HTML - Page Layouts and Templates

HTML layout is very basic. Not many options exist with the body tag alone. Tables, on the other hand, are the bread and butter of HTML layouts. Any element may be placed inside of a table, including tables themselves!

<table id="shell" bgcolor="black" border="1" height="200" width="300">
   <tr>
      <td>
         <table id="inner" bgcolor="white" height="100" width="100">
            <tr>
               <td>Tables inside tables!</td>
            </tr>
         </table>
      </td>
   </tr>
</table>

Tables inside tables

The white table (identified as inner) exists inside of the (shell) table, the black one. A light bulb should be going off inside of your head as you explore how this system will allow for the creation of limitless layouts.

HTML - Standard Layout

A fairly standard layout consists of a banner near the top, navigation, and your content or display box. These are the backbone to any great website.

<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 bgcolor="black" id="shell" height="250" width="400">
   <tr height="50">
      <td colspan="2" bgcolor="white">
         <table title="Banner" id="banner" border="0">
            <tr><td>Place a banner here</td></tr>
         </table>
      </td>
   </tr>
   <tr height="200">
      <td bgcolor="white">
         <table id="navigation" title="Navigation" border="0">
            <tr><td>Links!</td></tr>
            <tr><td>Links!</td></tr>
            <tr><td>Links!</td></tr>
         </table>
      </td><td bgcolor="white">
         <table title="Content" id="content" border="0">
            <tr><td>Content goes here</td></tr>
         </table>
      </td>
   </tr>
</table>

Basic Layout

This approach is basic, yet organized. The code becomes complex rather fast, so you will need to be sure to properly assign height and width values to your tables as well. The more specific you are about heights and widths, the less room there will be for error and debugging.