This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus and vetting. |
Are you new here? Welcome! There is a simplified version of this page at Help:Wikitable. |
A table is an arrangement of columns and rows that organizes and positions data or images. Tables can be created on Wikipedia pages using special wikitext syntax, and many different styles and tricks can be used to customise them.
Tables can be used as formatting instrument, but consider using a multi column list instead.
To automatically insert a table, click or (Insert a table) on the edit toolbar. In the Vector toolbar the table icon is in the "Advanced" menu. If "Insert a table" is not on the toolbar follow these directions to add it.
The following text is inserted when Insert a table is clicked:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Caption text
|-
! Header text !! Header text !! Header text
|-
| Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example
|}
This code produces the following table:
Header text | Header text | Header text |
---|---|---|
Example | Example | Example |
Example | Example | Example |
Example | Example | Example |
The sample text ("Header text" or "Example") is intended to be replaced with actual data. You can fill in the table while in source mode. Or use the visual editor (VE).
With the visual editor (VE) you directly fill in the cells without having to go through wikitext. See the VE section farther down. VE makes it easy to add or delete rows or columns. In VE this is what shows up when clicking the table icon (in the "Insert" menu):
In addition, if you need to add or import a table that exists elsewhere (e.g., in a spreadsheet, on another website), it is usually possible to import that directly into the visual editor by:
See also: Help:Basic table markup |
Table element | Wikitext | Required | Usage notes |
---|---|---|---|
Table start | {| | Required | |
Table caption | |+ | Optional | Only between table start and first table row. |
Table row | |- | Optional | Can be omitted before the first row. |
Table header cell | ! | Optional | Consecutive table header cells may be added on the same line separated by double marks (!! ); or start on new lines, each with its own single mark (! ).
|
Table data cell | | or || | Optional | Consecutive table data cells may be added on the same line separated by double marks (|| ) or start on new lines, each with its own single mark (| ). This mark is also used to separate HTML attributes from cell and caption contents.
|
Table end | |} | Required |
||
and !!
) for optionally adding consecutive cells to a single line.|
) into a table caption or cell, use the <nowiki>|</nowiki>
escaping markup.Each mark, except table end (|}
), optionally accepts one or more attributes. Attributes must be on the same line as the mark.
|
or ||
, !
or !!
, and |+
) hold content—separate any attribute from its content with a single pipe (|
), with attributes preceding content.{|
and |-
) do not directly hold content. Do not add a pipe (|
) after any attributes.Commonly included attributes in tables include: class
, for example class="wikitable"
; style
, for CSS styling; scope
, to indicate row or column header cells; rowspan
, to extend cells by more than one row; colspan
, to extend cells by more than one column.
For an introduction to HTML and tables, see Help:Table/HTML and tables. |
Although HTML table syntax also works, special wikicode can be used as a shortcut to create a table. The vertical bar or "pipe" symbol ( |
) codes function exactly the same as HTML table markup, so a knowledge of HTML table code helps understand pipe code. The shortcuts are as follows:
The entire table is encased with curly brackets and a vertical bar character (a pipe). So use {|
to begin a table, and |}
to end it. Each one needs to be on its own line:
{| table code goes here |}
An optional table caption is included with a line starting with a vertical bar and plus sign "|+
" and the caption after it:
{|
|+ caption
table code goes here
|}
To start a new table row, type a vertical bar and a hyphen on its own line: "|-
". The codes for the cells in that row start on the next line.
{| |+ The table's caption |- row code goes here |- next row code goes here |}
Type the codes for each table cell in the next row, starting with a bar:
{| |+ The table's caption |- | cell code goes here |- | next row cell code goes here | next cell code goes here |}
Cells can be separated with either a new line and a single bar, or by a double bar "||
" on the same line. Both produce the same output:
Wiki source
{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
|Cell 1 || Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
|Cell A
|Cell B
|Cell C
|-
|Cell x
|Cell y||Cell z
|}
Rendered result
Cell 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
Cell A | Cell B | Cell C |
Cell x | Cell y | Cell z |
Optional parameters can modify the display and styling of cells, rows, or the entire table. The simplest way to add styling is to set the wikitable
CSS class, which in Wikipedia's external style sheet is defined to apply a gray color scheme and cell borders to tables using it:
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|+ The table's caption
! Column header 1
! Column header 2
! Column header 3
|-
! Row header 1
| Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
! Row header A
| Cell B
| Cell C
|}
Rendered result
Column header 1 | Column header 2 | Column header 3 |
---|---|---|
Row header 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
Row header A | Cell B | Cell C |
The table parameters and cell parameters are the same as in HTML, see http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/tables.html#edef-TABLE and Table (HTML). However, the <thead>
, <tbody>
, <tfoot>
, <colgroup>
, and <col>
elements are currently not supported in MediaWiki, as of December 2021[update].
A table can be useful even if none of the cells have content. For example, the background colors of cells can be changed with cell parameters, making the table into a diagram, like meta:Template talk:Square 8x8 pentomino example. An "image" in the form of a table is much more convenient to edit than an uploaded image.
If all the cells in a row are empty the cells still show up. If the header cell is also empty for that row all the cells show up, but they are narrow. That can be fixed with a simple <br> in one of the cells. That is what is done here:
Each row must have the same number of cells as the other rows, so that the number of columns in the table remains consistent.
With colspan
and rowspan
cells can span several columns or rows;
When cell content that contains a pipe character does not render correctly, simply add an empty format for that cell. The second pipe character in a line of |cell code
will not display; it is reserved for adding a format. Wikicode between the first and second pipe is a format, but since emptiness or an error there is ignored, it just disappears. When this happens, add a dummy format. Use a third pipe character to render your first pipe character.
Rendering the first pipe when it is the third pipe in the cell code.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
|''formatting''|P|i|p|e|
|C|e|l|l|2|
|-
|''formatting''|P|i|p|e||''formatting''|C|e|l|l|2|
|-
||P|i|p|e|s||C|e|l|l|2|
|}
Rendered result
P|i|p|e| | e|l|l|2| |
P|i|p|e | C|e|l|l|2| |
P|i|p|e|s | e|l|l|2| |
The third and later pipe characters will render, but to display two adjacent pipe characters in a cell, (instead of having them act as the first pipe at the start of a new cell), other pipe-rendering options are needed. Instead of using a dummy format to render a pipe, you can render it directly by 1) <nowiki>|</nowiki>
(preferred) or 2) html: |
or |
. Each line of cell code in the following table has one wikicode pipe.
Displaying adjacent pipes
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
|<nowiki>|</nowiki>Pipes34:<nowiki>||</nowiki>
|-
||Pipes34:||
|}
Rendered result
|Pipes34:|| |
|Pipes34:|| |
Template ((!))
, because of the order in which things are parsed, is equivalent to typing in a single | pipe character. The single <nowiki />|
parser-tag does not apply here. See how they do not escape the second pipe, as | and <nowiki>|</nowiki>
did above:
Common mechanisms that do not work in tables
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
|<nowiki />|Pipe3:|
|-
|Pipe2:((!))Pipe3:((!))
|}
Rendered result
Pipe3:| |
Pipe3:| |
Column headers are identified by ! scope="col" |
instead of |
. Row headers are identified by ! scope="row" |
instead of |
. Each header cell should be on a separate line in the wiki-markup. The scope="col"
and scope="row"
markup should be used for column and row headers in all data tables because it explicitly associates the header with the corresponding cells, which helps ensure a consistent experience for screen readers. The Manual of Style requires the use of scope for column and row headers.
For complex tables, when a header spans two columns or rows, use ! scope="colgroup" colspan="2" |
or ! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |
respectively to clearly identify the header as a column header of two columns or a row header of two rows. When headers are unclear, this can cause accessibility issues; therefore, use id=
to set a unique value without spaces on each header, then reference the id(s) on the data cells that have unclear headers using headers=
with a space separating each id.
