Responsive Table

Follow up to my post.

When you preview the Blocs file the table will not look right on publish,
The style.ccs must be placed in the ccs folder for it it view ok

Sorry - just remember when I opened the Blocs file to check it.

Trev

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Bootstrap has really good table support so why not spend a short amount of time and learn how to write it. It isn’t that complicated and you will be both amazed and rewarded by the results.

Have a look at Bootstrap 5 Striped, Responsive Tables and More - Tutorial Republic where you can actually try the code and see the result.

I always think that tables are a feature of the old days and don’t really fit the modern world on mobile devices and always try to find an alternative way of displaying the information. I understand that sometimes you can’t avoid tables but this is where learning how to build a table with code will pay off.

PS I too used to use Freeway many years ago and all I can say is thank goodness I changed course. Times change and unfortunately Freeway didn’t change. If you are coming from Freeway you will have to bite the bullet and change the way you do some things and that is true of whatever web app you use.

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You’re absolutely right.

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If you look what foundation 6 all offers and even the beta of Bootstrap 4 (table, accordeon, tabs - for us very basics for our web design) this all should be possible.
Hopefully, hopefully as blocs is qiuet handy and smart.
But for the moment we wait with redesign as we first want to see how 2,4 in its final is coping with project from 2,3.
We see some differences of appearance such as alignments which are looking different in the two versions and also strange things in the class sidebar (ok, for now beta).

Anyhow, worth to follow and having a look at.

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No thanks. Consider well the main draw of Blocs is the main draw of SoftPress Freeway decades ago:

FOR THOSE WHO DON’T SEE THE WORLD AS CODE!

Yep, even after all these years, that’s still me. Just because I can program PIC MCU’s in Assembly doesn’t mean I want to do the same on the WEB! No! But I am not alone in liking web design that doesn’t force me to code. Sounds like it’s t50ufo too, as well as countless other Blocs users. Thankfully we have brilliant people like Norm who are masters of code – masters in that they can use code to create a product for people who are brain-dead to code.

This is why we need a table tool that has the simplicity of Excel or even the table tool in Freeway, yet with the power that modern “responsive” frameworks offer.

I have no doubt that Norm will add it, and I personally thank him for hinting at that here in this thread. I am just saying that tabular data on the web is what I do. Building a large and complex table that scales down (selectively hiding content too) on smaller screens is a super feature. Even people who think they don’t need such a feature will probably surprise themselves at how often they start using it when it becomes available in Blocs.

So I await the Table Tool in Blocs. And yes, I am holding my breath.

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:slight_smile:

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I’ll defo look to improve table support, but don’t expect an excel type workflow. A big part of Blocs is about looking forward, I think we can all agree tables are not the future, but have their use cases.

Ultimately I’m going to try and make it easier to add a table and populate it, but I’d imagine it’ll be pretty simple feature wise.

Norm,

Here’s a brief screencast (no sound) showing how the Freeway Pro 7 TABLE Tool operates:

I am not saying it is the best tool around. Nor is it responsive. I am merely showing what kind of flexibility it offers me in terms of tabular data construction, centering, coloring, row/column management, and how it looks when using the Japanese language.

Of course, a responsive table tool would need to empower the user to selectively hide columns as the screen width decreases (something the Freeway Table Tool cannot do), as shown in Trev’s example here:

http://www.trevormckay.co.uk/table/

This is very useful! Thank you! Would you mind keeping it live for a while so I can reference it at a later date.

Norm,

It’s an UNLISTED video on YouTube. I am happy to leave it up for as long as anyone finds it useful.

–James

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@JDW, nice words, whish my english would be better…
My first look at blocs was a year ago and I didn´t choose it. Although it was already impressive in the number 1 versions.
Our team is fiddeling here and there with blocs projects now since version 2.
With a bit of creativity one can quiet set up super sites - like Eldar does for example.
Personally I like the effort of Norm now also providing videos.
So…
There is no dought from my side that Norms baby will grow up:wink:
And like all babies it needs food…
This is what this forum provides endless! :yum:

Pretty sure that blocs will be a major success.
And - please let Norm follow his vision to create an app for mac easy to use.

Can one imagine working with version 5? :sweat_smile:

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Exactly, guess we all agree that tables are not a tool for building websites anymore.
BUT, as you mentioned they have their use cases - and for us a lot in terms of pricing and periods.
Pretty sure for others as well.
Not expecting a calculable exel scheme - just a canvas to arrange inputs and infos.

