Page layout:

Plan this ahead of time. Sketch it out on a piece of paper. Discuss it with your partners. Try different designs until you come up with one that you can live with and adapt as needed. The table structure of your page can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like. It’s your choice. 

 It's all about the math:

To keep horizontal scrolling to zero, the main table of your page should be 750 wide. This will accommodate users whose monitors are set to 800x600 as well as those set to 1024x768. When you insert tables within this main table, their total width should not exceed 100%.  Example: if there is a navigation bar to the left and a content table on the right, keep the navigation bar width to 20% and the content table width to a maximum of  80%. If there is space between the tables, take this into account. Remember: TOTAL width must not exceed 100% of the original 750.

• Row - a horizontal line of cells

• Column - a vertical line of cells

• Cell - one box

• Each table can be adjusted independently of the others.

• Tables layer “on top of” the page background. 

•  The background of a table is a different item than the background of the entire page. They can be the same color or different colors.

• The background of a cell can be different from the background of the table.

• Borders - if the border shows as a dotted-line, there will be no visible border. Cell borders are independent of table borders.

•  In the menu bar, click File…Properties.

• Click on the Formatting tab. Here you can set the colors for background, text, hyperlinks, followed hyperlinks, and active hyperlinks,

• If you’d like to add your own background (perhaps you’ve located a nice one from the Internet), click Browse to locate this file. Click Open, then OK. To find nice backgrounds for your page, go to http://www.greenwichcsd.org/integration/designlinks.htm.

• Select the entire table.

• Right-click within the selected area.

• Click on Table properties.

• In the Table Properties window, under Background click the drop-down arrow to select your color choice.

Formatting the background  of a cell

•  Right-click in the cell, select Cell Properties.

• In the Cell Properties window, click the drop-down arrow under Background.

Placing a border around a table

• Select the table, right-click and then click on Table Properties.

• Under Borders use the drop-down list to select the size (thickness) and color the line. If you do not want a border, select “0” for size. Note: Any number larger than “0” effects the thickness of the border around the table…it does not effect the thickness of each cell’s border.

• Right-click in a cell.

• Select Cell Properties

• Under Borders use the drop-down list to select the size (thickness) and color the line. If you do not want a border, select “0” for size.

For further information contact:
Maureen Edsforth, Instructional Technology Specialist
Greenwich Central School District
Greenwich, NY 12834
Voice: 518-692-9542 Ext. 2056
Email: medsforth@greenwichcsd.org

Last modified: May 11, 2006