Lately I have seen a bif trend of people moving away from using tables and using css with div statements. I mean, I use css to define all my link sytles and other global site prefernces, but why complete replace tables?

Potential for drastic reduction in page weight for one. I'm sure some CSS heads would be able to come up with a lot more

Short answer: Because it's standards compliant. XHTML 1.0 strict requires that tables only be used to display tabular data (lists etc.).

The reduction of page size is another nice aspect, but I think the biggest advantage is the separation of content from design. Using divs/spans for markup allows a theme developer to create a theme without touching the xhtml. If taken all the way, this can totally eliminate the use of a "template engine" such as Smarty.

all the others posted

and:
source of page becomes easy to read for those persons using reading tools etc..
content is separated where it belongs and design is separated where it belongs. We can serve different media like pda, screen, phone .... using one xhtml file ..

combination of css and smarty gives us the feeling of active pagelayout xml will give....

..
it makes fun !

michael

But if you have a lot of users that still use Netscape 4.x, stick with tables or force them to update to a more modern browser because the pages wont look "right." Know your audience.

i only test with the latest versions of ie, mozilla, and firefox. so yah, force them to update.

Quote:

Frankly, I Agree.

A line has to be drawn somewhere and forcing people to update to more current browsers is really the only answer to spreading compliance and combatability in the future. NS 6 came out 3 years ago, a lifetime in the computer world. So one can imagine how old NS 4.x is.

Even computers that are as old as 8 years can still manage to update and handle the more recent version of browser. If your one of them, do yourself a favour and upgrade your browser. Your browsing experience will be all the richer.

As browser developers grow and learn, and more standards are used and accepted, the easier it gets for site designers to present their layout in a fasion that is less entropic and more cohesive. Designers constantly pull their hair out trying to make their corner of the web accessable by everyone. Do your part and upgrade.

</2cents>

Stewdio,

I agree on so many levels, but one must take into consideration that a large portion of the people who have not upgraded are people who don't even know what you're talking about when you say "browser." Yup, that's right. As a service technician (my other job), I come in contact with people all the time who use words like thingy, and whatchamacallit. To them, it's the magic box that opens a window to their electronic mail. Many of these people are, well, old and so intimidated by that magic box thingy, that they a) don't think they could ever understand it b) really have no desire to. It's just there because their childeren or grandchildren bought it for them so they can keep in touch and share pictures.

Personally, I think it's best to know your audience. If you want to get up-to-date info on browser statistics, go to the following link:

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

June 2004
IE 6 - 72.8%
IE 5 - 8.9%
O 7 - 2.2%
Moz - 11.2%
NN 3 - 0.3%
NN 4 - 0.3%
NN 7 - 1.4%

Yup, Microslop is still leading the pack.

I would love to fully transition over to CSS, but given the nature of my business, a portion of my target audience is likely to be in the minority. Therefore, I'm forced to used a combination of the two.

anyword when the xoopstuned site is going to open
as take it that it will feature a lot of XOOPS related css articles etc ?

Quote:

I'm also a contractor who deals with this daily and I have worked for large corporations as Internal Support. 10 years in the business has taught me many things about how people are around computers and technology. It is my personal responsibility to educate people and make them feel comfortable with their environment, not just fix whats wrong.

"Tell me and I will forget"
"Show me and I will remember"
"Involve me and I will understand"

--Confucius

I not only make this principal a part of my daily life working as a Child Care worker, it also applies to my field in technology, and in construction. Yes, I'm a jack of all trades, master of none.

I can't expect the grandparents to grasp certain things, but it is our responsibility as technology experts to constantly educate people, including the kids that just bought Grandpa the magic box. It's them that they will call when they 'deleted the internet'.

If a group of 20 somethings in the office don't know what a browser is, it's the IT departments duty to show patience and understanding while they explain the problems they encounter and deal with on a day to day basis.

I know my audience all to well, which is why I adopt both good practices in accessability as much as possible and educating the very audience I have in front of me; be that a single secretary at her computer, or a million people on a website.

</2cents>