Header cells typically render differently from regular cells, depending on the browser. They are often rendered in a bold font and centered. If this rendering is not desired from an aesthetic point of view, the table can be styled with the "plainrowheaders" class which left-aligns the row headers and removes the bolding. Left-alignment of row headers only occurs if class=wikitable
and scope=row
are both used.
A typical example may be marked up like this:
Wiki source
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ The table's caption
! scope=col | Column header 1
! scope=col | Column header 2
! scope=col | Column header 3
|-
! scope=row | Row header 1
| Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
! scope=row | Row header A
| Cell B || Cell C
|}
Rendered result
Column header 1 | Column header 2 | Column header 3 |
---|---|---|
Row header 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
Row header A | Cell B | Cell C |
Note that with row headers you need to use a separate row in the wikitext for the row header cell. See the correct format in the last table in the previous section. Note the use of single and double pipes (bars).
Here below is what the same table (without class=plainrowheaders
) looks like if the data cell wikitext is on the same line as the row header wikitext. Note that the data cell text is bolded, and the data cell backgrounds are the same shade of gray as the column and row headers. Data cells should normally have plain unbolded text, and a lighter background.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|+ The table's caption
! scope=col | Column header 1
! scope=col | Column header 2
! scope=col | Column header 3
|-
! scope=row | Row header 1 || Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
! scope=row | Row header A || Cell B || Cell C
|}
Rendered result
Column header 1 | Column header 2 | Column header 3 |
---|---|---|
Row header 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
Row header A | Cell B | Cell C |
If you have a long wiki table in the above format and want to quickly make the data cell backgrounds lighter, then use Excel2Wiki. Copy the table right off the page (not the wikitext) and paste it into Excel2Wiki. Remove the table caption text for now. Check the following boxes:
Check or uncheck "sortable" depending on your needs. Then click "Convert". Copy the wikitext results back to the wiki. You must use class=wikitable
to get the background shading.
Excel2Wiki fixes the problem by putting the row header cells on separate lines in the wikitext. You will have to add back the scopes to make class=plainrowheaders
(if desired) work, and get non-bolded row header text.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|+ The table's caption
! Column header 1 !! Column header 2 !! Column header 3
|-
! Row header 1
| Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
! Row header A
| Cell B || Cell C
|}
Rendered result
Column header 1 | Column header 2 | Column header 3 |
---|---|---|
Row header 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
Row header A | Cell B | Cell C |
Another way to fix the problem is to copy the table wikitext to a text editor such as freeware NoteTab Light. The following method works for tables with flag templates. In the table wikitext do a mass replace of
with
^P is the NoteTab Light code for a line break. That puts the row header cells on a separate line in the wikitext. And you don't lose your flags, templates, classes, scopes, styling, etc.. And you maintain most of the compressed wikitext format.
Both of these generate the same output. Choose a style based on the number of cells in each row and the total text inside each cell.
Wiki source
{|
|-
| A
| B
|-
| C
| D
|}
{|
|-
| A || B
|-
| C || D
|}
Rendered result (note that there are no borders).
A | B |
C | D |
Note that in this example class="wikitable"
is used to style the table with Wikipedia's external style sheet for tables. It adds borders, background shading, and bold header text.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|+ Multiplication table
|-
! ×
! 1
! 2
! 3
|-
! 1
| 1 || 2 || 3
|-
! 2
| 2 || 4 || 6
|}
Rendered result
× | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
width=X
is obsolete in HTML 5, and so it could eventually be ignored by MediaWiki. See: Wikipedia: HTML 5#Table attributes. Use CSS styles instead: Such as style="width: Xpx;"
or style="width: Xem;"
or other CSS units. Number by itself signifies pixels.See width examples on this subpage. There it is easier to narrow the browser window and not lose one's place as on a long page such as here on Help:Table. Overall table width does not act the same on Wikipedia mobile view as it does on mobile view on webpages outside Wikipedia. See the subpage examples.
Setting widths is discouraged for the most part on Wikipedia because it interferes with the ability of the browser to adjust content to suit the browser window, device size, zoom settings, user-end font size choices, and other constraints. Verbose notes columns are almost always a problem, especially when there are more than a few other columns. Editors frequently try to make the notes column wider, which messes up the other columns. For this reason, verbose notes columns should be avoided, or the notes should be shortened and links to longer notes below the table should be added instead.
style=max-width:Xem
can be used in table headers. The following table excerpt is from this version of List of countries by wealth per adult. The goal is to narrow the data columns, and have the country names spread out on one line each. All of this makes it easier when scanning down a country list. But the country names have to wordwrap if needed (in narrow portrait views on some cell phones, etc.). So style=max-width:Xem
was used in selected column heads. It also avoids using header line breaks <br>
which annoy people using screen readers due to the pauses. Em units are good because they increase in size along with the zoom setting. Here is the relevant header wikitext:
((static row numbers))
{|class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers" style=text-align:right
|-class=static-row-header style=vertical-align:bottom
! Country or [[subnational area]]
! style=max-width:4em | Median wealth per adult ([[USD]])
! style=max-width:4em | Mean wealth per adult ([[USD]])
! style=max-width:4em | Adult population
Country or subnational area | Median wealth per adult (USD) | Mean wealth per adult (USD) | Adult population |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 382 | 1,084 | 37,100,000 |
Mozambique | 352 | 880 | 13,814,000 |
A ((sorting row)) narrows some of the table columns further. See Help:Sortable tables.
|-((sorting row|4))
Country or subnational area | Median wealth per adult (USD) | Mean wealth per adult (USD) | Adult population |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 382 | 1,084 | 37,100,000 |
Mozambique | 352 | 880 | 13,814,000 |
Here below is what the table looks like without style=max-width:Xem
and ((sorting row|4))
Narrow your browser window to see how the table below contracts versus the ones above. The table above maintains one line per country for narrower browser and screen widths, and is therefore more readable in long country tables. The table format below can greatly increase in number of lines, and require more vertical scrolling.
Country or subnational area | Median wealth per adult (USD) | Mean wealth per adult (USD) | Adult population |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 382 | 1,084 | 37,100,000 |
Mozambique | 352 | 880 | 13,814,000 |
Setting column widths. Other methods.
To force column widths to specific requirements, rather than accepting the width of the widest text element in a column's cells, follow this example. Note that wrap-around of text is forced.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" | Name
! scope="col" style="width: 250px;" | Effect
! scope="col" style="min-width: 225px; max-width: 300px;" | Games found in
|-
| Poké Ball || Regular Poké Ball || All versions
|-
| Great Ball || Better than a Poké Ball || All versions
|}
Rendered result
Name | Effect | Games found in |
---|---|---|
Poké Ball | Regular Poké Ball | All versions |
Great Ball | Better than a Poké Ball | All versions |
To set column widths in a table without headers, specify the width in the first cell for each column.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
| style="width: 100pt;" | This column is 100 points wide
| style="width: 200pt;" | This column is 200 points wide
| style="width: 300pt;" | This column is 300 points wide
|-
| blah || blih || bluh
|}
Rendered result
This column is 100 points wide | This column is 200 points wide | This column is 300 points wide |
blah | blih | bluh |
You can also use percentages, such as to equalize the widths of a two-column table by setting one of them to style="width: 50%;"
.
