Tables with merged cells break up Webhelp layouts

[Nadia Gaganova]

Premium Pack 2 Webhelp skins, standard responsive skins, whatever: with a small window size the tables which have merged cells suddenly stretch out wider than they were on a full-screen window.
The merged cells I have are all of the "whole row merged into one" type.
Any ideas on fighting this one?

[Tim Green]

Hi Nadia,

Tables with merged cells are often a little unruly. Also, tables of any kind will always be a problem with responsive designs, because tables are the biggest enemy of responsive design.

You have to be very careful to make sure that the columns containing the merged cells are either locked (including the unmerged cells that are in the same overall column as the merged cells) or completely unlocked and fluid (again, also the unmerged cells). Generally, however, only simple tables with unmerged cells will behave predictably in fluid layouts, and not having tables at all is the best solution for responsive designs.

In the upcoming version 3.2 of the new Premium Pack skins there is a new feature called "Tap Tables". You only have to add a single class name to a table you want to convert, and when it is displayed on a small device (phone and/or tablet depending on the class name you choose) the table is hidden and replaced by a [Tap to View Table] button. When the user taps on the button, the table is displayed over the rest of the layout in a scrolling overlay so that the user can view the entire table without breaking the layout. This will be released together with Help+Manual 7.2, probably some time in October.

[Nadia Gaganova]

Thanks for prompt reply Tim.
My tables are completely fluid, yes. Well, I'll just have to avoid merged cells as long as I can, and hope (rather reasonable at this moment) that most of our users won't browse on small devices.