You can tell the difference in modes by the way the table displays in Dreamweaver or by checking the Layout Mode and Standard Mode icons on the Layout Insert bar at the top of the work area. Chapter 6: Coming to the HTML Table 155 Choosing between tables and layers More and more pages on the Web are designed with layers, and you can expect to see that trend continue. As Internet users upgrade their browsers and newer browsers support layers better and better, their advantages are quickly outweighing the limitations. Layers are much easier to control than tables, especially in Dreamweaver where you can simply click and drag to place them wherever you want on a page. You can put any element in a layer, including images, text, and multimedia files. You can even stack layers on top of each other, and you get down-to-the-pixel design control, which is far better than what you get with tables. So why doesnt everyone use layers? Because if your visitors use older browsers (Netscape or Internet Explorer 4.0 and earlier) layers wont display in their browsers, meaning any text or images you place in a layer do not appear as you intended. Even newer browsers arent always consistent about how they display layers, so some of your visitors may have unpredictable results, such as elements where you didnt intend them or misalignment of text and images. Thus, what you gain in design control with layers, you may lose twice over for someone using an old browser. For this reason, some designers still prefer tables, and they continue to be an important design tool on the Web. Ultimately, you have to base your decision on whether to use layers or tables on what you know about your audience. Depending on your server, you may be able to check the log statistics and see what versions of browsers your visitors use (your service provider or system administrator may be able to give you this information). On many major sites, less than 3 percent of visitors are still using browser versions older than 4.0; but your audience may be different, and you have to decide what percentage of visitors youre willing to give up to gain the advantage of using layers. If your goal is to have decent design control and the most universally recognized Web pages, tables are your safest option. If your goal is to design the most advanced site possible, then you should move on to CSS and layers, covered in Chapters 8 and 9. If you want the best of both worlds, design a page that uses both layers and tables to achieve the greatest design control yet still have a page that degrades gracefully for older browsers. You have one other option in Dreamweaver. You