One application of setting the widths is aligning columns of consecutive tables. The following are separate tables, with columns set to 350px and 225px.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
! scope=col style="width: 350px;" | Country
! scope=col style="width: 225px;" | Capital
|-
| Netherlands || Amsterdam
|}
{| class=wikitable
|-
! scope=col style="width: 350px;" | Country
! scope=col style="width: 225px;" | Capital
|-
| France || Paris
|}
Rendered result
Country | Capital |
---|---|
Netherlands | Amsterdam |
Country | Capital |
---|---|
France | Paris |
The height of the whole table can be specified, as well as the height of a row. The height of the middle row below is set to style=height:7em
and the total height of the whole table is set to style=height:14em
units. Doing the math shows that the height of the top and bottom rows are 3.5 em units each. 3.5 + 3.5 + 7 = 14. If there is wordwrap then the height will increase to accommodate this.
Wiki markup
{| class=wikitable style=height:14em;
|-
! Left !! Center !! Right
|-
| Top left cell || Top center cell || Top right cell
|- style=height:7em
| Middle left cell || Middle center cell || Middle right cell
|-
| Bottom left cell || Bottom center cell || Bottom right cell
|}
Rendered result
Left | Center | Right |
---|---|---|
Top left cell | Top center cell | Top right cell |
Middle left cell | Middle center cell | Middle right cell |
Bottom left cell | Bottom center cell | Bottom right cell |
Further information: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility/Data tables tutorial § Proper table captions and summaries |
Explicit table captions (or titles) are recommended for data tables as a best practice; the Wikipedia Manual of Style considers them a high priority for accessibility reasons (screen readers}, as a caption is explicitly associated with the table, unlike a normal wikitext heading or introductory sentence. All data tables on Wikipedia require captions. A caption is provided with the |+
markup, similar to a table row (|-
), but it does not contain any cells, and is not within the table border. Captions are always displayed, appearing as a title centered (in most browsers), above the table. A caption can be styled (with inline, not block, CSS), and may include wikilinks, reference citations, etc.
A summary provides an overview of the data of a table for text and audio browsers, and does not normally display in graphical browsers. The summary (also a high Manual of Style priority for tables) is a synopsis of content, and does not repeat the caption text; think of it as analogous to an image's alt
description. A summary is added with summary="Summary text here."
, on the same line as the {|
that opened the table, along with any class=
and other parameters for the table as a whole. The summary=
attribute is, however, obsolete in HTML 5.
Wiki markup example showing left-aligned caption with a source citation:
{| class=wikitable
|+ style="text-align: left;" | Data reported for 2014–2015, by region<ref name="Garcia 2005"/>
|-
! scope=col | Year !! scope=col | Africa !! scope=col | Americas !! scope=col | Asia & Pacific !! scope=col | Europe
|-
! scope=row | 2014
| 2,300 || 8,950 || ''9,325'' || 4,200
|-
! scope=row | 2015
| 2,725 || ''9,200'' || 8,850 || 4,775
|}
Rendered result
Year | Africa | Americas | Asia & Pacific | Europe |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 2,300 | 8,950 | 9,325 | 4,200 |
2015 | 2,725 | 9,200 | 8,850 | 4,775 |
It is possible to create cells that stretch over two or more columns. For this, one uses |colspan=n | content
.
Similarly, one can create cells that stretch over two or more rows. This requires |rowspan=m | content
. In the table code, one must leave out the cells that are covered by such a span. The resulting column- and row-counting must fit.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
!col1
!col2
!col3
!col4
|-
!row1
| colspan=2 | A
<!-- column counting: cell 'B' can not exist -->
|C
|-
!row2
|AA
|BB
|CC
|-
!row3
|AAA
| rowspan=2 | BBB
|CCC
|-
!row4
|AAAA
<!-- row counting: cell 'BBBB' can not exist -->
|CCCC
|}
Rendered result
col1 | col2 | col3 | col4 |
---|---|---|---|
row1 | A | C | |
row2 | AA | BB | CC |
row3 | AAA | BBB | CCC |
row4 | AAAA | CCCC |
In the code, the cell | colspan="2" | A
spans two columns. Note that, in the next column, a cell expected to contain "B" does not exist.
Similar: in the code, cell | rowspan="2" | BBB
spans two rows. A cell expected to contain "BBBB" does not exist.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Column 1 !! Column 2 !! Column 3
|-
| rowspan=2 | A
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | B
<!-- column 3 of this row occupied by cell B (which is to the left) -->
|-
<!-- column 1 of this row occupied by cell A (above) -->
| C
| D
|-
| E
| rowspan=2 colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | F
<!-- column 3 of this row occupied by cell F (to the left) -->
|-
| G
<!-- columns 2 and 3 of this row occupied by cell F (above) -->
|-
| colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" | H
<!-- columns 2 and 3 of this row occupied by cell H (to the left) -->
|}
Rendered result
Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
---|---|---|
A | B | |
C | D | |
E | F | |
G | ||
H |
Note that using rowspan=2
for cell G combined with rowspan=3
for cell F to get another row below G and F won't work, because all (implicit) cells would be empty.
Below is the same table with the order of the declared rows and cells shown in parentheses. The uses of rowspan
and colspan
are also shown.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Column 1<br>(row 1 cell 1) !! Column 2<br>(row 1 cell 2) !! Column 3<br>(row 1 cell 3)
|-
| rowspan=2 | A<br>(row 2 cell 1)<br><code>rowspan=2</code>
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" | B<br>(row 2 cell 2)<br><code>colspan=2</code>
|-
| C<br>(row 3 cell 1) <!-- column 1 occupied by cell A -->
| D<br>(row 3 cell 2)
|-
| E<br>(row 4 cell 1)
| rowspan=2 colspan=2 style="text-align: center;" |F<br>(row 4 cell 2)<br><code>rowspan=2 colspan=2</code>
|-
| G<br>(row 5 cell 1) <!-- column 2+3 occupied by cell F -->
|-
| colspan=3 style="text-align: center;" | H<br>(row 6 cell 1)<br><code>colspan=3</code>
|}
Rendered result
Column 1 (row 1 cell 1) |
Column 2 (row 1 cell 2) |
Column 3 (row 1 cell 3) |
---|---|---|
A (row 2 cell 1) rowspan=2
|
B (row 2 cell 2) colspan=2
| |
C (row 3 cell 1) |
D (row 3 cell 2) | |
E (row 4 cell 1) |
F (row 4 cell 2) rowspan=2 colspan=2
| |
G (row 5 cell 1) | ||
H (row 6 cell 1) colspan=3
|
Note that although cell C is in column 2, C is the 1st cell declared in row 3, because column 1 is occupied by cell A, which was declared in row 2. Cell G is the only cell declared in row 5, because cell F occupies the other columns but was declared in row 4.
Add a border around a table using the CSS property border: thickness style color;
, for example border:3px dashed red
. This example uses a solid (non-dashed) gray border that is one pixel wide:
Wiki source
{| style="border-spacing: 2px; border: 1px solid darkgray;"
! style="width: 140px;" | Left
! style="width: 150px;" | Center
! style="width: 130px;" | Right
|-
| [[File:StarIconBronze.png|120px|Bronze star icon]]
| [[File:StarIconGold.png|120px|Gold star icon]]
| [[File:StarIconGreen.png|120px|Green star icon]]
|- style="text-align: center;"
| Bronze star || Gold star || Green star
|}
Note the bottom-row texts are centered by style="text-align: center;"
while the star images are not centered (i.e. left aligned).
As long as the File:
specs omit the parameter |thumb
they don't show the caption lines in the table (only during mouse-over). The border color darkgray
matches typical tables or infoboxes in articles; however, it could be any color name (as in style="border: 1px solid darkgreen;"
) or use a hex-color (such as: #DDCCBB
).
Wiki source
{| border=1
|-
| A || B || C
|-
| D || E || F
|}
Rendered result
A | B | C |
D | E | F |
If all cells have the same border color, the resulting double borders may not be wanted; add the border-collapse: collapse;
CSS property on the table opening tag to reduce them to single ones (cellspacing=...
is obsolete).
