Layers vs Tables

[mc3]

Layers vs Tables

I have made a template that will be used for about 10 pages of my site. When I make the template in Layers Mode it is only 12k. When I modify and convert it to Tables Mode (before making it a template), it becomes almost 3 times as big, - 31k.

I obviously want to keep the weight of my page down, and would prefer using layers, but I am concerned about browser compatibility with Netscape 4, and pre-Netscape 4, and pre-EI4.

My Netscape 4 tests out ok on my Mac but I haven’t yet been able to test in any pre version 4 browsers.

According to

http://www.thecounter.com

95% of browsers are v4 or later, so maybe I shouldn’t be concerned about Layers.

Maybe there is something I can do to trim the weight back to 12k from 31k when turning layers into tables?

I would appreciate any sage advice or opinions regarding the use of Layers vs Tables.

Thanks you very much

Mc3

 

[sweevo]

You'll find two sets of people with this one, who subscribe to their chosen opinion.

From a design point of view, and that of progressing web development and pushing forward to a standard format (that CSS aims to achieve), layers are the way to go. Not only, as you point out, does that method involve smaller files, but the code is much more readable, easier to maintain/update (especially for hand-coders) and you can have your page contents in the correct order in the code rather than all over the place that can happen with nested tables (which can also help with search engine results etc).

As for earlier browser support, how important that is depends on your target audience and personal requirements. Do you want to risk alienating anyone, regardless of the relatively small number? It could be argued that those with older browsers should upgrade anyway, and if more web sites used newer technologies it would push people to upgrade. However this seems a bit harsh on the many people using older computers that won't run the latest software.

 

[mc3]

Very good points sweevo.

But how many people are we talking about? Is there a reliable source of getting an accurate picture, or even a fairly good ballpark figure of how many people are using older browsers (ie. earlier than v4)?

I refer to

http://www.thecounter.com

but I confess that I do not know where they get there data, so I don't know how reliable it is. I think they sell a software that gets info from visiting browsers, so it may be from those that hit on their site.

Do you know of ant other source to get this kind of data?

5% really isn't a bad sacrifice for having the page load twice or 3 times as fast. Many people bail out if a page loads too slow, so maybe the advantage is lost when considering that.

mc3

 

[bluranj]

Use a browswer sniffer and send old browser users here

http://www.webstandards.org/upgrade/

I guess we web builders also owe it to WebStandards.org to atleast read this page

http://www.webstandards.org/upgrade/tips.html

Ranjan

http://www.dreamlettes.com

fragments of dream, weave them together