Index.php Code Part 5
| <td width="160"><!--- Upper LeftLogo (160x160 or 20% <center></center>) ---><?php include ("includes/upperleft.inc.php"); ?><td> |
The next line "<td width="160"><!--- Upper LeftLogo (160x160 or 20% <center></center>) ---><?php include ("includes/upperleft.inc.php"); ?><td>" is the first cell of our table. The "<td" tag stand for "table data" and starts the cell. Since this is the first row of the table, we need to define the width of each column. We do this by adding width to the cell with the "width="160">" rule. This states that the width of this column will be 160 pixels wide. We could have also placed a percentage here. Usually 20% is good for a left side.
The next section is a note, "<!--- Upper LeftLogo (160x160 or 20% <center></center>) --->". This is just a reminder that this is the upper left portion of the screen where the logo usually goes. And that the logo area should be no bigger than 160x160 pixels or 20% of the visitors screen. There is also a reminder to center the logo in the "upperleft.inc.php" file.
The next portion "<?php include ("includes/upperleft.inc.php"); ?>" is important. This is where we include our first included file that will place the logo we made earlier in the upper left corner of the website. The "<?php" starts a php process. The "include", tells the computer that we want to execute an include command. The "("includes/upperleft.inc.php")" tells the computer where to find the file we want to include. The ever important ";" ends the command. And the "?>" stops the php process and allows the html process to continue.
The last part of this line, the "<td>", end the cell and allows the computer to go on to the next job.
| <td><!--- Blank Column ---> </td> |
The next cell "<td><!--- Blank Column ---> </td>" contains a simple space to allow for a small blank column so the cells don't butt up against each other to give the website that clean and finished look. The "<td>" starts the cell. The "<!--- Blank Column --->" is a note that this cells is to create a blank column. The " " tells the computer to put a non-breaking space here. The computer needs a code for a non-breaking space to understand that you really want a space at this location. When you write in html or php, you can space anything as you like to help you find stuff on the screen. This spacing is called white space. When the file is read, the white space is ignored. All the tabs, all the returns, all the double and triple spaces are ignored and the script is read as if it were written on one single endless line of data. By placing this command, it forces the computer to put a space in place and to do so without breaking to the next line if text. And the last part "</td>" ends the cell so the computer can go onto the next.
