To nest or not to nest

[dave evans]

Hi Guys i am looking for some clarification on the pro's & con's of nested tables i kind of get the idea that some people find there use a no no so i was wondering what the thinking behind this might be, also on another matter does anyone know where i can find some code to redirect to another page in the evnt of a plugin not being detected ie such as flash, thankyou all again, Dave. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

[dave evans]

Hi Guys i am looking for some clarification on the pro's & con's of nested tables i kind of get the idea that some people find there use a no no so i was wondering what the thinking behind this might be, also on another matter does anyone know where i can find some code to redirect to another page in the evnt of a plugin not being detected ie such as flash, thankyou all again, Dave. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Jen Worden]

Hi Dave ...

Re: nested tables, I think that the reason some people frown on them is twofold. One, that some browsers can't support complex tables although in all honesty, they are the minority. Two, depending on how complex they are, they can contribute to a longer download.

My rule of thumb is, if you know that the page will have multiple vertical scrolls (a picture gallery for example), then make vertically stacked individual tables, as they will load quicker than one long table or multiple tables inside one table.

Obviously, using style sheets for layout would be wonderful, but sometimes we just have to bite the bullet and keep nesting those tables.

As always, know your audience and let them dictate how your design will unfold.

Re: plugin redirect ... are you thinking of a javascript sniffer? Try here as a first stop http://javascript.internet.com/user-details/

Good luck!

cfn ... Jen
Jen Worden
Web Developer
www.meadoworks.com

[dave evans]

Thanks once again Jen, keep up the good work, Dave.