Usually, in textbooks, you will find tables that organizes complicated data into easily understandable information. With Netscape Composer, adding a graphical table to your Web page can be as easy as clicking a button. Inserting tables in your Web page can give your page a more organized look.

Inserting a Table

• Inserting a Table
• Deleting a Table
• Editing a Table
• Creating a Table Caption
• Entering Text in the Cells

Modifying the Appearance of a Table

• Adding a Table Border
• Controlling Cell Spacing
• Controlling Cell Padding
• Aligning a Table on a Page
• Specifying the Table Size
• Modifying the Table Background

Inserting a Table

Inserting a Table

To insert a table into your Web page, click the Table button found on the Formatting toolbar. This will open a Insert Table dialog box as seen below.

 

<--Insert Table Dialog Box

 

Here, you can specify the layout for your table, such as the number of rows and columns, border line width, amount of pixel spacing between cells and pixel padding within cells, alignment, captions, table width and height, and table background color and background images. It is recommended that you play around with these settings to get a feel of what your table may look like. Don't worry, you can't hurt the computer by experimenting with tables! When you are finished specifying the table details, click the Insert button to insert your table.

Below is an example of a simple table that has two rows and two columns, displaying a total of four cells.

First Cell	Second Cell
Third Cell	Fourth Cell

Deleting a Table

To delete the table that you've just created, place your cursor on the table, then click and hold your mouse button for 2 seconds and wait for the pop-up menu to appear. Once it does, select Delete Table. Another way to delete a table (or individual rows, columns, or cells) is to click once on the table to select it, then click the Edit menu and click Delete Table-->Table.

Editing a Table

To edit the appearance of your table, place your cursor on the table, then click and hold your mouse button for 2 seconds. A pop-up menu will appear. Select Table Info. A Format dialog box will appear allowing you to make alterations to the Table, Row, and Cell. Click on the Table tab to make changes to the table. Be sure to click OK when you are finished making changes.

 

<--Format Dialog Box

Creating a Table Caption

Including a caption with your table may help viewers know what information will be contained in the table. To add a table with a caption, click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Locate the Include Caption checkbox . Check the checkbox and specify whether you want the caption to be above or below the table. After you are finished specifying the appearance of your table, click the Insert button to insert your table.You will now see a table with a caption. Input the information for the caption and the cells.

Entering Text in the Cells

After you've created the table, you can begin to enter the data into the cells. First, place your cursor on a cell that you're going to type in and click to select it. Next, click the Alignment pull-down menu on the Formatting toolbar to select where you want the text to be aligned within the cell (left, center, or right). Finally, type in the data. To advance to another cell, simply press the "TAB" key on your keyboard or place your cursor over the appropriate cell and click.

Specifying the Appearance of a Table

Adding a Table Border

It is easy to alter the appearance of a table by specifying the size of a table border. To create a table border, click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Find the Border Line Width field, and type in a numeric value (i.e. 0-10) to increase or decrease the table border width. The default is 1 pixel. . Click the Insert button to insert your table with a table border. The figure below should give you a better idea about table borders.

A B C D 0 pixels

A B C D 1 pixels

A B C D 5 pixels

A B C D 10 pixels

Controlling Cell Spacing

Cell space is the amount of space inserted between table cells. Varying the cell spacing can affect a table's appearance. To specify the cell spacing, click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Locate the Pixel Spacing Between Cells field, and type in a numeric value (i.e. 0-10) to increase or decrease the cell spacing. The default is 1 pixel. Click the Insert button to insert your table. The figure below demonstrates how different cell spacing values affect a table's appearance.

A B C D 0 pixels

A B C D 1 pixels

A B C D 5 pixels

A B C D 10 pixels

Controlling Cell Padding

Increasing or decreasing cell padding, the space between the table text and the cell borders, can also modify the appearance of a table. To control the cell padding, click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Find the Pixel Padding Within Cells field, and type in a numeric value (i.e. 0-10) to increase or decrease the cell padding. The default is 1 pixel. Click the Insert button to insert your table. As you can see below, cell padding values can also affect a table's appearance.

A B C D 0 pixels

A B C D 1 pixels

A B C D 5 pixels

A B C D 10 pixels

Aligning a Table on a Page

By specifying the table alignment on a page, you control where you want your table to appear on the page. You can choose from Left, Center, and Right alignment for your table. To define the table alignment, click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Locate the Alignment radio buttons , and click on one of them to select the table alignment. The default is Center alignment. Click the Insert button to insert your table. Your new table will be aligned on the page according to your selection.

Specifying the Table Size

With Composer, you can easily dictate the size of your table. To specify the table size, click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Find the Table Width field, and type in a numeric value (i.e. 0-100) to maximize or minimize the table. The default is 100% of the browser window. Click the Insert button to insert your table.

Modifying the Table Background

To make your table stand out more on your page, you can create a table with a background color. All you need to do is click the Table button on the Formatting toolbar to open the Insert Table dialog box. Click on the Table Background colored rectangle to choose a color to use as the background of your table. Choose a color from the color dialog box that opens. The default background color is white. Click the Insert button to insert your table with your selected background color. You should use a light background color to make your text easier to read.

 

If you rather use an image (graphic file) as your table background instead of a solid color, click on the Image checkbox or the Choose File... button while in the Insert Table dialog box. This will open another dialog box that will allow you to select an image to use as your table background. Locate your image (usually with a GIF [Graphics Interchange Format]or JPG [Joint Photographic Experts Group] extension), then click the Open button. Your selected image should cover your table and override the background color. Although this option is available, it is not recommended that you use image table backgrounds. Doing so might make your data difficult to read. To learn more about images, click here.

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