Additionally, the W3C allows the use of the otherwise obsolete border=
attribute on the table root ({|
) if its value is "1". This adds a one-pixel border, in the default color, to the table and all of its cells at once:
Using the border-collapse
property to combine the double borders, as described above:
Wiki source
{| border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| A || B || C
|-
| D || E || F
|}
Rendered result
A | B | C |
D | E | F |
Two table classes floatleft
and floatright
(case sensitive) help floating the table and adjusting table margins so that they do not stick to the text. floatleft
floats the table to the left and adjusts right margin. floatright
does the opposite. Example:
Wiki source
This paragraph is before the table. The text in column 2 spans both rows because of format specifier "rowspan=2" so there is no coding for "Col 2" in the 2nd row, just Col 1 and Col 3.
{| class="wikitable floatright"
| Col 1, row 1
| rowspan="2" | Col 2, row 1 (and 2)
| Col 3, row 1
|-
| Col 1, row 2
| Col 3, row 2
|}
{| class="wikitable floatleft"
| Col 1, row 1
| rowspan="2" | Col 2, row 1 (and 2)
| Col 3, row 1
|-
| Col 1, row 2
| Col 3, row 2
|}
Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?
As it appears in a browser:
This paragraph is before the table. The text in column 2 spans both rows because of format specifier "rowspan=2" so there is no coding for "Col 2" in the 2nd row, just Col 1 and Col 3.
Col 1, row 1 | Col 2, row 1 (and 2) | Col 3, row 1 |
Col 1, row 2 | Col 3, row 2 |
Col 1, row 1 | Col 2, row 1 (and 2) | Col 3, row 1 |
Col 1, row 2 | Col 3, row 2 |
Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?
Note that although there are other ways to float a table, such as style="float:left;"
, style="float:right;"
, the only parameters that allow you to position the table under a floated multimedia object are floatleft
and floatright
. For example:
Aligning the table with floatleft
produces:
Col 1, row 1 | Col 2, row 1 (and 2) | Col 3, row 1 |
Col 1, row 2 | Col 3, row 2 |
Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?
But aligning it with style="float:left;"
produces:
Col 1, row 1 | Col 2, row 1 (and 2) | Col 3, row 1 |
Col 1, row 2 | Col 3, row 2 |
Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?
align="center"
is deprecated in HTML5, and does not work well in Mediawiki software. For example; it will not override the left alignment of tables via class=wikitable
.
Centered tables can be achieved, but they don't "float"; that is to say, no text appears to either side. The trick is
{| style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
[note 1]
Wiki source
Text before table...
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ Cells left-aligned, table centered
|-
! scope="col" | Duis
! scope="col" | aute
! scope="col" | irure
|-
| dolor || in reprehenderit || in voluptate velit
|-
| esse cillum dolore || eu fugiat nulla || pariatur.
|}
...text after table
As it appears in a browser:
Text before table...
Duis | aute | irure |
---|---|---|
dolor | in reprehenderit | in voluptate velit |
esse cillum dolore | eu fugiat nulla | pariatur. |
...text after table.
Note: because they cause accessibility issues, header cells in nested tables should be avoided whenever possible. For accessibility, any complicated table must be carefully designed to maintain normal flow, i.e. the ordering of content in the page code should match the order in which it is to be presented. |
Nesting data tables with header cells makes it difficult for assistive screen readers to parse them sensibly.
Editors sometimes use headerless tables as an aid to content layout, especially where it is easier than the equivalent use of divs and CSS styling. For complex layouts, rowspan
and colspan
may be used, but again it is sometimes simpler and more maintainable to use nested tables.
Nested tables must start on a new line.
In the following example, five different tables are shown nested inside the cells of a sixth, main table. None has any header cells. Automatically, the two tables |A| and |B|B| are vertically aligned instead of the usual side-by-side of text characters in a cell. float
is used to fix each of tables |C| and |D| to their own position within one cell of the table. This may be used for charts and schematics.
α | cell2
|
the original table again |
|
|
Wikitext:
{| style="border: 1px solid black;"
| style="border: 1px solid black;" | α
| style="border: 1px solid black; text-align:center;" | cell2
{| style="border: 2px solid black; background: #ffffcc;" <!-- The nested table must be on a new line -->
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | NESTED
|-
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | TABLE
|}
| style="border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: bottom;" | the original table again
| style="border: 1px solid black; width:100px" |
{| style="border: 2px solid black; background: #ffffcc"
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | A
|}
{| style="border: 2px solid black; background: #ffffcc"
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | B
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | B
|}
| style="border: 1px solid black; width: 50px" |
{| style="border: 2px solid black; background:#ffffcc; float:left"
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | C
|}
{| style="border: 2px solid black; background:#ffffcc; float:right"
| style="border: 2px solid darkgray;" | D
|}
|}
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables, Wikipedia:Background color, list of colors, Web colors, and Template:Coltit |
Two ways of specifying color of text and background for a single cell are as follows:
Wiki source
{|
|-
| style="background:red; color:white;"|abc
| def
| style="background:red;"|<span style="color:white;">ghi</span>
| jkl
|}
Rendered result
abc | def | ghi | jkl |
Like other parameters, colors can also be specified for a whole row or the whole table; parameters for a row override the value for the table, and those for a cell override those for a row.
style="background-color:…"
works in sortable header cells. style="background:…"
does not. It breaks sorting in that cell. See Help:Sortable tables.
There is no easy way to specify a color for a whole column: each cell in the column must be individually specified. Tools can make it easier.
Wiki markup
{| style="background: yellow; color: green;"
|-
| stu || style="background: silver;" | vwx || yz
|- style="background: red; color: white;"
| stu || style="background: silver;" | vwx || yz
|-
| stu || style="background: silver;" | vwx || yz
|}
Rendered result
stu | vwx | yz |
stu | vwx | yz |
stu | vwx | yz |
To make the table blend in with the background, use style="background: none;"
or style="background: transparent;"
. (Warning: style="background: inherit;"
, does not work with some older browsers, including IE6, so ensure that the table will be intelligible if the coloring preference fails.)
To force a cell to match one of the default colors of the class=wikitable
template, use style="background:#EAECF0;"
for the darker header, and style="background:#F8F9FA;"
for the lighter body. #A2A9B1 is the wikitables border color.
At the start of a cell, add your parameter followed by a single pipe. For example, style="width: 300px"|
sets that cell to a width of 300 pixels. To set more than one parameter, leave a space between each one.
Wiki source
{| style="color: white;"
|-
| style="background: red;"|cell1 || style="width: 300px; background: blue;"|cell2
| style="background: green;"|cell3
|}
Rendered result
cell1 | cell2 | cell3 |
By default, text is aligned to the vertical middle of the cell:
Row header | A longer piece of text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Imagine someone scrolling down the page, seeing the tops of "empty" columns, and wondering why they're empty. |
Short text |
---|
To align the text to the top of the cell, apply the style="vertical-align: top;"
CSS to the rows (unfortunately, it seems to be necessary to apply this individually to every single row). The valign=...
attribute is deprecated and MediaWiki may stop using it.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable style="width: 400px;"
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
! scope="row" style="width: 10%;" | Row header
| style="width: 70%;"|A longer piece ...
