Help:Tables

Tables can be used for displaying data, and also for creating box-type designs for pages on your Wikia.

Some HTML table tags are currently supported by MediaWiki, but there is no guarantee these will not be deprecated. For this reason, you are advised to use the wiki syntax, which is described on this page.

Note, the following information does not apply to the WYSIWYG mode of the new editor, though you will notice the syntax when in source mode

Markup

	XHTML	Wiki syntax
Table	<table></table>	{| params |}
Caption	<caption></caption>	|+ caption
Row	<tr></tr>	|- params
Data cell	<td>cell1</td> <td>cell2</td>	| cell1 | cell2
Data cell	<td>cell1</td> <td>cell2</td> <td>cell3</td>	|cell1||cell2||cell3
Header cell	<th></th>	! heading

See also MetaWikipedia:Help:Table on Meta-Wiki for more markup information, including how to make tables sortable.

Sample table

1	2
3	4

XHTML	Wiki syntax
<table> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> </tr> </table>	{| | 1 || 2 |- | 3 || 4 |}

Notes

• The entire table begins with {| and ends with the required |}.
• A caption is a succinct way to describe your table, and can be included with |+ on the line after {|.
• Table rows are horizontal groups of cells in the table. A row begins with |- and ends at the next row.
• Table headings are cells with headings in them, and are often rendered in a bold font. They begin with !. Note that parameters are still separated from the actual content of the cell with |, however
• Table data cells fill out the rest of the table. A cell begins with | or || and ends at the next cell.

Each row must have the same number of cells as the other rows, so that the number of columns in the table remains consistent (unless there are cells which span several columns or rows, but this is not discussed here). For empty cells, use the non-breaking space   as content to ensure that the cells are displayed.

Complex layout (made simple)

This advanced example shows some of the options available for making tables. You can play with these settings in your own table to see what effect they have. Not all of these techniques may be appropriate in all cases; just because you can add colored backgrounds, for example, doesn't mean it's always a good idea. Try to keep the markup in your tables relatively simple — remember, other people are going to be editing the page too.

An example layout

First header	Second header
upper left		right side
lower left	lower middle

Welcome to the twin cities

Your table code reflect the table structure. Although it is possible to compose complex layout as one table, it is generally not advisable. For simplicity, it is best to split the layout into small units.

Split it up

While you can nest table

layout	code
An example layout First header Second header upper left   right side lower left lower middle A table in a table	{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;" width="330" |+'''An example layout''' |-  ! First header  ! colspan="2" | Second header |- | upper left |   | rowspan=2 | right side |- | | lower left | | lower middle |- | colspan="3" align="center" | {| border="0" |+''A table in a table'' |- || [[File:Wiki.png]] || [[File:Wiki.png]] |} |}

It may be better to split the tables up:

layout	code
An example layout First header Second header upper left   right side lower left lower middle	{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="330" style="border-collapse:collapse;" |+'''An example layout''' |-  ! First header  ! colspan="2" | Second header |- | upper left |   | rowspan=2 | right side |- | | lower left | | lower middle |} {| style="border:1px solid; border-top:none; width:330px;" |- || [[File:Wiki.png]] || [[File:Wiki.png]] |}

Don't use table for simple box

Table code should be used for tables only. For simple boxes, use <div></div> instead. For example, instead of:

layout	code
Welcome to the twin cities	{| style="border:1px solid; border-top:none; width:330px;" |- || [[File:Wiki.png]] || [[File:Wiki.png]] |- | align="center" colspan="2" style="border-top:1px solid red;"| Welcome to the twin cities |}

You may use

layout	code
Welcome to the twin cities	{| style="border:1px solid; border-top:none; width:330px;" |- || [[File:Wiki.png]] || [[File:Wiki.png]] |- | align="center" colspan="2"| <div style="border:1px solid red;">Welcome to the twin cities</div> |}

The complete code

An example layout

First header	Second header
upper left		right side
lower left	lower middle

Welcome to the twin cities

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="330" style="border-collapse:collapse;"
|+'''An example layout'''
|-
! style="background:#efefef; color:#000;" | First header
! colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead; color:#000;" | Second header
|-
| upper left
|  
| rowspan=2 | right side
|-
| | lower left
| | lower middle
|}

{| style="border:1px solid; border-top:none; width:330px;"
|-
|| [[File:Wiki.png]]
|| [[File:Wiki.png]]
|-
| align="center" colspan="2"|
<div style="border:1px solid red;">Welcome to the twin cities</div>
|}

See also

• MetaWikipedia:Help:Table on Meta-Wiki, upon which this page was based. This page has more detailed information, and also has a number of external links to sites offering HTML-to-wiki-conversion.
• Help:Editing

External links

• Online HTML to Wikitables converter