Issue 31: th instead of td
Status:  Invalid
Owner: ----
Closed:  Oct 2007
Reported by tkalm...@gmail.com, Oct 2, 2007
Wouldnt it be more correct to have <th>s within a <thead> instead of <td>s
(for toolbar, filter and header)?

As td's they somehow screw up a background image that is set for the
enclosing table tag (if I turn them into <th>s they background image shows
propertly).

Seems to be an incompatibility with my css, but I know my css follows
standard pretty strictly.

thank you for your efforts!


Oct 2, 2007
#1 extremec...@gmail.com
Can you show me how you are setting the background image? I want to reproduce it
myself. Also, which browsers are you seeing the behavior on?

I am not apposed to turning them into <th>'s, but is there a reference that shows
that doing <th>'s within a <thead> is more correct? Although if I can reproduce the
background image problem and the th fixes it I would just change it...I could see
that being a really nice effect!
Status: Accepted
Oct 2, 2007
#2 tkalm...@gmail.com
http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/tables.html#h-11.2.6

just a quick followup 

i will see if i can make an example (my code is pretty elaborate at the moment)


Oct 2, 2007
#3 extremec...@gmail.com
I would really just need to know how you are specifying the background image. The
main thing I would need to know is what element you are placing the background image
on, and then what the relevant css is for that background image. 

I would not need a complete example. I am going to specify a background image in the
same manner and verify that things are working.
Oct 3, 2007
#4 tkalm...@gmail.com
This is how the background image is specified:

.myTableClass { background:url(../img/round_corners_rectangle.gif) 0 0 no-repeat; }

I have figured out why the td's are not showing it. They have a "background-color"
defined whereas my th's have not. Appearantly the designer uses this little trick to
have the headers part of the background image for the table but not the actual data
cells... it works. 

So this means it is an issue specific to my css. I have no clue how many designers
use this. I am still interested in having th's in there though. I think it would
adhere more strictly to standards. 

Oct 3, 2007
#5 tkalm...@gmail.com
Forgot to mention: I am testing this on Firefox 2.0.0.7.
Oct 3, 2007
#6 extremec...@gmail.com
Thanks! I will give this a try and do more checking into the th element. 

From my initial reading I kept finding that the th is more correct if you have a
header and want to style it. If the rows are more for data then the td is more
correct. In JMesa the header definately fits the th description, but the filter does not.
Oct 15, 2007
#7 extremec...@gmail.com
It seems that the th element was an idea not completely realized. I keep reading that
using a th tag makes sense when you have a header that is styled...but then using a
td in any other case. Using a dynamic table does not make using a th clear cut so I
am just going to keep it as-is.
Status: Invalid