A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-12,13-05....Ready ~ Set Tables ~ GO!

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

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We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, Dutchess, Aquamarine, DollyCali ~

Well, not that kind of table...but html tables. Continuing our theme of a few weeks ago, today's thread is devoted to having more fun with tables. If you missed it earlier and need the text for the table templates, please go to the Mission: Possible! thread. There are six different ready-to-copy-and-paste templates there from which to choose!

Your challenge today is to use these templates as a guide and create your own combination by replacing my urls with yours in the examples. Google is your friend. (Search Google Web, not Images, for Background sets:) Some of you are already doing this - it's fun, isn't it?)

Now that you have some templates to work with in setting up your multiple background tables, let's dress up the graphics the same way. A photo can be just placed on a page alone, or you can use tables to make a frame for the photo in a number of ways.

Below, I've posted one photo three ways: first without a frame/border, and then a very basic one, and finally multiple table borders.

Plain..No Border..Nada

I can hardly post a plain graphic on a colored background anymore - it just looks nekkid! Don't you think? :)

---

Simple Table Border

This has the most basic of all tables; the command could hardly be more simple, and yet it finishes this little gif quite nicely. This is the text for this plain little border:

<center> <table border=4> <tr><td>
<img src="http://d21c.com/billie/logos/billielittlegirl.gif" width=160 height=180 align=middle>
</td></tr></table></center>

---

Multiple Table Borders

Probably a little too fancy-smancy for this gif, but just wanted to show you more of what you can do with tables and pictures. There are four sets of tables surrounding the picture, and effects can be changed simply by increasing or decreasing the cellpadding and/or border numbers.

When building the tables, start with the outer table first, and work inward. Finish by adding the image.

Text for the above framework:

<center> <table background="http://d21c.com/billie/
backgrounds/goldpatternbg.jpg" cellpadding=4
cellspacing=0 border=14>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/
backgrounds/periwinklewatercolorribbon.jpg"
cellpadding=0 border=11>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/
backgrounds/periwinklesolidbg.jpg" cellspacing=0
border=3><tr><td><center>
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=2>
<tr><td><img src="http://d21c.com/billie/
logos/billielittlegirl.gif" width=160 height=180 align=middle>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>

To create a pleasing set of table backgrounds, you should usually have at least three small background images (they will tile to fill whatever table size you specify):   a pattern of some kind, a coordinated gradient ribbon, and a solid texture for the top/main "palette" to place your text and images on. You can also match your font color to one of those background colors, instead of the standard black, white, red, blue, etc.

Here are a couple of links you might find helpful in making *your* tables pretty and fun!

Gradient Ribbon Colors

HTML Color Codes

*NOTE*:   Another thing you should know is that you can also use the html colors for your backgrounds instead of a background jpeg or gif. Anywhere in the table command where it says <table background="http://rest of the url/filename.jpg" cellpadding=10 border=6>, remove background="http://...../filename.jpg" and replace it with bgcolor=2f4f4f or any of the color codes above, so that it would look like this: <table bgcolor=2f4f4f cellpadding=10 border=6>

The templates and instructions that I've posted are only a small sampling of what can be done using tables, and certainly not the only way. You can find many other ways to make multiple background tables, but hopefully, this will get you started.

* BONUS! *

Here is a very simple example using three backgrounds: a blue gradient, a pink plaid, and a pink rose on pink for the inside. I used the same font color as in the rest of the post. (Font color="2f4f4f")

Below are the html commands (it will be wider than this, and grow longer as you add text and a picture.)

<center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/stormyweatherbg2.jpg" cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 border=2>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/Pinkplaidbg.gif" cellpadding=20 cellspacing=0 border=2>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/stormyweatherbg2.jpg" cellpadding=2>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://www.d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/pinkrosebg.jpg" width=500 cellpadding=30>
<tr><td>
<center>
<img src="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/PinkplaidRosebar.gif" width=288 height=44>
</center> <font color=2f4f4f>
Delete this whole sentence and put your post here instead. </td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>

Now that you are armed and dangerous, FReepers, go get those templates, go get those backgrounds, and

06-28-05 ~ Hall of Fame #12

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 07-11-05 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[MEG33]

Perfect! It fits my screen just right.

