Help:Table

Tables can be used for displaying data and for creating box-type designs for pages on this wiki.

Markup

There are many ways to create a table. Below shows the most basic example of creating a table, but users are asked to add either class="table" (for black borders) or class="wikitable" (a predetermined format by the MediaWiki software that gives it gray borders and headers) after the {|.

	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

You can add "sortable" within the class (e.g. class="wikitable sortable) to add arrows, allowing you to sort certain table columns.

Sample tables

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 |}

With the "table" class applied:

1	2
3	4

With the "wikitable" class applied:

1	2
3	4

Table	Wikitable
{| class="table" | 1 || 2 |- | 3 || 4 |}	{| class="wikitable" | 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. Users are advised to not add this in articles, as several of these options are already incorporated in the "table" class (which is has been defined in Common.css). 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 gamers

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:Example.png]] || [[File:Example.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:Example.png]] || [[File:Example.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 gamers	{| style="border:1px solid; border-top:none; width:330px;" |- || [[File:Example.png]] || [[File:Example.png]] |- | align="center" colspan="2" style="border-top:1px solid red;"| Welcome gamers |}

You may use

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

The complete code

An example layout

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

Welcome gamers

{| 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:Example.png]]
|| [[File:Example.png]]
|-
| align="center" colspan="2"|
<div style="border:1px solid red;">Welcome gamers</div>
|}

Attribution

The original policy page was from Wikia Central.