Layout

Websites often display content in multiple columns (like a magazine or newspaper).

HTML Layout Using <div> Elements

The <div> element is often used as a layout tool, because it can easily be positioned with CSS.

This example uses four

elements to create a multiple column layout:

<body>

<div id="header">
<h1>City Gallery</h1>
</div>

<div id="nav">
London<br>
Paris<br>
Tokyo
</div>

<div id="section">
<h1>London</h1>
<p>London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom,
with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.</p>
<p>Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia,
its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium.</p>
</div>

<div id="footer">
Copyright © W3Schools.com
</div>

</body>

<style>
#header {
    background-color:black;
    color:white;
    text-align:center;
    padding:5px;
}
#nav {
    line-height:30px;
    background-color:#eeeeee;
    height:300px;
    width:100px;
    float:left;
    padding:5px; 
}
#section {
    width:350px;
    float:left;
    padding:10px; 
}
#footer {
    background-color:black;
    color:white;
    clear:both;
    text-align:center;
    padding:5px; 
}
</style>

Website Layout Using HTML5

HTML5 offers new semantic elements that define different parts of a web page:

h5_layout

  • <header> - Defines a header for a document or a section
  • <nav> - Defines a container for navigation links
  • <section> - Defines a section in a document
  • <article> - Defines an independent self-contained article
  • <aside> - Defines content aside from the content (like a sidebar)
  • <footer> - Defines a footer for a document or a section
  • <details> - Defines additional details
  • <summary> - Defines a heading for the
    element

Example:

<body>

<header>
<h1>City Gallery</h1>
</header>

<nav>
London<br>
Paris<br>
Tokyo
</nav>

<section>
<h1>London</h1>
<p>London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom,
with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.</p>
<p>Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia,
its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium.</p>
</section>

<footer>
Copyright © W3Schools.com
</footer>

</body>

<style>
header {
    background-color:black;
    color:white;
    text-align:center;
    padding:5px; 
}
nav {
    line-height:30px;
    background-color:#eeeeee;
    height:300px;
    width:100px;
    float:left;
    padding:5px; 
}
section {
    width:350px;
    float:left;
    padding:10px; 
}
footer {
    background-color:black;
    color:white;
    clear:both;
    text-align:center;
    padding:5px; 
}
</style>

HTML Layout Using Tables

Layout can be achieved using the <table> element, because table elements can be styled with CSS:

The <table> element was not designed to be a layout tool. The <table> element was not designed to be a layout tool. The purpose of the <table> element is to display tabular data. Creating layout with tables is not wrong, but it is not recommended!

Example:

<body>

<table class="lamp">
<tr>
  <th>
    <img src="/images/lamp.jpg" alt="Note" style="height:32px;width:32px">
  </th>
  <td>
    The table element was not designed to be a layout tool.
  </td>
</tr>
</table>

</body>

<style>
table.lamp {
    width:100%;
    border:1px solid #d4d4d4;
}
table.lamp th, td {
    padding:10px;
}
table.lamp th {
    width:40px;
}
</style>