Converting pages to CSS for impatient Webmasters

What software would do this for me?

[Car_Guy]

I'm not a computer guy. I spend much of my day using them, but they have never interested me. When it comes to computers and HTML, I'm one of the people who has only learned what I've had to learn in order to get something to work.

After finding that it was going to take me longer to master a Web editor than to just learn the 10% of the HTML commands that do 90% of the work, I do all of my own HTML. My site is popular, but it looks like it was made in 1996, which it was.

I've tried learning about CSS, and the longest I've lasted is about three minutes before I just give up. I've skimmed various tutorials as well as the Crash Course here. The learning curve is too much for someone as impatient as me.

I've been thinking of using something like DreamWeaver to help give my site a more contemporary look. Would DreamWeaver (or any other software) allow me to convert my HTML 4, table-based pages to CSS?

[trillianjedi]

I bet your site markup puts much code produced by WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver to shame.

I would think about this very carefully, as you could end up turning something nicely built into something that looks pretty but is ugly under the bonnet.

Would DreamWeaver (or any other software) allow me to convert my HTML 4, table-based pages to CSS?

It won't convert HTML tables to a full float CSS layout, but it would certainly let you stylise the page elements.

I would be careful though - DreamWeaver if not properly setup (which takes time) will produce horrendous code.

I assume from your post that most of your site is based around <p> and <h> tags and tables?

TJ

[Car_Guy]

I use tables to specify page width at the top of every page, and to align images beside text. In a few cases, there are also table to create rows of text.

By today's standards, my site is quite basic.

Your point about producing cleaner code by hand is well taken. (I've had nightmares about the code on site created with FrontPage.)

[trillianjedi]

I honestly think you'll be better served learning a little CSS. Start small - perhaps put FONT tag styling into an external CSS file to dip a toe in the water.

I use tables to specify page width at the top of every page, and to align images beside text.

Stage 2 might be to have a play with floating DIV's to wrap text around images instead.

By today's standards, my site is quite basic.

Do not assume that's a bad thing. Ease of navigation and simplicity outweighs beauty 1000:1 on the web.

TJ

[Car_Guy]

Thanks. I'll try the Crash Course again.

More than anything, what motivated my (casual) interest in CSS was reading somewhere that at some point in the future, HTML tables will no longer be supported by browsers. If that day is indeed coming, I better get this taken care of.

In addition to using HTML tables, I also specify fonts and font sizes.

My interest in CSS (or updating the site in any way) does not include Flash, video, or juggling clowns. it's a simple, quick-loading site that allows its visitors to find what they need quickly and then get on with their life.

Your wisdom and encouragement are appreciated. Thanks again.

[Car_Guy]

Ease of navigation and simplicity outweighs beauty 1000:1 on the web.

Please note that I decided against making an analogy about closing time in a singles bar.

[trillianjedi]

at some point in the future, HTML tables will no longer be supported by browsers.

I really doubt that will ever happen. There is no better way to display tabular data than with a table. The <table> tag will be deprecated the day that HTML itself is deprecated. And I bet it's ultimate replacement will still have a table tag of some kind!

closing time in a singles bar.

;)

TJ

[j_h_maccann]

... at some point in the future, HTML tables will no longer be supported by browsers. If that day is indeed coming, I better get this taken care of.

No need to hurry on this; you probably have longer than a human lifetime to do the research.

There are billions and billions of valuable HTML pages built with tables, and nearly all of them will never be revised. Even as they are gradually replaced, the older versions will remain in historical archives and be of permanent value. There will never be a motivation to stop viewing these pages. There may be a motivation to devise some way of machine-translating the old HTML to a newer replacement, but in that case your pages will be OK anyway.

The best bet for easy longevity is to only use formats which are VERY widely used by other people. Any minority format, no matter how technically strong, can lose support and leave you stranded. Any dominant format, no matter how flawed, is likely to be supported for a very long time and finally be provided with an automatic upgrade path.

Using CSS offers many advantages (in exchange for some complexity), and there are many good reasons to use CSS. Fear that browsers will stop supporting HTML tables is not a good reason. For many webpages, in fact, some combination of tables and CSS is the best choice.

[Car_Guy]

All of your comments were a big help. Much appreciated.

It sounds like I can forget about CSS for now, and concentrate on improving the site as I have been all along.

Frankly, I've received numerous compliments on my site's simplicity.