A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....01-10-06....Turning the Tables

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, Dutchess, DollyCali, Mama_Bear, GodBlessUSA ~

Turning the Tables

I'm turning the tables on you today. My opening won't be a pretty one - today that's *your* job!

This is the third 'installment' of how to make pretty posts, using tables and borders and decorative fonts. You will have all the tools you need today to create your own beautiful table posts. But first you need a few decorative fonts and a good source for html color codes to break out of the basic red, blue, green, etc. colors. Once you have the fonts installed on your own hard drive, you can use them in your posts, along with hundreds of pretty color codes, to turn ordinary, default text into pretty script or playful fonts.

Below are a few fonts to begin with. Simply click on the name, and when you are asked "Do you want to open or save this file?", click on the button *Save*, and a list of the programs and folders on your computer will open. Navigate down the tree to "Control Panel", and click on the "Fonts" folder. The new font will download and install in that folder - that's all there is to it! It is now on your hard drive, and you can specify the new font face, as well as color and size, in your html command: <font face="brush flair" size=5 color="b20000"><b>. After you've posted your text, using that font face, size, and color, you only have to turn OFF the font once: </font>

Charming
Chaucer
Invitation
Brush Flair
Vivaldi
Quill

If you would like to locate and download more fonts, this is a great source:

6500 Free Fonts to Download

Now you need a source to find the 'perfect shade' of color for text that will compliment your backgrounds or graphics. Try this one: (use the color *number* rather than a name)

HTML Color Codes

A little further down I am including several background files and some graphics you can use to build your table posts. To help you understand how to post a table, you need to know that there is a whole *set* of commands for each table you post. I always start mine with the <center> command because I like for the tables to be centered in my posts.

<center><table><tr><td>

You must turn OFF as many sets of commands (in the opposite order you turned them on) after you have finished inserting the information or pictures in your last/main table.

</td></tr></table><center>

Our Finest opening posts are a series of *nested* tables, and the outside tables form a 'frame/border' around the last/main table. It is the last table that we put our text and images on, and we give that last table a specific width (most websites use percentages for their table widths, and they will increase/decrease to fit your screen - your text and/or images may also *move around* when you use percentages. We prefer them to stay *put*, which is why our last tables have a specific width in the table command)

The <table>command itself is where we put all the little details that show the widths of the frames/borders, and the background colors or *patterns*. To use a background pattern or image, it is similar to posting a graphic - you must have the image uploaded. To use just a color code, you need only specify bgcolor=#dfcdf3 (or any color code of your choice) inside the table command. You can do both bgcolor AND background image in the same table command - the bgcolor will open first and the background image will be on top of the bgcolor.

Below is a set of tables that uses both background images/patterns and bgcolors. Below the set, I will show the code that created it. (Notice that narrow strip just below this table? It is a ruler/guide I use to keep my table posts from getting too wide for an 800 x 600 screen resolution. I delete it before posting.)   :)

       

Hello, Finest FReepers, and thank you for coming today.

I used 4 sets of tables here - the first three are background images or gradients, and the last one is just a black bgcolor. If you use this *template* to create your own table, just replace ALL of this text with whatever you wish to say. You may also add more table *sets* or use fewer. Just remember to count how many you turn *on*, so you can turn *off* the same number.

One more thing I ask in posting tables at the Finest....we use a screen resolution of 800 x 600 for our regulars who have theirs set at that size. When you are creating a table post, please keep them sized so that no one has to scroll to view the whole thing. I use a little ruler/guide at the top of the tables I build that keeps me within that guideline. See it above, between the two sets of tables? I normally remove it when I'm finished checking the tables, before I post the thread! :)

I will post the text to make the ruler/guide for *you* so you'll know you can't exceed that width. Keep it there until you're ready to post - sometimes pictures are wider than the last table, and it stretches the table to fit the picture. :)

READY? LET'S GO!

