Web Design questions

[David Abernathy]

I am just starting to build a new site. I have purchased templates in the past and then modified them to suit my goals. My skill set has never really included graphic design

SO here are a couple questions that I would appreciate feedback as I embark on building the new site.

1) I have used tables with several of the sites that I have built in the past. I think I remember reading, hearing that tables is not the best solution for having columns of information? Is this correct? Tables are simple so unless there is a material impact - I may use them anyway - Any thoughts?

2) I have been using templates from All web co. Are there other templates that use .css and have good clean designs?

3) Link building - (I will probably start a new thread of read the existing ones) Google talks about the authorative sites and the speed of building links - any other threads - I should be reviewing on that topic?

Thanks

[frobn]

I am just starting to build a new site. I have purchased templates in the past and then modified them to suit my goals. My skill set has never really included graphic design

SO here are a couple questions that I would appreciate feedback as I embark on building the new site.

1) I have used tables with several of the sites that I have built in the past. I think I remember reading, hearing that tables is not the best solution for having columns of information? Is this correct? Tables are simple so unless there is a material impact - I may use them anyway - Any thoughts?

2) I have been using templates from All web co. Are there other templates that use .css and have good clean designs?

3) Link building - (I will probably start a new thread of read the existing ones) Google talks about the authorative sites and the speed of building links - any other threads - I should be reviewing on that topic?

Thanks

A lot depends on what you want to accomplish. True: tables are easy to use for design purposes. Problem: tables were never meant to be used for design purposes, they were meant for tabular data such as train schedules. In the early days of the web we did not have the tools for layout and tables were adopted as a stopgap solution. Today we have web standards, i.e css and xhtml. Because of the difficult learning curve for standards, tables for design still persist but this is changing in favor of standards compliant design. Tableless, css/xhtml sites are user and search engine friendly, cross browser compatible and can be used on with a broader range of web devices, i.e. PDAs and cell phones. Will using tables have an impact on your site? Probably not at present, even though non-table compliant sites are easier for SEs to spider there is only a slight edge. This will increase over time as non-browser web devices become prevalent.

Templates that have css style sheets will reduce html to content overhead so you are smart to use them. If you have the patience and time to learn css/xhtml coding you will be ahead of the game.

For more SEO tips try http://www.national-real-estate-dire...-estate-forum/

[CafeMonkey]

Yeah, I tried to go totally CSS, but there were browser incompatibilities, and it was difficult to use.

I'm a big fan of CSS Zen Garden, and the other artsy CSS sites, but I just never got the hang of it. Plus, CMS's haven't caught on, so you'd have table data inside a CSS template... Doesn't make it worth the effort.

As far as getting templates done? I used to get mine from boxedart.com or monstertemplate.com, but I found a graphic design chick that does all of mine custom for $100 to $150 apiece... I tell her the "look" that I'm looking for, and she takes care of the rest! If you're interested in her contact info, let me know. I can also supply examples of her work that I'm happy with.

[kyle422]

Here is a site that offers free CSS web templates http://webhost.bridgew.edu/etribou/layouts/index.html
You can customize them to fit your needs.
Also you can add this guys code to create dropdown menu items in CSS.
http://www.htmldog.com/articles/suckerfish/dropdowns/
Here are some example of dropdown menus
http://www.htmldog.com/articles/suck...downs/example/
http://www.htmldog.com/articles/suck.../vertical.html

[David Abernathy]

Thanks for the ideas.

Cafe - I will pm you later today.

[frobn]

Yeah, I tried to go totally CSS, but there were browser incompatibilities, and it was difficult to use.

Once you are over the learning curb, the benefits of having clean lean code are enormous. I would never go back to the old way of coding. The few incompatabilities between browsers are fairly easy to overcome.

[ResaleBroker]

Once you are over the learning curb, the benefits of having clean lean code are enormous. I would never go back to the old way of coding.

I can't imagine "Not" using CSS.

IMO, anyone designing websites really needs to take the time to research CSS. You might be suprised at how easy CSS can be to learn.

[Infinity Commercial Group]

They do help out sometimes thats for sure.