CSS is getting popular

[Jen]

Did you know CSS tableless is growing popular these days? In the past, many designers used tables to build the webpage and they didn't know about 'tableless' from CSS as they thought CSS is for 'styling'. Now heaps designers are using css tableless webpage. I may be wrong about this because I don't know about html/css history so you guys might be know, tell me.

[Justin G]

Your right. I mean as the web progresses so do the standards in frontend coding. I mean honestly I think users expect a clean code with no errors because its easier to browse and loading is minimal. I mean honestly when I see tables and row spans I think un-professional.

I mean honestly, as the web progresses we are going to see alot more of tabless coders and people improving there standards.

[Vox Pelli]

CSS is certainly getting more popular and one of the biggest single indicator of that may be that Slashdot (http://slashdot.org/) changed to a tableless site a few months ago.

[colag]

yes, i agree with the comments so far. i personally noticed a real surge in the use of tableless html just after the lauch of FF - no coincidence really but to a certain extent many people so the advent of tableless html coming. it's definitely a good thing as html code getting so bloated. i believe in general, everyone who works with the web including designers are becoming more adept at coding whether it is css styling or actionscript - got to keep ahead of the game! as long as css standards are used not as an excuse not to push the boundaries of design, layout, etc. then i am all for it. don't want every website on the net to look the same - do we?

[Jen]

don't want every website on the net to look the same - do we?
I see many css based websites look so similar (I am not saying copy) its CSS look. More white spaces, clean, simple fonts with line height. Some websites I thought its CSS then view the source but its table, how weird? I know its the LOOK!

[colag]

I see many css based websites look so similar (I am not saying copy) its CSS look. More white spaces, clean, simple fonts with line height. Some websites I thought its CSS then view the source but its table, how weird? I know its the LOOK!

yes, i know, i recently set up doing freelance work with a former
colleague/friend as we both felt that the agencies we had been working for were using all the standards stuff as an excuse to mass produce the same website over and over again - basically make as much money as they could and not really care about the quality of output. we want to take all the technologies whether it is css, php, flash, etc. as well as excellent design (ie. typography, grid structures, etc.) and create exciting and different websites and so on.
its not difficult to do but i think going to that extra effort to create something fresh and different is well worth it and css definitely has a big part to play in it!

[Martijn]

I mean honestly when I see tables and row spans I think un-professional.


It all depends on the type of site doesn`t it? if you run a site on wich 75% of the data is tabular not going with tables is just plain stupid. I think the biggest improvement these days is that people are actually using html/tables/css to it`s use. Tables for tabular data, html as the frame that holds it together and css for styling?

It is true that these days alo of so-called css designs look similair in 1 or more ways, but I don`t think this is due to trying to make alot of money or being lazy. I mean trends in design are the same as trends in clothing, trends in car-design or whatever. The fact that it is trendy to make these sites and clients want them isn`t a form of making "easy" money is it? It`s part of the market and as a designer you are brought in to design products for clients...so if the clients hands you a brief that says; I want a css based website with the trendy style that is going on now why would you try and make something else just because it`s the trend....

Although I agree with ppl about the trendy css websites looking similair etc.. the biggest and most fascinating thing about this so called web2.0 hype isn`t the way it looks but the thoughts etc.. behind it. I`m seeing (and learning) more about information architecture, how to attract visitors and visitor related fields from day to day. And in the end that is what makes a websites succesfull. Not what outsiders think of it, but what potential clients/customers think of it. A site may look "ugly" or "trendy" to us, but if it fullfills the objective for which it has been set-up the website is a succes!

sorry for the long post lol.

Martijn

[skhighlighn]

amen to martinj .... AMEN BROTHA

[amygdela]

It's a great thing people started using css-based designs, but if you code it like a lot of sites do (without SEMANTICS in mind), the whole idea of CSS based designs is gone.

[.Mike]

tables will eventually be forgotten :P

[farcannell]

No they wont, atleast not until browsers like ie are made to take tabless designs, without annoyance or bugs.

[deques]

tables will eventually be forgotten :P
tables will remain forever, but not for design. they will stay as tabular data, their true purpose

[paulrichards19]

Go to csszengarden.com for some excellent examples of tableless design

[Game Makker]

I have only just started using CSS. At first like mentioned I thought it was just for styling font but even then I couldn't do it well so never realy used it well. I only just began trying to learn how to successfuly use CSS the past month or two. In the beginning I struggled to see the advantages of CSS design in comparison to table-based but now it is noticeable what potential it has. So I would deffinately agree that there has or will be an increase in designers converting from the old tables to divs and css based.