| style="width: 20%;"|Short text
|}
Rendered result
Row header | A longer piece of text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Imagine someone scrolling down the page, seeing the tops of "empty" columns, and wondering why they're empty. |
Short text |
---|
The contents of a cell can be indented or padded on any side. Also, the text can be aligned. In the second row the text is aligned to the right. See the following examples.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
| Cell content that is not indented or padded
|-
| style="padding-left: 2em;" | style="padding-left: 2em;"
|-
| style="text-align:right; padding-right: 2em;" | style="text-align:right; padding-right: 2em;"
|-
| style="padding-top: 2em;" | style="padding-top: 2em;"
|-
| style="padding-bottom: 2em;" | style="padding-bottom: 2em;"
|-
| style="padding: 3em 5%;" | style="padding: 3em 5%;" ((space|4)) (Top and Bottom: 3em. Left and Right: 5%)
|-
| style="padding: 3em 4em 5%;" | style="padding: 3em 4em 5%;" ((space|4)) (Top: 3em. Left and Right: 4em. Bottom: 5%)
|-
| style="padding: 3%;" | style="padding: 3%;" ((space|4)) (Top, Right, Bottom, and Left: all 3%)
|-
| style="padding: 1em 20px 8% 9em;" | style="padding: 1em 20px 8% 9em;" ((space|4)) (Top: 1em. Right: 20px. Bottom: 8%. and Left: 9em.)
|}
Rendered result
Cell content that is not indented or padded |
style="padding-left: 2em;" |
style="text-align:right; padding-right: 2em;" |
style="padding-top: 2em;" |
style="padding-bottom: 2em;" |
style="padding: 3em 5%;" (Top and Bottom: 3em. Left and Right: 5%) |
style="padding: 3em 4em 5%;" (Top: 3em. Left and Right: 4em. Bottom: 5%) |
style="padding: 3%;" (Top, Right, Bottom, and Left: all 3%) |
style="padding: 1em 20px 8% 9em;" (Top: 1em. Right: 20px. Bottom: 8%. and Left: 9em.) |
The arguments to style="padding: "
can be seen as being ordered by a 12-hour clock, starting at noon and going clockwise, in the following sense: "top" is associated with noon (i.e. 12 o'clock, the top of a clock), "right" is 3 o'clock, "bottom" is 6 o'clock, and "left" is 9 o'clock. The arguments are ordered clockwise starting at noon: top → right → bottom → left (see this[note 2] footnote for an example with an explanation).
This same order is also used elsewhere, such as when specifying a cell's borders with border-style:
.
Setting default cell padding
Use cellpadding=
to set the default padding for each cell in a table. If class=wikitable
is used then cellpadding
is ignored.
The default space between cells can be changed using cellspacing=
.
If cellpadding
is not used
Wiki source
{| style="border:1px solid black"
|-
| Cell || Cell
|-
| Cell || Cell
|}
Rendered result
Cell | Cell |
Cell | Cell |
Using cellpadding=10
:
Wiki source
{| cellpadding=10; style="border:1px solid black"
|-
| Cell || Cell
|-
| Cell || Cell
|}
Rendered result
Cell | Cell |
Cell | Cell |
Using cellpadding=0
:
Wiki source
{| cellpadding=0; style="border:1px solid black"
|-
| Cell || Cell
|-
| Cell || Cell
|}
Rendered result
Cell | Cell |
Cell | Cell |
Using cellpadding=0
and cellspacing=0
:
Wiki source
{| cellpadding=0; cellspacing=0; style="border:1px solid black"
|-
| Cell || Cell
|-
| Cell || Cell
|}
Rendered result
Cell | Cell |
Cell | Cell |
The same CSS used for tables can be used in a cell's format specifier (enclosed in |
...|
) to put a border around each cell:
Wiki source
{| style="border-spacing: 2px; border: 1px solid darkgray;"
! style="width: 140px;" | Left
! style="width: 150px;" | Center
! style="width: 130px;" | Right
|- style="text-align: center;"
| style="border: 1px solid blue;"|
[[File:StarIconBronze.png|120px|Bronze star icon]]
| style="border: 1px solid #777777;"|
[[File:StarIconGold.png|120px|Gold star icon]]
| style="border: 1px solid #22AA55;"|<!-- greenish border -->
[[File:StarIconGreen.png|120px|Green star icon]]
|- style="text-align: center;"
|Bronze star || Gold star || Green star
|}
Note that only the image cells have individual borders, not the text. The lower hex-colors (such as: #616161
) are closer to black. Typically, all borders in a table would be one specific color.
The style='border:'
and style='border-style:'
properties can accept the following arguments:
Argument | Cell border | Additional notes |
---|---|---|
none
|
style="border-style: none;" | |
solid
|
style="border-style: solid;" | |
double
|
style="border-style: double;" | |
dashed
|
style="border-style: dashed;" | |
dotted
|
style="border-style: dotted;" | |
ridge
|
style="border:5px ridge red;" | 3D ridged border |
groove
|
style="border:5px groove blue;" | 3D grooved border |
inset
|
style="border: 5px inset yellow;" | 3D inset border |
outset
|
style="border: 5px outset cyan;" | 3D outset border |
inherit
|
style="border-style: inherit;" | Inherit value from parent |
initial
|
style="border-style: initial;" | Set to default value |
border-top
, border-right
, border-bottom
, border-left
Wiki source
{| style="width: 400px;"
! style="border-top: solid;" | <code>style="border-top: solid;"</code>
|-
| style="border-top: solid 2px red; border-right: dashed 3px green; border-bottom: double 5px blue; border-left: dotted 6px yellow;" |<pre>border-top: solid 2px red;
border-right: dashed 3px green;
border-bottom: double 5px blue;
border-left: dotted 6px yellow;</pre>
|}
Rendered result
style="border-top: solid;"
|
---|
border-top: solid 2px red; border-right: dashed 3px green; border-bottom: double 5px blue; border-left: dotted 6px yellow; |
style='border-style:'
To set the left, right, bottom, or top border of a single cell, one may use style='border-style:'
which takes between 1 and 4 arguments, each of which is either none
, solid
, double
, dotted
, dashed
, groove
, ridge
, inset
, outset
, inherit
, or initial
.
These arguments are ordered according to the pattern described here.
For instance, style="border-style: solid none solid none;"
where the four parameters correspond respectively to the
'border-style: top right bottom left;'
borders of the cell.
For reasons described after this example, there are many ways to change the following code that would not result in any changes to the table that is actually displayed.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
| Top_Left
<!-- border-style: top right bottom left; -->
| style="border-style: solid solid none none;" | Top_Center
| Top_Right
|-
| style="border-style: none none solid solid;" | Middle_Left
| style="border-style: none none none none;" | Middle_Center
| style="border-style: solid solid none none;" | Middle_Right
|-
| Bottom_Left
| style="border-style: none none solid solid;" | Bottom_Center
| Bottom_Right
|}
Rendered result
Top_Left | Top_Center | Top_Right |
Middle_Left | Middle_Center | Middle_Right |
Bottom_Left | Bottom_Center | Bottom_Right |
Note, however, that in the following table, none of the central cell's (i.e. Middle_Center
's) borders are removed despite the code style="border-style: none none none none;"
:
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
| Top_Left || Top_Center || Top_Right
|-
| Middle_Left
| style="border-style: none none none none;" | Middle_Center
| Middle_Right
|-
| Bottom_Left || Bottom_Center || Bottom_Right
|}
Rendered result
Top_Left | Top_Center | Top_Right |
Middle_Left | Middle_Center | Middle_Right |
Bottom_Left | Bottom_Center | Bottom_Right |
This happens because the code class="wikitable"
places a border (top, right, bottom, and left) around every cell in the table so that, for instance, there are actually two borders between the cells "Middle_Center" and "Middle_Right".
So to remove the border between cells "Middle_Center" and "Middle_Right", it is necessary to remove both the right border of "Middle_Center" and the left border of "Middle_Right":
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|-
| Top_Left || Top_Center || Top_Right
|-
| Middle_Left
<!-- 'border-style: top right bottom left;' -->
| style="border-style: none none none none;" | Middle_Center
| style="border-style: none none none none;" | Middle_Right
<!-- In the above line, the three left-most "none" arguments can be replaced with "solid" (or other valid arguments) and there would be no change to the table that is displayed. Only the fourth argument, which is Middle_Right's left border, needs to be "none". For example, the line above could be replaced with:
| style="border-style: solid solid solid none;" | Middle_Right
-->
|-
| Bottom_Left || Bottom_Center || Bottom_Right
|}
Rendered result
Top_Left | Top_Center | Top_Right |
Middle_Left | Middle_Center | Middle_Right |
Bottom_Left | Bottom_Center | Bottom_Right |
To remove selected external borders of a wikitable, both remove them from the adjacent cells and begin the whole table with code like {| class="wikitable" style="border: none;"
.
