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 Page layout designing is one of the main stages of website development process. There are two main kinds of website layout: table-based layout and div-based layout (tableless layout). Today div-based layout of web pages (layout based on block-level elements) has practically supplanted traditional table-based layout. But has table-based layout really become a ghost of the past?
Table-based layout is a kind of website layout that consists in the use of HTML tables for page layout; to put it simply, each element of a web page is a cell of a table. The structure of a table may be various. For example, each cell may contain a one more table (the so-called nesting tables).
Table-based layout of web pages had been popular for a long time up to the moment when CSS stylesheets emerged and started developing. Even now many web developers continue using HTML tables because they are easy to cope with, stable and secure.
To the advantages of the use of table-based layout we should refer the availability of a big number of parameters which make it much easier to arrange elements on web pages. A table is used as a kind of a modular grid which helps to arrange text paragraphs and images in the best possible way.
The use of tables is practically the best solution for the so-called fixed-width website layout. Using HTML tables you can easily set fixed width and height for every element, and the arrangement of the page elements will remain unchanged irrespective of the display resolution and the size of the browser window. Tables may also be useful for flexible website layout, as you can set the width of the table cells not only in absolute values (pixels) but also in the relative ones (per cent).
Therefore though table-based layout of web pages is much less popular today than div-based website layout it can nevertheless be used during development of modern websites. For example, it is logical to use table-based layout if you need to obtain several columns with equal height or “bind” the footer of the site to the lower border of the browser window.
The best solution is competent combination of div-based and table-based layout – the so-called combined page layout. Combined website layout blends together the best features of both kinds of page layout. The necessity of the use of tables or layers in page layout is conditioned solely by the appropriateness criterion.
Different browsers and even different versions of one and the same browser may interpret one and the same element of the page layout in different ways. Therefore achievement of completely identical website layout in different browsers is the task of cross-browser web layout. Cross-browser compatibility is achieved due to using “use-proven” layout elements, eschewing to use “dangerous” (i.e. not supported by certain browsers) elements, writing special directives (hacks) for some browsers and inserting them into the source code of the page.
Website layout coding is performed by professional web developers. Their tasks include not only creation of correctly functioning web pages but also observance of the “purity” of the source code, provision of the further convenient work with the code.
Website layout coding is a very important stage of website development but it is not the only one. First of all professional web designers of WebStudio2U develop design drafts and prepare graphic materials. Then our web developers perform web design template coding. Our web studio guarantees high-quality page layout coding that meets all modern standards. You can submit a request for professional website development right now!
TAGS
table-based layout,
div-based layout,
website layout,
web layout,
page layout,
website development,
web development |
web programming 
