Getting the basics right...

So, I'm new to this site and how helpful I have been told it will be to have so many people to talk about this with.

As a newbie (to this site and sort of html) I've started building a new page on my site. It's basically so that, once I've got this page right, I can use it as a template for the rest of the pages on the site which, shall I say, is pretty dire at the mo.

I wonder if anyone could give me advice on this, and tell me where I'm going wrong (it looked okay, then I hit delete somewhere and the whole things mucked up!!!).

Basically, where it says Center parcs under the main text in what should be the centre and main column/table, there is more text that shouldn't be hidden - but it is. Then, I want the table that starts 'best for family..' to be a new table at the top right hand side - starting at the same place as where the link 'family hotel offers' is on the left. It WAS like this and now I can't see what code to put in. Here's the link to that page, give me your best shot!!!

http://www.retrobloom.co.uk/discount_codes.htm

I'll be hugely grateful for any help on this as I've been looking at it for 4 days now!

Cheers everyone
Nuddy

Well ... if you're starting fresh here is my advice. Drop the table. They were not invented by W3C to help you lay out your site. DIVs and CSS were made for that.

I strongly suggest you head on over to a thread I created in the Beginner Resources section - Resources for learning how to use CSS for layout - Ditch the tables and start over with CSS

Honestly? Start over? Okay, well I'm here for advice and I'll take that! Took me ages to do that!

I wonder if there are any websites that you can recommend I look at that contain the W3C approved html? Maybe I'll go to their site and have a look and I'll have a nose at the beginners section you mentioned too.

Pain in the bum getting it right first time, once I've got it this time I'm onto a winner!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

nuddy

Its not as complicated as it may seem at first and in the end you will be glad you made the transition.

__________________

The links in that thread (link in my original reply) are all there to help you going to DIV/CSS layouts.

As for approved stuff by the W3C, they have a list of elements and attributes in the HTML section. Make sure you check out the Depr. (deprecated) column ... if there's a D in there, don't use that element or attribute. There's probably a CSS property equivalent somewhere. Over in the CSS 2.1 section of the W3C, they also have a property table.

hth

erm. think I might have to start at the beginning, I've ignored this w3c for too long now and it's not going in my favour!!! Thanks for the advice, just hoping I get there in the end!

n

Well ... don't forget to ask questions!!! ASK ASK ASK! POST POST POST Even if you think it's silly. Someone will send you in the right direction.

Yeah get rid or your table issue and buckle down to css. Your layouts will be alot more flexable and visually apealing. If you need help you can go take tutorials. Which after this poast i shall go create a new thread for tutorial resourses.

Stop making it sound so scary guys...

Okay, here's the deal. Tables and XHTML/CSS are two different ways to design a website. Tables is essentially easier for the beginner, but once you've got a couple of websites under your belt made with XHTML/CSS you'll be able to whip them out like there's no tomorrow. The link karinne gave to you contains several reasons why you should choose XHTML/CSS over table-based designs. My advice would be to start looking at the basics of CSS, which are nicely displayed on http://w3schools.com/css/ and the move towards examining actual sites. The best example I can think of is http://csszengarden.com/ .

Good luck, and if you have any questions, simple or complicated, we're here to help.

This is great guys, thank you so much. I think I'll go to the w3c schools link above, I realise now that the sites look a thousand times better using css etc Once my main site is sorted out, I'll look at changing it to the recommended, but first - frighteningly enough - I better go and teach myself a bit of xhtml (!) Don't know when my babies will get fed though!

Haha. XHTML is one of the easiest languages to learn. You only need to know about 30 rules (tags), realistically. And out of those thirty, you need to know the do's and don'ts of nesting. Once again, sounds intimidating, but you're just thirty minutes of reading away from beginner to expert.

And W3C even made a document to help you learn with the differences with HTML 4