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@JDW It’s great to have you in our community! The points you make are really valuable!

@pixelwork Well said!

I am sure Norm already has a clear idea about what Blocs 5.0 will be like! (or should I say 5.1 ;)) Even Blocs 2.3.2 is a very capable application, which allows me (somebody who has never learned how to code) to build almost any website design I want.

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Blocs 5! I can’t wait to get my hands on that myself!

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No need to speak of Blocs 5. I’m sure we’ll see a table tool by Blocs 3.4, at the latest. (I’m an optimist.)

Even though tables aren’t used to maintain the frame/layout of the website anymore, there is still a need for tabular data in HTML form. We don’t want to always send website visitors to a PDF for that. And that is why a RESPONSIVE table is key in Blocs. Again, I thinking the approach used by Trev is very workable, and the following website has some other ideas too:

To be honest, so as to more seamlessly move from Freeway Pro to Blocs, I personally seek not only a TABLE tool but also an easy way to implement site search. I currently use Google Custom Search, and before that I used Atomz (both free, but Atomz is now defunct). So if Blocs can make an easy means of adding a lovely looking search bar, akin to how Apple.com does it (click on the search icon and the menu bar vanishes and is replaced by the search bad), then… well… WOW! That’s all I can say. Blocs is a WOW app now, but with TABLES and SEARCH, it becomes super duper WOW. :slight_smile:

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My last post in this critically important thread was way back in May 2017. It’s now almost March 2019. While I know for certain there are many juicy features on Norms TO DO list, I once again would like to appeal for Responsive Tables. This is the single most important feature for me, and it seems like for many of you too. Second to responsive tables is a site wide search feature, preferably one that ties in with Google Custom search, which is what I use now in my Freeway sites.

“Pretty please, with sugar on top”?

–James W.

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Hi @JDW ,
I have to smile a bit and give you a litle wink :wink: as you are not giving up your wish for tables.
Also I would love this feature just for small price/period tables (althogh are cards beautiful they would use a lot more space).
Implementation via html widget is possible, but adding/changing data via code makes it more or less not worh to use by now).
I am pretty sure we will see this future and it might be not so far away as bootsrap 4 includes this feature.
But I also understand @Norm having his focus currently on more important features as we are the only ones always remembering how useful it is to us.

Guess we need more patience :sunglasses:

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I’m curious which tools similar to Blocs do this out of the box. This can fuel some ideas I think, and would be helpful. What I’ve seen from 3rd party tools would not be appropriate I think for Blocs core, and certainly not possible with the current api.

Thank you. I know some have shared a need for tables but I personally I don’t see how it would fit using core blocs.

I to would like to know of any that really support tables. It just seems that with mobile device usage continual on the rise tables just seems old school to me.

I’m sure someone with programming skill like yourself would be able to find a solution, maybe just not in Blocs.

Casey

In a previous post, waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2017 in this thread, I posted a video on how SoftPress Freeway does it. I know this very well because I still use Freeway to this day and have been a continuous user since 1999, in fact.

I disagree that we need “more patience.” We need “more people” asking for this same feature. If every Blocs user asked for it, no doubt it would pretty quickly move up on the priority list.

And just because another similar web design tool (similar to Blocs) doesn’t have a responsive table feature doesn’t mean it is impossible to implement. Indeed, it could be a very UNIQUE SELLING POINT of Blocs!

Seriously, the absence of a table Bric and a Search Bric are pretty much the only two reasons I still use Freeway. I cannot rebuild my existing sites in Blocs without those features. And since many pages have tabular data in tables that are very large, doing it all in code in Blocs isn’t realistic.

It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Heck, the table tool in Freeway isn’t fancy. I might even be willing to say “forget it even being responsive and just give me a WYSIWYG table tool in Blocs.” It’s best if its responsive, but if that will take another 10 years to implement, then throw out the responsive and give me what you can now, in Blocs, in a nice WYSIWYG manner, with no code hacks required.

Even if some argue that “a good number of Blocs users do NOT need a table tool,” it’s really not possible to say that in any factual way. It’s not like we’ve taken a poll. And I assure you that once it’s implemented, all Blocs users will sit wide-eyed in awe, eager to give a try.

Where there’s a will, there’s always a way.

Best,

James W.

Here’s something I found we researching this topic.
There are some good links to Responsive Tables.

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