You might find some comfort in reading this thread as you can see that the transition from tables to css can be achieved although there is a lot of work to do and a lot to learn along the way.
Here’s a quick revision of your table layout into CSS:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<title>Hansom Carriagese</title>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<!-- Meta -->
<meta name="description" content="#">
<meta name="keywords" content="#">
<!-- CSS -->
<link href="main.css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen, projection" type="text/css">
<!-- styles in the head for example only but should be removed to main.css -->
<style type="text/css">
/* reset stylesheet*/
html, body, table{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-size: 100%;
}
object, iframe,
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p,
dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, fieldset,
form, legend, table, caption, th, td {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p{margin:0 0 .5em}
/* remember to set a left margin or padding to ul or ol when you want a bulet to show and add list-style:disc*/
ol, ul {list-style: none;}
a img,img{border:none}/* remove borders from linked images*/
/* set your default link states here */
a:link{}
a:visited{}
a:hover{}
a:focus{}
a:active{}
/* end reset styles */
/* main styling */
body{
background:#000;
color:#fff;
text-align:center;/* ie5 hack to center layout*/
}
/* main container holds all content*/
#outer{
width:80%;
margin:auto;/* auto side margins automatically center layout.*/
text-align:left;/* reset text to left*/
min-width:700px;
max-width:1180px;
}
.logo img{
display:block;
margin:10px auto 25px;
}
#header{
width:100%;
overflow:hidden;/* contain floats*/
margin:0 0 25px;
}
.sidelinks1,.sidelinks2{
float:left;
width:25%;
font-size:2em;
text-align:center;
margin:0 0 25px;
}
.sidelinks2{float:right;}
.sidelinks1 li,.sidelinks2 li{margin:0 0 10px}
.sub{
overflow:hidden;
text-align:center;
}
.sub h2{
color:yellow;
font-size:220%;
font-style:italic;
}
.sub h2 span{
display:block;/* create block box on new line*/
color:red;
font-weight:bold;
font-size:110%;
font-style:normal;
}
#main{
clear:both;/* clear floats that are above*/
width:100%;
overflow:hidden;/*containe floats*/
}
.sideimg,.sideimg a{
float:right;
width:453px;
height:214px;
text-decoration:none;
background:url(http://8210guy.com/Hansom%20Carriages/Images/Jaguar-Interior.jpg) no-repeat 0 0;
margin:0;
}
.sideimg{margin:0 0 25px;}
.sideimg a{visibilityvisible}/* ie6 hack */
.sideimg a:hover img {visibility:hidden}
p.text {
overflow:hidden;
text-align:center;
color:#fff;
font-size:150%;
padding:30px 50px 0;
font-style:italic;
margin:0 0 25px;
}
* html .sub, .html p.text{height:1%;overflow:visible}/* ie6 hack to enforce haslayout*/
p.credit{
color:red;
font-style:italic;
text-align:center;
clear:both;
font-size:180%;
}
#footer{
clear:both;
color:#fff;
text-align:center;
font-size:120%;
padding:25px 100px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body id="home">
<div id="outer">
<h1 class="logo"><a href="#"><img src="http://8210guy.com/Hansom%20Carriages/Images/Logo.gif" width="702" height="176" alt="Hansom Carriages"></a></h1>
<div id="header">
<ul class="sidelinks1">
<li><a href="#">Link 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Link 2 </a></li>
<li><a href="#">Link 3</a></li>
</ul>
<ul class="sidelinks2">
<li><a href="#">Link 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Link 2 </a></li>
<li><a href="#">Link 3</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="sub">
<h2>The Private Hire Chauffeur Service<span>+44 (0)7796 445 032</span><span>+44(0)1483 833 661</span></h2>
</div>
</div>
<div id="main">
<p class="sideimg"><a href="#"><img src="http://8210guy.com/Hansom%20Carriages/Images/Jaguar.jpg" name="Jaguar" width="452" height="214" alt="Jaguar image"></a></p>
<p class="text">Start your holiday or business trip with a comfortable,
stress free journey to the Airport. Our prices compare
favorably with any taxi or private hire company in the area.</p>
<p class="credit">Most Credit / debit cards accepted</p>
</div>
<div id="footer">
<p>Style, Comfort and Courtesy are the main objectives of our service.
Our drivers are carefully selected, CRB checked, fully licensed and insured.</p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
It’s not supposed to be an exact copy but just an idea to show how you don’t need any positioning apart from floating to create the layout. I don’t expect you to understand it yet (or even use it) but it will help when you try things out and can refer to it to see how things work.