Note that replacing {| class="wikitable"
with
{| style="border-collapse: collapse;"
has the effect of removing all cell borders that would otherwise appear by default around every cell in the table.
With this change, you must insert a single cell border between two adjacent cells rather than remove two cell borders.
See Help:Sortable tables sections on row numbers. And:
In a table that spans the entire width of a page, cells narrower than the widest cell tend to wrap. To keep an entire column from wrapping, use style="white-space: nowrap;"
in a non-header cell on the longest/widest cell to affect the entire column.
Without nowrap
, as it appears in a browser:
Wiki source
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope=col | Episode
! scope=col | Date
! scope=col | Summary
|-
|"The Journey Begins"
|January 1, 2010
|[[Lorem ipsum]] ... <!-- This text is a truncation of the actual (long) text displayed in the output below -->
|}
Rendered result
Episode | Date | Summary |
---|---|---|
"The Journey Begins" | January 1, 2010 | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. |
With nowrap
, on both the Episode and Date columns, as it appears in a browser:
Wiki source
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope=col | Episode
! scope=col | Date
! scope=col | Summary
|-
| style="white-space: nowrap;" |"The Journey Begins"
| style="white-space: nowrap;" |January 1, 2010
|[[Lorem ipsum]] ... <!-- This text is a truncation of the actual (long) text displayed in the output below -->
|}
Rendered result
Episode | Date | Summary |
---|---|---|
"The Journey Begins" | January 1, 2010 | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. |
You can add tooltips to columns by using the ((Tooltip)) template. Simply replace the column-title with ((Tooltip|Column title|The tool tip))
, which makes it appear like so: Column title.
((diagonal split header|HEADER-FOR-ROW-HEADERS|HEADER-FOR-COLUMN-HEADERS))
can be used to diagonally split a header cell, as in the top-left cell in the rendered result below:[note 3]
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
! ((diagonal split header|From|To))
! Solid !! Liquid !! Gas
|-
! Solid
| Solid-solid transformation || Melting || Sublimation
|-
! Liquid
| Freezing || ((sdash)) || Boiling/evaporation
|-
! Gas
| Deposition || Condensation || ((sdash))
|}
Rendered result
To From
|
Solid | Liquid | Gas |
---|---|---|---|
Solid | Solid-solid transformation | Melting | Sublimation |
Liquid | Freezing | — | Boiling/evaporation |
Gas | Deposition | Condensation | — |
Cell borders can be hidden by adding border: none; background: none;
to style attributes of either table or cell (may not work in older browsers). Another use is to implement multi-column aligned tables.
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable style="border: none; background: none;"
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 style="border: none; background: none;" | [[File:Pfeil_SO.svg|none|link=|20px]]
! colspan=3| To
|-
! Solid !! Liquid !! Gas
|-
! rowspan=3| From
! Solid
| Solid-solid transformation || Melting || Sublimation
|-
! Liquid
| Freezing || ((sdash)) || Boiling/evaporation
|-
! Gas
| Deposition || Condensation || ((sdash))
|}
Rendered result
To | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Solid | Liquid | Gas | ||
From | Solid | Solid-solid transformation | Melting | Sublimation |
Liquid | Freezing | — | Boiling/evaporation | |
Gas | Deposition | Condensation | — |
Note that the removal of the link on an image is dependent on it being purely decorative (as it will be ignored by assistive devices).
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable style="border: none; background: none;"
! scope=col | Year
! scope=col | Size
| rowspan=5 style="border: none; background: none;"|
! scope=col | Year
! scope=col | Size
| rowspan=5 style="border: none; background: none;"|
! scope=col | Year
! scope=col | Size
|-
| 1990 || 1000<br>(est) || 2000 || 1357 || 2010 || 1776
|-
| 1991 || 1010 || 2001 || 1471 || 2011 || 1888
|-
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|⋮
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|⋮
| colspan=2 style="text-align: center;"|⋮
|-
| 1999 || 1234 || 2009 || 1616 || 2019 || 1997<br>(est)
|}
Rendered result
Year | Size | Year | Size | Year | Size | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | 1000 (est) |
2000 | 1357 | 2010 | 1776 | ||
1991 | 1010 | 2001 | 1471 | 2011 | 1888 | ||
⋮ | ⋮ | ⋮ | |||||
1999 | 1234 | 2009 | 1616 | 2019 | 1997 (est) |
For adding a dynamic row number as a table column, see Template:Row numbers. |
Regardless of whether wikitable format or HTML is used, the wikitext of the rows within a table, and sometimes even within a collection of tables, may have much in common, e.g.:
In such a case, it can be useful to create a template that produces the syntax for a table row, with the data as parameters. This can have many advantages:
display: none;
for the purpose of having one format for sorting and another for displayExample:
Using m:Help:Table/example row template (talk, backlinks, edit)
Wiki source
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope=col | a
! scope=col | b
! scope=col | a/b
((Help:Table/example row template| 50|200))
((Help:Table/example row template| 8| 11))
((Help:Table/example row template|1000| 81))
|}
Rendered result
a | b | a/b |
---|---|---|
50 | 200 | 0.25 |
8 | 11 | 0.72727272727273 |
1000 | 81 | 12.345679012346 |
Main page: Wikipedia:Conditional tables |
For a conditional row in a table, we can have:
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
(( #if:1|((!))-
! scope=row ((!)) row one, column one
((!))row one, column two))
(( #if: |((!))-
! scope=row ((!)) row two, column one
((!))row two, column two))
|-
! scope=row ((!)) row three, column one
| row three, column two
|}
Rendered result
row one, column one | row one, column two |
---|---|
row three, column one | row three, column two |
With comments to explain how it works, where note how the second row is missing:
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
<!--
Row one is shown because the '1' evaluates
to TRUE.
-->
(( #if:1|((!))-
! scope=row ((!)) row one, column one
<!--
Any ((!))'s are evaluated to the pipe
character '|' since the template '!' just
contains '|'.
-->
((!))row one, column two))
<!--
Row two is NOT shown because the space
between the ':' and the '|' evaluates to FALSE.
-->
(( #if: |((!))-
! scope=row ((!)) row two, column one
((!))row two, column two))
<!--
Row three is shown.
-->
|-
! scope=row ((!)) row three, column one
| row three, column two
|}
Rendered result
row one, column one | row one, column two |
---|---|
row three, column one | row three, column two |
See also: Help:User style and Help:CSS |
There are several other CSS classes, besides the basic class=wikitable
, documented above.
