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

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

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!

[tuliptree76]

I better get back to studying. I might come back before bed. Talk to you later.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Hi Just Amy!

What a beautiful Table!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

LOL.

Well I posted it on accident and I was just seeing if I placed the frame in the right spot.LOL.

Well I still have to work on getting it in the frame better,that was my first attempt with that graphic!

I'll have to try again tomorrow or the next day to get it right.

[JustAmy]

Hope to see you later, Tulip.

[JustAmy]

Thank you .... I'm still practicing.

Sometimes they look like I want them to look and then there are times that I just give up and start over. :)

[Billie]

I fooled around with one border forever and finally gave up on it and just posted it. :)

Hopefully Billie will tell me what I did wrong.

Which border are you talking about - the lavendar gradient around the butterfly graphic? If it's that one at the top and the bottom, there is one line break after the table set of commands is posted before the picture, and there are two line breaks AFTER the picture but before the table off commands. I don't know if that's the way you typed it, or if the "mess-up" thing that John has implemented when someone forgets to turn something off and *it* thinks it can read your mind and throw a command or two around wherever *it* wants to. :( It's hard to do a partial view source at FR because the way *we* type the commands is never the way it's posted. The result *may* be the same if we didn't make any errors, but the order we post our commands is not always the way it gets posted.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

LOL.

I know what you mean.

This is my first, well maybe second day of doing tables and frames and I had to give up on a few.:)

[JustAmy]

We are so excited about seeing some of our Finest FRiends.

I'm not sure about the perm yet but I look better than I did yesterday. :)

[JustAmy]

I saved that post the way I typed it; I will look at it and if I can find the error, I'll FRmail you a copy if I can't find it .... Okay? :)

[JustAmy]

Whatever I change just messes it up more.

It looks like I need lots more practice. :)

[Billie]

Okay, but not FR mail - we don't get the true commands there either, because it 'activates' line breaks and paragraph commands, rather than posting the command itself. Send to my regular email addy. And also, do take a look at the source code and see where it differs from what you typed, if it does. In one place there the tbody, tr, and td were turned on, then all three turned off, then they were turned on again.

[bevlar]

Thanks Dolly - you certainly did make it look better, and you took out the part where I vacuum up spiders because they scare me :-)

[luvie]

Hi! I'm working on it--I may have to wait till I have a day that is really slow so I can concentrate on what I am doing. It is totally unfamiliar territory! But I'll get 'er done!

[luvie]

Yep! They're Bob's! They just looked so good! And they filled up the whole picture for a good background. Thanks Bob! :o)

[DollyCali]

Hi there Bev...spiders.. har. well, I did remove the editorizing as I am NOT afraid of spiders!! and since it was my post I didn't want folks to think I was a "BAD" biology major!!!

HOpe all is going well with you at the clinic..

[DollyCali]

Whatever I change just messes it up more.

It looks like I need lots more practice. :)

I vote we let her practice by doing JH2 one week.

[Billie]

You have regular email. :)

[Billie]

I vote we let her practice by doing JH2 one week.

Sounds like a winner to me. :)

[Billie]

I'm glad to hear from you. Aqua said they had a lot of storm/wind damage from Dennis - no major destruction, but a lot of clean up - debris, etc. All after they'd just done some major cleaning and painting outside. :(

Take care tomorrow if you're driving, and see you Friday. Hugs!

[JustAmy]

Butterfly

What’s in those flowers that you sip,
That makes you seem so tipsy?
We can’t tell if you’re coming from,
Albany or Poughkeepsie,

Or even if you’re going to,
One place or the other.
The way you travel seems to be,
You’re looking for your mother!

Just as a toddler wanders round,
With no fixed course in sight,
The butterfly flits both here and yon,
In most erratic flight.

It seems so inefficient,
Why can’t you just hold still?
And then you stop, and fold your wings,
Upon a daffodil.

You daintily step forward,
“I haven’t touched a drop!”
And just as sober as a Judge,
You spread your wings and FLOP!

And Flip, and Flap, and bounce.
A goonie in reverse.
How can you be so comical?
I know you don’t rehearse.

And yet you get where you must go,
God knows how you can do it.
Perhaps the use of folded hands,
And faith just leads you to it.

By NicknamedBob . . . . March 30, 2004
© 2004

Thank you, Billie. This one is lovely.
I will learn but not ready for JH2, yet. :)