Issues with Tables and others

[darknightelor]

Hello all!For those who remember me, I asked here a lot of questions regarding frames.But now I switched for tables, thus I have new questions:-Is it possible to make a link open in just a cell in the table? I mean, I tried doing it with id=" " But no good. In frames, the link can be opened in one of the frames you choose, but in the table, since all the cells are at one html and not independent, I can't seem able to do it. Another question, in general, what's better: Frames or Tables (gotta choose one of them, if possible: explain why)?And, do you know of ways to make to page to be loaded faster. Because using a timer function, I noticed both in Frames and Tables to loading time is kinda long (about 150 thousands of a second)?Thank you!

[jlhaslip]

Tables are 'better' than Frames, but the best method is to develop a CSS/html site without using Frames or Tables for its page structure.As for having a link open inside a table cell, no, I think you would need a script for that, possibly javascript.

[jeffman]

You cannot open a link inside a cell. A document must go into a window or a window object. The only thing that is a window object (without being a window) is a frame.The alternative is AJAX. Have we discussed this before? It's really worth it to learn AJAX if you want to do this kind of thing a lot. With AJAX, you can get the text of a document sent to your page and put that into your cell. The advantage is that it can be just a document fragment, or even a few words with no extra markup. Downloading a whole page means you need all the html, head, title, etc information, so that slows down the transfer. With AJAX you can grab exactly as much as you really need.You can Google page optimization to learn about faster downloads. The first lesson is always about images. You can fit a lot of HTML into 1K. But if you're not careful, even a small image can fill 50K or more. Optimizing your images helps a lot. It's always the place to start.

[darknightelor]

ables are 'better' than Frames, but the best method is to develop a CSS/html site without using Frames or Tables for its page structure.

But how exactly can I manage a site like that in CSS? I mean, in CSS the function of 'Table' is just to design the inner table of the html. I mean, look at W3Schools homepage, it's built from tables. I thought at first they open every link in the middle cell, but it seems it opens in a new page with same structure.______________________________________________________

he alternative is AJAX. Have we discussed this before? It's really worth it to learn AJAX if you want to do this kind of thing a lot. With AJAX, you can get the text of a document sent to your page and put that into your cell. The advantage is that it can be just a document fragment, or even a few words with no extra markup. Downloading a whole page means you need all the html, head, title, etc information, so that slows down the transfer. With AJAX you can grab exactly as much as you really need.

AJAX is complicated, isn't it? And is it free at all? I thought it was based on server side and not costumer? I want something pretty and simple for my site, yet clever. ______________________________________________________Another question:How do I edit the Background Image of the cell? I entered a image as bacground, but I want it to be as the exact size of the cell.Or, is it possible to make it possible to write OVER a image (a regualr one), which means the image will be like a background.Thank you.

[jeffman]

AJAX seems complicated, but on the javascript side you really need just 3 basic functions to get it working, and they are so generic that everyone's code looks almost the same. Google it.On the server side, you need access to a scripting language. Most of the regulars on this board use PHP, so you can get plenty of help here. There is also good help for ASP scripting, which is a good choice if you already know visual basic.Basically all sites you pay for come with scripting built in. But so do most free sites now. It used to be a big deal, but now it's not. To be competitive, the sites keep offering more and more features, more storage and bandwidth, etc.

[darknightelor]

Alright. What about the other two questions: 1.But how exactly can I manage a site like that in CSS? I mean, in CSS the function of 'Table' is just to design the inner table of the html. I mean, look at W3Schools homepage, it's built from tables. I thought at first they open every link in the middle cell, but it seems it opens in a new page with same structure.2.How do I edit the Background Image of the cell? I entered a image as bacground, but I want it to be as the exact size of the cell.Or, is it possible to make it possible to write OVER a image (a regualr one), which means the image will be like a background.Thanks in advance for every shred of help you can supply.

[jeffman]

1.But how exactly can I manage a site like that in CSS? I mean, in CSS the function of 'Table' is just to design the inner table of the html. I mean, look at W3Schools homepage, it's built from tables. I thought at first they open every link in the middle cell, but it seems it opens in a new page with same structure.

A site such as you are describing is too dynamic for CSS alone. CSS wouldn't even be dynamic if it weren't for the :hover and related pseudo-classes. What they do is important, but very limited.As to the use of tables, please disregard their use at W3Schools. 10 years ago, designers used tables for layout, but those days have passed. NEW sites use modern methods that focus on CSS and divs for layout. Tables are best reserved for material that needs to be organized like a chessboard.

2.How do I edit the Background Image of the cell? I entered a image as bacground, but I want it to be as the exact size of the cell.

If you really mean "edit," then you're talking about using software like Photoshop? Otherwise, CSS gives you plenty of options for positioning and repeating background images. By adjusting the height and width attributes, you can stretch or shrink an image to any size. But it's not a true "resizing" in the way an image editor uses sophisticated algorithms to resize, so results can be iffy.

Or, is it possible to make it possible to write OVER a image (a regualr one), which means the image will be like a background.

You *can* put content over other content if you manipulate the position property of your container elements. But for what you're describing, I think you'd do best sticking to background images.

[Synook]

As a note, you don't actually need a server-side language to use AJAX, it is just part of the common implementation. Rather, you could use XML, CSV, or even JSON-formatted files to store your AJAXed data.