Just as with pictures, I don't know if or where you plan to present data using a table. So, we'll use the Test page that you created earlier. Once you know how to work with tables, you'll easily be able to add them to any of your pages.
- Bring up the test page in Page Editor.
- Position the cursor where you want to display the table and click the Table button in the Insert group on Page Editor's ribbon. The Create Table dialog opens, as shown in the next screenshot:
- Select Generic style in the Select a table type box. Then, enter the number or columns and rows your table will have in the columns and rows textboxes, respectively. Don't worry if you don't know the exact number of rows or columns. You can always add or delete rows, as well as columns, from a table, even after you add it to a page, just as you would in a word processor.
Why should you use Generic style when the other styles look more colorful?
There's a good reason. The colorful styles have colored backgrounds for alternate rows. That makes distinguishing between adjacent rows easier, as shown in the next image:
The problem, however, is that this color scheme breaks down if you add or delete rows from the table later on. That's because Office Live Small Business is not smart enough to adjust the backgrounds for alternate rows after you randomly hack at rows in the table. So, you might end up with tables like this:
Therefore, it's better to stick to the Generic style, which has white background for all rows.
- Click OK. The Create Table dialog closes. A table now appears on the page where your cursor was, as shown:
- Right-click on the table. An action menu appears, as shown:
- As you can see, it has commands to add rows, delete rows, merge rows and columns to create tables of virtually any internal shape. For example, the one below has three merged columns in Row 1 and two merged rows in Column 1, as shown:
- Go ahead and manipulate the table to your heart's content. After all, it's only a test page.
- Save your work and preview the page.
- Close the preview window and return to Page Editor.
Tip
How do you delete a table?
Surely, you know the drill by now. Select it with your mouse to reveal the picture's handles and hit the delete key on your keyboard.
You learned how to present data in a tabular format on your web pages. You learned how to add a table to your web page and how to manipulate and format its rows and columns.
If you're used to working with tables on a word processor or a spread sheet, you'll find Office Live Small Business's tables to be quite straightforward. The only thing that you should keep in mind is that they are not as sophisticated as their counterparts in word processors and spreadsheets. So, displaying complex tables with subtotals or subheadings might prove somewhat tricky.
Is the tabular format appropriate for presenting data on any of your web pages? A schedule of some sort, perhaps? Or a list of products and services or a thumbnail photo gallery? If so, now's the time to add those tables to your web pages.
- In Office Live Small Business's lingo, a module is:
A. A way to connect two web pages through a hyperlink
B. A pre-packaged mini-program that you can drop on a web page and configure it to perform a pre-determined task
C. A structure to represent tabular data on a web page
- Although it is possible to optimize pictures in Image Uploader, it's not a very good idea because optimized pictures make web pages sluggish. True or false?
- Downloading pictures from other people's websites and using them on yours amounts to stealing. Therefore, you should hyperlink to those pictures instead. Right or wrong?