Is table-less worthless?

[bj]

Did anyone here try to write a html page for e-mailing, instead of writing pure text lines for WebProWorld ?
I guess most tableless designer did not - just because CSS does not work within outlook 2007.

Apples and oranges. Webpages are a totally different thing from html email. And assuming none of us know that and that none of us has worked with both is ignorant. I do both sorts of work with no problem. Of course, I've taken the time to learn both.

Just because you have to write monkey code for html email doesn't mean it's acceptable for webpages. It isn't.

we use a nice template oriented tool : just change the core template, click on a button and the whole website is updated.

Wow, you are behind the times. Static html? geez. I didn't know people still managed websites that way.

[kgun]

Read this today that I will share with you.

"In later chapters, I'll go into plenty of detail on both CSS and XSLT, but I wanted to make a brief point here. Because we've taken the time to create XML documents, our information is no longer locked up inside proprietary formats such as word processors. Furhtermore, it no konger has to be "re-created" every time you want to create alternative displays of information: all you have to do is create a style sheet or transformation to make your XML presentation in a given medium.

.........................

As you ca see, separating information from presentations makes your XML documents reusable, and can hassles and headaches in environments in which a lot of information needs to be stores, processed, handled and exchanged."

Source: Thomas Meyer (april 2006 version): "No Nonsense XML Web Development With PHP" page 12-13.

Example of an XML document.

Note how the dynamic XML tags give meaning to the content compared to the static HTML tags.

[InkodeR]

. Tableless design gives less code bloat and makes it easier to read through the code but there's no real SEO benefit...

I can think of a HUGE SEO benefit using CSS vs tableless designs.

But I'll keep it to myself till I've finished testing.

When testing is over I'll post.

[kgun]

I made this

http://www.webproworld.com/webmaster...tml#post346534

summary post for those that will go directly to XML and XSLT.

There are things that can not be done with CSS, that can be done with XSLT, though it take some time to learn XSLT. In additon to being a stylesheet transformation, XSLT is a rule based or functional language, a subset of XSL.

It is very easy to transform an XML document to HTML or XHTML. If you are used to CSS, that can be useed as the style sheet language for your files. See the examples in the third link, more precisely:

http://www.webproworld.com/graphics-...tml#post323737

[jtracking]

I can think of a HUGE SEO benefit using CSS vs tableless designs.

But I'll keep it to myself till I've finished testing.

When testing is over I'll post.

How's the testing coming?

[Webnauts]

I can think of a HUGE SEO benefit using CSS vs tableless designs.

But I'll keep it to myself till I've finished testing.

When testing is over I'll post.

CSS vs tableless is not the major benefit alone. It also heavily depends on the code semantical structure. I hope you are aware of that so we can get the best out of your test.

[Webnauts]

Kgun I mentioned before and elsewhere that tables are for tabular data presentation, and it is correct implementing them, but only for that purpose.