• Table
  Constructs
  • 1st
  • 2nd
  • 3d
• Frame
  Constructs
• CSS

http://polaris.umuc.edu/~flazarus/

The Art of Web Page Design: Constructs

When setting up a page a decision is needed, which of three formats to use, CSS, Frames, or Tables? There is also scripts to consider. Note that these constructs are not mutually exclusive. This particular page however uses tables almost exclusively. Though a bit of JavaScript and CSS has crept in.

Tables

With Tables you have exquisite control of the format. This format control is not necessarily easily achieved however. On the index to the left, under Table Constructs, you will find illustrated the steps used to create this page. In addition an extensive tutorial on tables can be found at the WebReference site.

Frames

Frames are quite useful when you need to control the look and feel of the page but have independent content providers. I use frames extensively on this site to be compatible with the format used by UMUC for their official site. That where these pages end up after passing through the hands of an editor and others. Clicking on Frame Constructs on the index to the left will take you to additional material on frames.

CSS

With CSS you also get excellent control of the page format. In addition, uniformity among pages can more easily be achieved. Unfortunately only the beginnings of support for CSS is to be found in current browsers. Checkout some CSS formatted pages by clicking CSS on the index to the left.