Use
the Examples as TemplatesShortcuts for Making Tables
Use
the Examples as TemplatesSimply find an example table that comes close to your needs. Bring up the HTML code on which it is based. Highlight the code by clicking-and-dragging across the HTML for the entire table. Then click on COPY in the browser's EDIT menu (or something equivalent). Go to your HTML editor and PASTE code. Modify it as needed.
Grab
Our SymbolsWe have provided a lot of symbols that we feel are useful table icons. Go to the symbols page and follow the instructions for getting the entire set. Then they will be on your server when you need them.
Use
Excel for Data Entry and Preliminary FormattingExcel (version 5 or later) has proven to be a very useful tool in creating HTML tables. We don't use it to automatically create tables; it should soon do that. For now, we use it for several important tasks.
Most useful is the ability to insert a column, type in some HTML code, and then drag it down so that it is copied to all the cells in the row. In this way we can enter data (or import data), then slip in the HTML code that must go between the values. For example, we often put the </TD><TD> pair into such a column to separate values. This saves a lot of typing and makes sure that everything is consistent.
We also use Excel to do some basic data manipulation. For example, we calculate the width of bars (see the Word-Bar Tables examples) from data values in such a spreadsheet. We also convert values to words by using the value with a range table. If you haven't encountered the VLOOKUP function, your missing out on an important capability.
When we have code that we want to use in a page, we simply drag over the area in the spreadsheet to highlight it, click the Excel copy button, then go to our HTML editor and paste in the copied code.
Try
an "Automatic" Table GeneratorIt may be simple for you to get started by using an automatic table generator.
A good stand-alone is being provided by Sam Choukri: TableMaker. It is worth checking out.
Similarly, IntelliNet's CalendarMaker may be just what you need to get started. It automatically creates monthly calendars.