In the first line of table code, after the {|
, instead of specifying a style directly, you can also specify a CSS class, which may be used to apply styles. The style for this class can be specified in various ways:
Instead of remembering table parameters, you just include an appropriate class after the {|
. This helps keep table formatting consistent, and can allow a single change to the class to fix a problem or enhance the look of all the tables that are using it at once. For instance, this:
Wiki source
{| style="border-spacing: 2px;"
|+ Multiplication table
|-
! scope=col | ×
! scope=col | 1
! scope=col | 2
! scope=col | 3
|-
! scope=row | 1
| 1 || 2 || 3
|-
! scope=row | 2
| 2 || 4 || 6
|}
Rendered result
× | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
becomes this:
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable
|+ Multiplication table
|-
! scope=col | ×
! scope=col | 1
! scope=col | 2
! scope=col | 3
|-
! scope=row | 1
| 1 || 2 || 3
|-
! scope=row | 2
| 2 || 4 || 6
|}
Rendered result
× | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
simply by replacing inline CSS for the table by class=wikitable
. This is because the wikitable
class in MediaWiki:Common.css contains a number of table.wikitable
CSS style rules. These are all applied at once when you mark a table with the class. You can then add additional style rules if desired. These override the class's rules, allowing you to use the class style as a base and build up on it:
Wiki source
{| class=wikitable style="font-style: italic; font-size: 120%; border: 3px dashed red;"
|+ Multiplication table
|-
! scope=col | ×
! scope=col | 1
! scope=col | 2
! scope=col | 3
|-
! scope=row | 1
| 1 || 2 || 3
|-
! scope=row | 2
| 2 || 4 || 6
|}
Rendered result
× | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Notice that the table retains the gray background of the wikitable
class, and the headers are still bold and centered. But now the text formatting has been overridden by the local style=
statement; all of the text in the table has been made italic and 120% normal size, and the wikitable border has been replaced by the red dashed border.
The types of table syntax that MediaWiki supports are:
|
syntaxAll three are supported by MediaWiki and create (currently) valid HTML output, but the pipe syntax is the simplest. Mixed HTML and wikicode |
syntax (i.e., unclosed |
and |-
tags) don't necessarily remain browser-supported in the future, especially on mobile devices.
See also HTML element#Tables. Note, however, that the thead
, tbody
, tfoot
, colgroup
, and col
elements are currently not supported in MediaWiki, as of July 2015[update].
XHTML | Wiki-pipe | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Table | <table>...</table>
|
{|
| ||||
Caption | <caption>caption</caption>
|
|+ caption
| ||||
Header cell | <th scope="col">column header</th>
|
! scope="col" | column header
| ||||
Row | <tr>...</tr>
|
|-
| ||||
Data cell | <td>cell1</td> <td>cell2</td> <td>cell3</td>
|
| cell1 || cell2 || cell3 or | ||||
Cell attribute | <td style="font-size: 87%;">cell1</td>
|
| style="font-size: 87%;" | cell1
| ||||
Sample table | <table>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
</table>
|
{| | 1 || 2 |- | 3 || 4 |}
| ||||
Pros |
|
| ||||
Cons |
|
|
The pipe syntax, developed by Magnus Manske, substitutes pipes ( |
) and other symbols for HTML. There is an online script, which converts HTML tables to pipe-syntax tables.
The pipes must start at the beginning of a new line, except when separating parameters from content or when using ||
to separate cells on a single line. The parameters are optional.
A table is defined by {| parameters |}
, which generates <table params>...</table>
.
For each table, an HTML <tr>
tag is generated for the first row. To start a new row, use:
|-
which generates another <tr>
.
Parameters can be added like this:
|- params
which generates <tr params>
.
Note:
<tr>
tags are automatically opened before the first <td>
equivalent<tr>
tags are automatically closed at another <tr>
equivalent and at the </table>
equivalentCells are generated either like this:
|cell1 |cell2 |cell3
or like this:
|cell1||cell2||cell3
which both generate:
<td>cell1</td>
<td>cell2</td>
<td>cell3</td>
.
The ||
equals a newline + |
.
Parameters in cells can be used like this:
|params|cell1||params|cell2||params|cell3
which results in:
<td params>cell1</td>
<td params>cell2</td>
<td params>cell3</td>
The code used produces a <th>...</th>
, functioning the same way as <td>...</td>
, but with different style and semantic meaning. A !
character is used instead of the opening |
, and !!
can be used like ||
, to enter multiple headers on the same line. Parameters still use "|", though. Example:
!params|cell1
A <caption>
tag is created by
|+caption
which generates the HTML <caption>caption</caption>
.
You can also use parameters:
|+params|caption
which generates <caption params>caption</caption>
.
See ((Table cell templates)) for a large set of templates to configure text and color in cells in a standard way, producing stock output. For example: "Yes" (((Yes))
), "No" (((No))
), "—" (((N/A))
), "N/A" (((N/A|N/A))
), "?" (((dunno))
), on colored backgrounds. See N/A definition. N/A or sometimes n/a is a common abbreviation in tables.
Template usage | ((Yes))
|
((No))
|
((Dunno))
|
((N/A))
|
((N/A|N/A))
|
((n/a|n/a))
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Using template | Yes | No | ? | — | N/A | n/a |
Without template | Yes | No | ? | — | N/A | n/a |
Sometimes it is desirable (such as in a table predominantly made of numbers) to rotate text such that it proceeds from top to bottom or bottom to top instead of from left to right or right to left. This can be done with CSS but the easiest way on Wikipedia is to enclose the text of each heading in a ((vertical header)) template. For example:
! ((vertical header|Date/Page))
If the text includes an equals sign then replace it with ((=))
.
Date/Page
|
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
05/08 | 4266 | 7828 | 7282 | 1105 | 224 | 161 | 916 | 506 | 231 |
04/08 | 4127 | 6190 | 6487 | 1139 | 241 | 205 | 1165 | 478 | 301 |
This section is still recommending deprecated fixed-pixel sizes for images, and should be updated with relative sizes in em units. |
Before making a gallery, please read over the image use policy for galleries. Generally, a gallery should not be added so long as there is space for images to be effectively presented adjacent to text. |
A wikitable can be used to display side-by-side images, in the manner similar to that of an image gallery (formatted by <gallery>...</gallery>
), but with larger images and less vacant area around photos.
A simple, framed gallery can be formatted using class="wikitable"
to generate the minimal thin lines around images within the table:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|<!--col1-->[[File:Worms 01.jpg|130px]]
|<!--col2-->[[File:Worms Wappen 2005-05-27.jpg|125px]]
|<!--col3-->[[File:Liberty-statue-with-manhattan.jpg|125px]]
|<!--col4-->[[File:New-York-Jan2005.jpg|125px]]
|-
|<!--col1-->Nibelungen Bridge to Worms
|<!--col2-->Worms and its sister cities
|<!--col3-->Statue of Liberty
|<!--col4-->New York City
|}<!--end wikitable-->
Nibelungen Bridge to Worms | Worms and its sister cities | Statue of Liberty | New York City |
An advantage of wikitable image galleries, compared to <gallery>
formatting, is the ability to "square" each image when similar heights are needed, so consider putting two-number image sizes (such as 199x95px
), where the second number limits height:
{| class="wikitable"
|<!--col1-->[[File:Worms 01.jpg|199x95px]]
|<!--col2-->[[File:Worms Wappen 2005-05-27.jpg|199x95px]]
|<!--col3-->[[File:Liberty-statue-with-manhattan.jpg|199x95px]]
|<!--col4-->[[File:New-York-Jan2005.jpg|100x95px]]<!--smaller-->
|-
|<!--col1-->Nibelungen Bridge to Worms
|<!--col2-->Worms and its sister cities
|<!--col3-->Statue of Liberty
|<!--col4-->New York City
|}
Note the three images sized 199x95px
appear identical height, of 95px
(the fourth image purposely smaller). The "95px" forces height, while 199x
fits the various widths (it could even be 999x
):
Nibelungen Bridge to Worms | Worms and its sister cities | Statue of Liberty | New York City |
Therefore, the use of size 199x95px
(or 999x95px
, or whatever) produces the auto-height-sizing beyond the <gallery>
tag, and with the option to set taller thumbnails (199x105px
), or even to have some images purposely smaller than other images of 95px
height. A very short height (e.g. 70px
) allows many more images across the table:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|<!--col1-->[[File:Worms 01.jpg|199x70px]]
|<!--col2-->[[File:Gold star on blue.gif|199x70px]]
|<!--col3-->[[File:Worms Wappen 2005-05-27.jpg|199x70px]]
|<!--col4-->[[File:Gold star on deep red.gif|199x70px]]
|<!--col5-->[[File:Liberty-statue-with-manhattan.jpg|199x70px]]
|<!--col6-->[[File:Gold star on blue.gif|199x70px]]
|<!--col7-->[[File:New-York-Jan2005.jpg|199x70px]]<!--same height-->
|-
|}
The above wikitable-coding produces the result below, of 7 columns:
Once images have been placed in a wikitable, control of formatting can be adjusted when more images are added.
