| Development of HTML in Support of Tables | |
| The Tables tags within HTML have many of the fundamental capabilities that
are needed to make useful and informative displays of information.
However, there are a number of features that will eventually allow even greater use of this tool. If you become a fan of tables, as we would hope, then you will likely want to keep up with the plans for expanding the capabilities of the Tables tag. | |
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W3 Consortium documents on HTML 3.0 and Tables (Dated 22 December 1995). This is a working document from the "official" body that develops the specifications that browsers should follow. Follow this link if you want to find out about the latest W3 working documents (not necessarily related to tables). |
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Tables as implemented in Netscape 1.1 and how they support the proposed HTML 3.0 spec. Netscape has been a leader in the development of tables. It is important to keep up on their developments. |
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Microsoft Internet Assistant 2.0 table information. This browser has features for tables that are not found in other browsers (yet). If you expect people to see your tables using the Internet Explorer, then you should keep up-to-date with Microsoft's plans. |
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Dvorak's Awards are bound to highlight important developments. Look at his list occasionally to find out what John thinks is best. |
| Books from the Library | |
| Don't neglect the many excellent design books that demonstrate the proper and
creative display of information. While they may not pertain specifically to tables
or your design problems, they will help you develop general standards that certainly
will be reflected in your work.
The following are just a few of the well-known sources of information. | |
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Tufte, Edward R., 1983, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphic Press, Cheshire, Connecticut. |
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Tufte, Edward R., 1991, Envisioning Information. Graphic Press, Cheshire, Connecticut. |
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Wurman, Richard Saul, 1989, Information anxiety. Doubleday, NY. |
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| Pederson, B. Martin, 1988, Graphis Diagram 1. Graphis Press Corp., Zurich. |
| Web Tools | |
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Internet Assistant for Microsoft Excel |
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Sam Choukri's Table Generation Program |
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Excel to HTML table converter |
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A Mac version of an Excel to HTML table converter |
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The Tables Chapter from Laura Lemay's Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML in 14 Days: The Premier Edition |
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A good discussion on problems with the implementation of tables in the various browsers. |
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PC Magazine article, Tables for Your Home Page, by Ray Duncan |
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An example of tables used to support the layout design of a newsletter. |
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HTML Table Tutorial by Urb LeJeune |
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NCSA Mosaic tables tutorial. |
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Both a tutorial on tables and a good example of how tables within tables can be used. |
| Other People's Examples | |
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Bob Cunningham's book reviews make excellent use of bar charts. |
| General Web Design Guidelines | |
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David Siegel's PointCom Top 5% lists of outstanding Web sites is an excellent source of information on good design. Be sure to check out David's page, too. He is the leading advocate of expanding a single dot to an area to control spacing. We use the same "trick" here to make colored bars. |
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Check some of the other Web rating groups. For example, Glen David's Cool Sites list, Global's Web Page Awards, and the Global Network Navigator, Inc. Best of the Net Awards". |
