size in use on the Web (believe it or not, a lot of people still have only 15-inch monitors). If youre creating a table that you want to cover the entire display area, a safe bet is to make your table 740 to 760 pixels wide and center it in the middle of the page. That leaves a little room on each side to prevent sideways scrollbars from appearing. Editing Tables in Layout Mode One wonderful advantage of working with tables in Layout mode is that you can use the layout grid to edit, move, and resize any of the rows, columns, and cells in the table. This capability enables you to use the grid as a true design guide for creating any kind of layout you want. Tables are much easier to edit in Layout mode because you can click and drag to create cells wherever you want on the page and Dreamweaver automatically fills in the rest of the table needed to position the cells for you. That means you dont have to manually create spacer cells or do lots of merging or splitting to get cells where you want them on a page. This feature is still not as precise as layers, but it comes close. You also have the flexibility to create nested tables (tables drawn within tables) for even more control over your layout. To create a nested table, simply click the Draw Layout Table button (available on the Layout Insert bar at the top of the work area) and begin drawing a new table inside an existing table cell. For more information on nested tables, see the section "Using nested tables: Tables within tables," later in this chapter. Chapter 6: Coming to the HTML Table 159 Using Expanded Table mode to select sells A third option for table editing is Expanded Table mode. To access this view, choose View?Table Mode?Expanded Tables Mode. This view makes selecting inside and around tables easier (without this option, it can be tricky to select specific cells within a table, especially if youre not really adept with your mouse). If youre in a hurry or working on lots of cells, this view makes it a lot easier to select and adjust table elements. Changing Table Options in Standard Mode Layout mode works best for creating and editing the overall structure of your table. When youre ready to start editing the contents of the table and its individual cells, you may prefer Standard mode because the Properties inspector provides more editing options in this mode. Using Layout mode, you can change some table attributes, but by using Standard mode, you can change all HTML table attributes, including the number of rows and columns as well as height, width, border size, and spacing. When you select a table or cell, the attributes display in the Properties inspector, at the bottom of the work area. Click the border of any table to select it, and the Properties inspector displays the table options shown in Figure 6-4. To view all the options, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Properties inspector. If youre having trouble selecting the table (sometimes selecting the entire table and not just an individual cell is tricky), simply place your cursor anywhere inside the table and choose Modify?Table?Select Table. The Properties inspector gives you access to the following table options for customizing the appearance of your table: _ Table Id: Provides a text area where you can enter a name or table. _ Rows: Displays the number of rows in the table. You can alter the size