Chris,

Joe isn't stingy in providing knowledge on tables, he just won't let anyone use them here, apart from himself.

Your comment that I've also heard from a number of people that tables were something to avoid using is curious. Are you sure that you're not confusing them with frames?

Tables are the basic html design tool, and every browser that I've ever seen recognises them.

Stick 'html tables' into any decent search engine and start reading...