COPY & PASTE EVERYTHING IN GREEN BELOW THIS PARAGRAPH, BECAUSE IT IS THE HTML TEXT IT TAKES TO BUILD YOUR TABLES. If the urls, words or numbers inside any of the brackets are in Italics, those urls/words/numbers can be changed to bigger or smaller numbers, or other colors or backgrounds or graphics you want to use instead. Below this table text, there will be several backgrounds and opening* graphics you can use instead of those I used just above. The first line of commands is the ruler/guide that will post above your tables when you start. Don't let your tables get wider than the guide - preferably comment posts should be narrower than the guide, but *definitely* not wider!

<center><table width=775 border=1><tr><td></td></tr></table></center>

<center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/DeepRedtexturedgradient.jpg" cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0 border=4>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/Blackgradientbg.jpg" cellpadding=15 cellspacing=0 border=2>
<tr><td><center>
<table background="http://d21c.com/billie/backgrounds/merlotcontemporarybg.jpg" cellpadding=50 cellspacing=0 border=2>
<tr><td><center>
<table bgcolor=#000000 width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=2>
<tr><td>
<br><br>
<center>
<img src="http://tinypic.com/jv0gzo.jpg" width=280 height=415>
</center>
<br><br>
<blockquote><font color=#e5e5e5 face=arial size=3>
Replace all this stuff with your text. The *blockquote* command gives a nice little margin on both sides, rather than having the text go all the way to the edges.
<br><br>
PLEASE include the width and height of your graphics in your commands. You can find those when you right-click on the graphic to get the url. Under *size*, the width is listed first, then the height.
<br><br>
One more thing I ask in posting tables at the Finest....we use a screen resolution of 800 x 600 for our regulars who have theirs set at that size. When you are creating a table post, please keep them sized so that no one has to scroll to view the whole thing. I use a little ruler/guide at the top of the tables I build that keeps me within that guideline. See it above, between the two sets of tables? I normally remove it when I'm finished checking the tables, before I post the thread! :)
</font></blockquote>
<br><br>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>
</td></tr></table></center>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the fun part. With that template above, and with these graphics and backgrounds below, choose a graphic from the thumbnails (click on the thumbnails for the original - don't post the thumbnail size!)   The bgcolor number listed below the thumbnail graphic is the background bgcolor you should use for your last table because it was made for that particular graphic to *sit on*.

Once you have chosen the graphic, choose from the backgrounds below the thumbnails for the urls to use instead of the ones in the template above. You will notice that a few of the backgrounds were made specifically for the graphics - they might be *too busy* to use as the *wide* frames/borders, but will probably look nice as narrow ones. There should be at least one gradient background that will coordinate with your graphic. Now, have fun and let us all see what you do with it. Get creative and change some of the numbers for wider or narrower frames/borders - make the borders, narrow-wide-narrow instead of narrow-narrow-wide. Use the bgcolor for one of the wider frame/borders, or even add more tables before your last one! (Remember if you do, to do another line of *off* commands for each set of tables you add.)

CLICK ON THUMBNAILS FOR GRAPHIC

bgcolor=#dfcdf3

bgcolor=#e2b3ab

bgcolor=#dca19b

bgcolor=#e5f4f1

bgcolor=#000000

bgcolor=#502d27

bgcolor=#c8994b

bgcolor=#7a5755

bgcolor=#f8f8e0

bgcolor=#e0d6d5

BACKGROUNDS & GRADIENTS
Right-click to get the url

If none of these backgrounds or graphics say "Pick ME!", please Google and find something you like. Would love to see you have some fun putting things together today! Any questions, just ask. Have a Terrific Tuesday!

12-28-05 ~ Hall of Fame #14

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 01-09-06 Military Monday

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

[MEG33]

I Love Kitties

[MEG33]

I goofed somehow on the outside patterned padding..Help!

[MEG33]

New try with tiny url borders but still cannot get it to show up right except on the left side of the frame. I just made it very narrow to add the pattern colors. I added another table..the goldribbon inside. I'll try downloading the fonts later.I am such a computer dunce that I am very careful about these things! Thank You, Billie!

[DollyCali]

Wonderful Thread Billie!!!!

How much fun to add more things to our growing aersnal of ideas/toys/tools. Thank you for all the work you did to put this together. I have an insanely busy day today. Still not feeling well & need to still load some programs on & “find” things for my thread tomorrow. Have to be "out & about" several times today. Will check in later to see everyone’s CREATIVE work.