Images within a wikitable can be shifted by inserting non-breaking spaces (
) before or after the image code (e.g., [[File:...]]
). However, auto-centering simply requires use of the |center
parameter (see WP:Extended image syntax#Location).
In the example below, note how Col2 uses |center
, but Col3 uses
:
{| class="wikitable" |- |<!--Col1-->[[File:Domtoren vanaf Brigittenstraat.jpg|299x125px]] |<!--Col2-->[[File:Utrecht 003.jpg|299x125px|center]] |<!--Col3--> [[File:Uitzicht--Domtoren.jpg|299x125px]] |- |<!--Col1-->Dom tower from Brigittenstraat |<!--Col2-->Cloister garth of the Utrecht Dom Church |<!--Col3--> <small>View from bell tower</small> |}
The above coding generates the table below: note the middle garden image is centered (but not the left image), and the right image has 2 spaces before "View...", to give an approximation of centering:
Dom tower from Brigittenstraat | Cloister garth of the Utrecht Dom Church | View from bell tower |
Also note that the tag <small>...</small>
made a smaller-text-size caption. Fonts also can be sized by percent (style="font-size: 87%;"
), where the exact percent-size as displayed depends on the various sizes allowed for a particular font; the browser will approximate to the nearest possible size.
| style="font-size: 87%;" | View from bell tower
The column attribute, above, uses style=
to set the font size for the caption, following the second pipe symbol.
A font-size: 65%;
is excessively small, while font-size: 87%;
is a mid-size font, slightly larger than that produced by the tag <small>
.
Note: This example is not accessible, and should be avoided as much as possible. For example, nested tables (tables inside tables) should be separated into distinct tables when possible.
Here is a more advanced example, showing some more options available for making up tables.
Users can play with these settings in their own table to see what effect they have. Not all of these techniques may be appropriate in all cases; just because colored backgrounds can be added, for example, does not mean it is always a good idea. Try to keep the markup in tables relatively simple—remember, other people are going to be editing the article too! This example should give an idea of what is possible, though.
Wiki markup:
Text before centered table...
{| style="border: 1px solid black; border-spacing: 0; margin: 1em auto;"
|+ '''An example table'''
|-
! style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px; background: #efefef;" | First header
! colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px; background: #ffdead;" | Second header
|-
| style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px;" | Upper left
| style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px;" | Upper middle
| rowspan="2" style="border: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid grey; padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;" |
Right side
|-
| style="border: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid grey; padding: 5px;" | Lower left
| style="border: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid grey; padding: 5px;" | Lower middle
|-
| colspan="3" style="border: 1px solid black; text-align: center;" |
Text before a nested table...
{|
|+ ''A table in a table''
|-
| style="text-align: center; width: 150px;" | [[File:Wiki.png]]
| style="text-align: center; width: 150px;" | [[File:Wiki.png]]
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; border-top: 1px solid red;<!--
--> border-right: 1px solid red; border-bottom: 2px solid red;<!--
--> border-left: 1px solid red;" |
Two Wikipedia logos
|}
...text after a nested table
|}
...text after centered table
As it appears in a browser:
Text before centered table...
...text after centered table
A table can be used to wrap an image, so that the table can float towards the center of the page (such as using: style="float: right;"
). However, the table margins, border and font-size must be precisely set to match a typical image display. The File-spec parameter |thumb
(although auto-thumbnailing to user-preference width) forces a wide left-margin that squeezes the nearby text, so the parameter |center
can be added to suppress the left-margin padding. However, |center
sometimes shoves the caption to a 2nd line (under a centered box "[]"), so |thumb
could be omitted and just hard-code the image size, adding a gray (#BBB) border. Using precise parameters to match other images, a floating-image table can be coded as follows:
{| style="float: right; border: 1px solid #BBB; margin: .46em 0 0 .2em;"
|- style="font-size: 86%;"
| style="vertical-align: top;" |[[File:DuraEuropos-TempleOfBel.jpg|180px]]<!--
--><br> Temple of [[Bel (mythology)|Bel]] (floating)
|}
The text inside the floating table is sized by style="font-size: 86%;"
. That floating-image table floats a typical image box, but allows adjusting the left-hand margin of the image (see temple-example floating below).
This sample infobox shows how the floating image box aligns toward the center. |
Temple of Bel (floating) |
The caption text can be omitted, or remove the parameter "thumb|" so the caption is hidden until "mouse-over display". Unfortunately the parameter |thumb
(used for displaying the caption) also controls the auto-thumbnailing to re-size images by user-preferences size. To have auto-thumbnail sizing while also concealing the caption, use |frameless|right
instead of |thumb
.
An image set with parameter |left
has a wide right-side margin (opposite margin of parameter |right
), so floating toward the left can be achieved with an image set as |center
inside a table with style="float:left; margin:0.46em 0.2em;".
Recall that, outside an image-table, the parameter |right
causes an image to align (either) above or below an infobox, but would not float alongside the infobox.
Note the order of precedence: first come infoboxes or images using |right
, then come the floating tables, and lastly, any text wraps that can still fit. If the first word of the text is too long, no text will fit to complete the left-hand side, so beware creating a "ragged left margin" when not enough space remains for text to fit alongside floating tables.
If multiple single-image tables are stacked, they float to align across the page, depending on page width. The text squeezes to allow as many floating tables as can fit, as auto-aligned, then wrap whatever text can still fit at the left-hand side.
...by float: right |
...images wrap... |
All these... |
That auto-aligning feature can be used to create a "floating gallery" of images: a set of 20 floating tables wrap (backward, right-to-left), as if each table were a word of text to wrap across and down the page. To wrap in the typical direction (wrapping left-to-right) define all those floating tables, instead, as left-side tables using the top parameter style="float:left; margin:0.46em 0.2em;"
. Multiple floating images empower more flexible typesetting of images around the text.
While tables should not normally be indented, when their surrounding paragraphs are also indented, you can indent tables using one or more colons (":
", the normal indent code) at the beginning of a line, the same way you'd indent any other wiki content.
Note that indentation applied to only the first line of the table definition (the line that begins with "{|
") is sufficient to indent the entire table. Do not attempt to use colons for indentation anywhere within the rest of the table code (not even at the beginning of a line), as that will prevent the MediaWiki software from correctly reading the code for the table.
Wiki source
:{| class=wikitable
|-
! Header 1
! Header 2
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
|}
Rendered result
Header 1 | Header 2 |
---|---|
row 1, cell 1 | row 1, cell 2 |
row 2, cell 1 | row 2, cell 2 |
style="padding: 3em 4em 5%;"
, the value 4em
is used for both the "left" padding and the "right" padding, so the order going clockwise is: top (3em) → right [and hence also left] (4em) → bottom (5%); there is no "→ left" in this case because the "left" padding has already been defined. In style="padding: 3em 5%;"
, the value 3em
is used for both the "top" and "bottom" padding while the value 5%
is used for both the "left" and "right" padding, so the order going clockwise is: top [and hence also bottom] (3em) → right [and hence also left] (5%); there is no "→ bottom" nor is there "→ left" in this case because the "bottom" and "left" padding have already been defined. The same reasoning also applies to style="padding: 1em 20px 8% 9em;"
, and style="padding: 3%;"
.