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Table based layouts in Expression Web

I have not taken leave of my senses. I have had so many requests, to create a table based tutorial and see so many sites built in Expression web using tables but with FrontPage techniques, that i thought it appropriate to address this topic.

Why?

99% of users coming here will have come from FrontPage, those that have not used FrontPage will have used another editor and its almost 100% certain regardless of the editor used that you will have set up your web pages using tables.

It should be understood, that I am not advocating you use tables - I would prefer you to create web sites using <div's> and CSS. We have tutorials to guide you each step of the way. However, it is wrong of me to presume that you will want to create table less web sites. It could be your happy using tables but still want to create valid web sites. So, with this in mind and after much thought (10 months worth of thought!) I have decided to relent and produce this tutorial series.

I hope that working in a playing field you have experience in i.e. tables, i am able to show some of the uses of CSS. After all a table is valid code and the web site we create will be valid code, but I would like to think that these tutorials will be your launch pad into producing table less based web sites in the future.

The site we will build

build an expression web - web siteThe whole tutorial is a bit under an hour long and is broken down into various parts. Each step shows you what you need to do and is a basis for expansion. I don't know what type of web site you want so I can only offer ideas and the tutorial will help you to create the above design.

During the tutorial, I touch on using graphics for table and menu backgrounds and you will learn about the difference between an ID Selector style and a class selector style. The tutorial ends by showing you how to convert your table based layout into a Dynamic Web Template (DWT) which means you can rapidly build your web site from a single page. I also create a couple of pages from the DWT just to show how simple it is.

Finally i show how to make changes to the DWT and how those changes are reflected in the existing pages created from it.

The real aim here is to build a valid web site, but along the way, you will hopefully pick up the basic CSS skills you will need to set you on a journey of discovery. The journeys ultimate end will be table less based web site design.

Lets not forget that tables are valid code and until recently - almost every web site on the internet has used them. Many still do.

I suspect i will get an abundance of criticism for making this tutorial available but remember, the purpose of the tutorial is to get you used to the way expression web works and hopefully by doing so with tables you can eventually turn your new found knowledge into a table less div based web site.

The tutorial can be seen here

Create a table based web site in expression web tutorial

Good luck i sincerely hope that this will help you understand just a little more.

Microsoft MVP

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