HTML Layouts

HTML Layout Example

Cities

London

London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.

Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium.

Footer

HTML Layout Elements

Websites often display content in multiple columns (like a magazine or newspaper).

HTML5 offers new semantic elements that define the different parts of a web page:

  • <header> – Defines a header for a document or a section
  • <nav> – Defines a container for navigation links
  • <section> – Defines a section in a document
  • <article> – Defines an independent self-contained article
  • <aside> – Defines content aside from the content (like a sidebar)
  • <footer> – Defines a footer for a document or a section
  • <details> – Defines additional details
  • <summary> – Defines a heading for the <details> element

HTML Layout Techniques

There are four different ways to create multicolumn layouts. Each way has its pros and cons:

  • HTML tables (not recommended)
  • CSS float property
  • CSS flexbox
  • CSS framework

Which One to Choose?

HTML Tables

The <table> element was not designed to be a layout tool! The purpose of the <table> element is to display tabular data. So, do not use tables for your page layout! They will bring a mess into your code. And imagine how hard it will be to redesign your site after a couple of months.

Tip: Do NOT use tables for your page layout!

CSS Frameworks

If you want to create your layout fast, you can use a framework, like W3.CSS or Bootstrap.

CSS Floats

It is common to do entire web layouts using the CSS float property. Float is easy to learn – you just need to remember how the float and clear properties work. Disadvantages: Floating elements are tied to the document flow, which may harm the flexibility. Learn more about float in our CSS Float and Clear chapter.

CSS Flexbox

Flexbox is a new layout mode in CSS3.

Use of flexbox ensures that elements behave predictably when the page layout must accommodate different screen sizes and different display devices. Disadvantages: Does not work in IE10 and earlier.

Learn more about flexbox in our CSS Flexbox chapter.