I picked this theme because I LOVE Sante Fe & it reminds me so much of it.

[DollyCali]

really pretty meg.. you probaby just wanted to reverse the gold & the patterned urls in the tables.. still neat. try it reversed & see if that is what you wanted.

[DollyCali]

lovely meg.. the choices of table patterns are really fun aren't they? well. I need to get busy. I am to be somewhere in 50 min.. need to feed mom, pets & get dressed.

later all

[MEG33]

No..I put the gold on the inside on purpose but the patterned borders do not look the same on the right and left sides and the pattern just does not look at all the same on top and bottom.

It was only the matching patterned urls I am talking about. See how it is a single framelike the picture of the frame on the left of my top picture and it looks like two frames on the right?(This is my first use of one of the tiny url frames and my first patterned one)

[Billie]

You did a beautiful job with the backgrounds - I knew you could take those flowers and the background behind the bear and 'create' something very uniquely Mama Bear. :)

Doing all the neat things our photo editing software can do is the *most* fun. Something else that takes practice, practice, practice as we both know!

My silhouetted cowgirl was ALL shades of black and white - a few tricks with color and shading on the hat and some stars and *rhinestones*, and voila! it came alive!

[Billie]

Good morning, Rus. Thanks for your friendly greeting last night. :)

[DollyCali]

I know I love to have the extra time to play around with widths etc when I do a thread. SOmetimes I have the time & sometimes I dont. Well, I understand what you mean. the sides/tops/bottoms can all not appear as you thought..

I have "MADE" from photos some backgrounds .. and they need some massaging when used in the tables for sure to get the correct "look".

off for a few hours..

[MEG33]

I wondered where that frame magically appeared..wonderful!
I have ACDSee and Paint..Greek to me. I am still struggling with tables!

[Billie]

I goofed somehow on the outside patterned padding..Help!

You didn't goof - it doesn't tile well - I wanted something to match the colors of that frame and just cropped part of it - when it tiles itself across the page and down, it has definite *choppy cuts*. It's not a great background (nor are the others that I did the same way)

But a remedy for that is to do what you did with it and keep that table bg very narrow. Another is to do a whole bunch of that bg one right after another (very narrow), and it tiles, but it does it sort of diagonally, like this: (I made the cellpadding at 6 and stacked 6 of them, and deleted the rust/gold wide padding, and made the text size 5 with bold.

I Love Kitties

[MEG33]

Now that is interesting..Thank you!

[Billie]

That looks BEAUTIFUL! You did great - I like the addition of the gold, and you used both red gradients. :) Good job!

[Billie]

Thank you, Dolly. I also like the southwest look of that graphic, and the shades of rust/gold/black etc really make it striking! That deep red looks good with it, too - hadn't realized it would!

This is what makes it more fun - to see how others choose colors. (I have so many more would like to have added, and maybe more that would coordinate even better, but at some point had to stop!) :)

Feel better today! That's an order from th' boss. :)

[Billie]

Now that is interesting..Thank you!

Well, it's a style that I do a lot - now you can, too. :) Sometimes I stack as many as 12 or 14 tables! :)

[MEG33]

Thank you. I swore I wouldn't be first this morning but here I am! I do love to play with these.

[dutchess]

WOW... what a great thread sistah! And "one stop shopping" with fonts, table commands, backgrounds all in one thread! No excuse for me now not to come up with something very pretty (AND detailed)! Will be back "to play" after work!!! ((((billie)))))

[Billie]

I wondered where that frame magically appeared..wonderful! I have ACDSee and Paint..Greek to me. I am still struggling with tables!

You're doing so well with your tables, Meg - one thing you're not afraid to do is experiment and change the widths and add and subtract tables - that's what it's all about. :) The photo editing is something entirely different, and so many of the programs are really difficult to learn.

[Billie]

WOW... what a great thread sistah! And "one stop shopping" with fonts, table commands, backgrounds all in one thread! No excuse for me now not to come up with something very pretty (AND detailed)! Will be back "to play" after work!!! ((((billie)))))

I am COUNTING on that, sweet sistah! Thank you! I like that "one stop shopping". :)