it is easy to read, does not contain too much data, fits neatly on the page and has good cell padding and spacing. You do not want to overwhelm your users with too much information. It’s a good idea to set the width of a table to 100%, this way they will take up as much space as they need to fit in all the content they contain.

A good way to make your table look pleasant for your web users is to style with CSS. This can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be depending on how you want your table to look. The advantages of styling with CSS means that you can tailor to all your tables individualy, they do not all have to be clones of each other, you can also use CSS to change the styling of one side of column of a table different to another!

There are some good websites out there that show you step by step how to produce some fantastic looking tables include Veerle’s Blog (easier for beginners) and Smashing Magazine . Also of interest is the Sessions.edu Colour calculator so you can find out what HTML colours you are after and what their contrasting colours are. One good tip I would give is to try not to copy and paste their tutorials into your website, you won’t learn anything that way! Try create your own CSS table using the tutorials as guidelines.

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Permalink | Comments (0) | Saturday, 16th Aug 2008

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