I have a website with a very bad archive page (i.e. it's all on one page and pretty bulky as a result).

 

I'd like to improve it by breaking it up into separate pages by year and month, problem is I don't know how and can't find anything of use online!

 

How can I make it so that I can have a drop-down list from which users can select a year, another list for month and a button that will take them to the appropriate page?

 

This is the closest thing I've found, but I don't want the lists to take them where they want, just a button based on what is selected from the lists.

 

Oh, and sorry for using tables instead of CSS for my site, but I was very young when I started it!

 

Any help is immensely appreciated!

 

Niall

just thought id let you know i use tables too lol makes me feel old but im not haha

 

ps first link does not work

Edited April 30, 201115 yr by web-itec

just thought id let you know i use tables too lol makes me feel old but im not haha

 

ps first link does not work

 

Ah, forgot to add an S, thanks for the heads up.

 

I've been meaning to change it to CSS but the idea of having to all those pages is intimidating!

 

I can't seem to edit my original post, so here's the working link.

Edited April 30, 201115 yr by Demonolith

Ah, forgot to add an S, thanks for the heads up.

 

I've been meaning to change it to CSS but the idea of having to all those pages is intimidating!

 

ive been told soo many times about i shouldnt script using tables, yes i know, tables are supposed to be used for displaying data but i dont see whats wrong with designing websites using tables?

 

everyone uses div these days, there websites work fine in IE 5,6,7,8,9, firefox, opera, safari, chrome and so on, i use tables, my websites work in IE 5,6,7,8,9, firefox, opera, safari, chrome, so whats the big deal ill never know.

 

My website loads as equally as fast as ones scripted using div

Websites using tables can have the same layout as one using div

In my eyes is a hell of a lot simpler

 

so in my opinion mate, dont bother with the div and high CSS, keep it simple but looking good, for as long as tables still work in all current versions of internet browsers then im going to be using tables (i sound stuck up but im not really, im a nice lad, just fed up people commenting constantly about my use of tables :|)

 

EDIT*

rampage over

Edited April 30, 201115 yr by web-itec

***GETS POPCORN AND MAKES SELF COMFORTABLE***

***GETS POPCORN AND MAKES SELF COMFORTABLE***

 

i had to laugh i should have corrected it to "noob" rampage aswel i thought i would have got some comments back from people complaining about me using tables just to p*ss me off hah well "try" to

http://shouldiusetablesforlayout.com/

Anyone know how?

 

C'mon, think of it as a challenge (one I couldn't beat)!

ive been told soo many times about i shouldnt script using tables, yes i know, tables are supposed to be used for displaying data but i dont see whats wrong with designing websites using tables?

 

everyone uses div these days, there websites work fine in IE 5,6,7,8,9, firefox, opera, safari, chrome and so on, i use tables, my websites work in IE 5,6,7,8,9, firefox, opera, safari, chrome, so whats the big deal ill never know.

 

 

HTML is a semantic language - it's supposed to describe the structure of the data.

 

You can't design responsively for different device sizes using tables. Tables screw up the experience for screen readers and other assistive technologies, meaning that at least in the UK, you're technically in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.

 

It's amateurish, out of date and short-sighted. Not something anyone boasting of creating "top quality professional websites" should be doing. Rather than defending it you should accept that you need to reskill and join the rest of us in the 21st century.

If nothing else, here's a solid business reason: tables are bad for SEO, because they make your layout dependent on source order. With a CSS layout I can do this:

 

<div id="content">
 <!-- This is the important stuff for this page, so it should be right here at the top of
the document where the search engine spiders will give it the most weight -->
</div>
<div id="left-sidebar">
 <!-- This stuff is supplementary - there's no way Googlebot should have to wade through
this to get to the content -->
</div>
<div id="nav">
 <!-- I can put this wherever I want via absolute positioning - so why not put it down here
where it won't distract Googlebot? -->
</div>

 

Game, set and match.

Edited May 8, 201115 yr by Renaissance-Design

Tables have a time and a place, but they are not for layouts. Displaying tabular data, then yeah, that is where tables will be best applied. For document structure, divs is your main tool if working in HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0, and with HTML5, you have a bucket load of additional semantic tags just for organising and structuring your content. Divs are just a lot more flexible, and as pointed out, tables are bad for SEO. Also, it is deprecated practices, and for good reason. When you are having to do a lot of script just to get a relatively simple layout, then you are doing it wrong. Just because it works doesn't necessarily mean it is a good reason to keep things that way. You don't get better performing programs just because code works, you get it by deprecating bad coding practices and adopting efficient coding.

 

It does matter to adopt proper scripting practices. It really does mean the difference between source code that is readable and something that is a monstrosity to understand and debug (should things go wrong).