[Billie]

Oh, this is great! By Jove, I think you've got it! :) (Now we get to see that gorgeous background we only got a sliver of yesterday!) :)

[Pippin]

Hi, Mrs Nooseman!

You have mail! :o)

[Pippin]

(((((Billie)))!

[Billie]

Ah, there it is! And the colors are really nice together! I especially like that pretty, soft green background, and it works well as the main table, don't you think? :)

[Billie]

This one *is* better - and you have the frame around the picture this time. Good job!

[Billie]

Lucy looks beautiful in Lavender Blue! Use the framework anytime, Colleen - don't the pictures look more polished with a frame around them?! (Know you can change backgrounds and borders to make it different, too)

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Thanks.

I am trying really hard to work on my sizing.LOL.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

LOL.

It's a work in progress!!!!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Hi Pippin.

Got it!

Mail back at you!:)

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I like it a lot .

Thank you so much for all the help and your tutoring.:)

How do I change the color of the fonts?

I do know the basics,but never have done it the way you did in your post to me.

[DollyCali]

Gorgeous. You do "billie" work.. soft, feminine, delicate.

Great job!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Thanks.

Billie deserves all the credit though,because she is the one teaching me.;)

[tuliptree76]

Just taking a quick break. I thought I'd try the tables again. Here's Winston. :-)

[MozartLover]

Hey Toots,

I haven't forgotten about the pictures of you-know-who. Will get them to you by the end of the month, God willing.;^)

[Billie]

But I haven't Figured Out yet how to Make my own Frames! Everyone else's Work I've Seen Up and Down the Thread has been Wonderful!

Okay, let me show you something to help you understand. You see the gold part in that framework you used around the kitty picture? To the left, THIS is what it looks like by itself as a GRAPHIC, not as a background.

When you use BACKGROUND="http://rest of url/picture.jpg" inside the TABLE command, it does the framing around the picture. That's what the others are doing. Below, this is what the same graphic looks like inside a table command. I made the table width much wider than the strip you see above, but it "tiles" itself across the width I specified.(for this I specified: width=450 inside the table command as well)It also keeps repeating itself for the whole *length* of your table - as long as you keep adding text or pics, it will keep filling the whole space. It is with "tables" that everyone is making "frames" and "borders".

To put that mitered corner 2-color, shaded border around the gold, I need to add - all inside the table command, and right after the background="http:// stuff - border=10 or any number higher or lower. It would look like this:

Each new set of table commands you add, stacks them on top, so that this gold one actually becomes the bottom one, and the last one you type is the top one. The way *we* do it for the Finest Opening Posts is: the LAST one that you type 'sets' the size of the whole thing. You make those frames/borders around the last/top/main show up by adding cellpadding= any number goes here - as with *border* widths, the higher the number, the wider the band of color or pattern will be.

Too much to process? It's not easy to understand until you've done them over and over and over, I'll agree with that. :)

[Mrs.Nooseman]

How do you like this?

Experimenting with making different frames.

I hope you all don't mind.:)

[Billie]

How do I change the color of the fonts?

I took a break from pings in order and refreshed the page to read the rest of the comments.

The link I have in the Opening - remember? Color codes? Save that link - it has beautiful color codes to match almost any background you can find. You have to use a separate font command every time you change the color or the size or the font type itself.

Example: <font color=000030 face=arial size=2><b>

To turn OFF all of it, you only have to type </font> ONE time. It removes all of it and goes back to the default black Times New Roman size 3.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Oh,maybe I should reread your opening.

I sometimes tend to skip the most important parts.LOL.

[Diver Dave]

Good morning, Finest FRiends!

We're back!

Are you ready for more? :)

Yep!