This is a copy of the master help page at
m:Help:Table
Do not edit this page. Edits will be lost in the next update from the master page.
Either edit the master help page for all projects at Meta, or edit the project-specific text at
Template:Ph:Table
. You are welcome to copy the exact wikitext from the master page at Meta and paste it into this page at any time.
Although HTML table syntax also works, special wikicode can be used to create a table, as follows:
The entire table begins with a line "
{|
optional table parameters
" and ends with the line "
|}
".
An optional
table caption
is included with a line "
|+
caption
" after "
{|
".
The code for a
table row
consists of the line "
|-
optional table parameters
", and, starting on a new line, the codes for the cells in the row, separated by
newline
or "|"
Table data
are the codes for the cells; cell code is of the form "|
value
" or "|
cell parameters
value
a row of
column headings
is identified by using "!" instead of "|", except for the separator between a cell parameter and a value; the difference with a normal row depends on the browser, column headings are often rendered in a bold font.
the first cell of a row is identified as
row heading
by starting the line with "!" instead of "|", and starting subsequent data cells on a new line.
The table parameters and cell parameters are the same as in HTML, see
[1]
and
HTML element#Tables
. However, the
thead
tbody
tfoot
colgroup
, and
col
elements are currently not
supported in MediaWiki
A table can be useful even if none of the cells have content, notably because with the use of background colors of cells the table can be a diagram, see e.g.
m:Template talk:Square 8x8 pentomino example
. An "image" in the form of a table is much more convenient to edit than an uploaded image.
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, see colspan and rowspan in Mélange example below). For empty cells, use the non-breaking space
as content to ensure that the cells are displayed.
{|
| Cell 1, row 1
| Cell 2, row 1
|-
| Cell 1, row 2
| Cell 2, row 2
|}
and
{|
| Cell 1, row 1 || Cell 2, row 1
|-
| Cell 1, row 2 || Cell 2, row 2
|}
both generate
Cell 1, row 1
Cell 2, row 1
Cell 1, row 2
Cell 2, row 2
Multiplication table
edit
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
|+Multiplication table
|-
! × !! 1 !! 2 !! 3
|-
! 1
| 1 || 2 || 3
|-
! 2
| 2 || 4 || 6
|-
! 3
| 3 || 6 || 9
|-
! 4
| 4 || 8 || 12
|-
! 5
| 5 || 10 || 15
|}
Multiplication table
12
10
15
Color; scope of parameters
edit
Two ways of specifying color of text and background for a single cell are as follows:
{|
| style="background:red; color:white" | abc
| def
| style="background:red; color:white" | ghi
| jkl
|}
gives
As shown "font" works for one cell only, even without end tag: the end tag is produced by the system.
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:yellow; color:green"
|-
| abc
| def
| ghi
|- style="background:red; color:white"
| jkl
| mno
| pqr
|-
| stu
| style="background:silver;color:var(--color-base-fixed,#202122);" | vwx
| yz
|}
gives
abc
def
ghi
jkl
mno
pqr
stu
vwx
yz
The
HTML
4.01 specification defines sixteen named colors, here shown with hexadecimal values:
See
w:en:web colors
The width and height of the whole table can be specified, as well as the height of a row. To specify the width of a column one can specify the width of an arbitrary cell in it. If the width is not specified for all columns, and/or the height is not specified for all rows, then there is some ambiguity, and the result depends on the browser.
{| style="width:400px; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc
| def
| ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl
| style="width:200px" |mno
| pqr
|-
| stu
| vwx
| yz
|}
gives
abc
def
ghi
jkl
mno
pqr
stu
vwx
yz
One can position the table itself, and all contents in a row, and contents in a cell, but not with a single parameter all contents in the table, see
m:Template talk:Table demo
. Do not, under any circumstances, use "float" to position a table. It will break page rendering at large font sizes.
Here's a more advanced example, showing some more options available for making up 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 article too! This example should give you an idea of what is possible, though.
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''An example table'''
|-
! style="background:#efefef;color:var(--color-base-fixed,#202122);" | First header
! colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;color:var(--color-base-fixed,#202122);" | Second header
|-
| upper left
| rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:3px solid grey;" valign="top" |
right side
|-
| style="border-bottom:3px solid grey;" | lower left
| style="border-bottom:3px solid grey;" | lower middle
|-
| colspan="3" align="center" |
{| border="0"
|+''A table in a table''
|-
| align="center" width="150px" | [[Image:Wikiquote-logo-en.png]]
| align="center" width="150px" | [[Image:Wikiquote-logo-en.png]]
|-
| align="center" colspan="2" style="border-top:1px solid red; border-right:1px
solid red; border-bottom:2px solid red; border-left:1px solid red;" |
Two Wikipedia logos
|}
|}
An example table
First header
Second header
upper left
right side
lower left
lower middle
A table in a table
Two Wikipedia logos
{| align=right border=1
| Cell 1, row 1
|rowspan=2| Cell 2, row 1 (and 2)
| Cell 3, row 1
|-
| Cell 1, row 2
| Cell 3, row 2
|}
Cell 1, row 1
Cell 2, row 1 (and 2)
Cell 3, row 1
Cell 1, row 2
Cell 3, row 2
Note the floating table to the right.
{| border=1
| α
| align="center" | cell2
{| border=2 style="background-color:#ABCDEF;color:var(--color-base-fixed,#202122);"
| NESTED
|-
| TABLE
|}
| valign="bottom" | the original table again
|}
gives a nested table
cell2
the original table again
Nested tables have to start on a new line.
Combined use of COLSPAN and ROWSPAN
edit
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|-
! Column 1 || Column 2 || Column 3
|-
| rowspan=2| A
| colspan=2 align="center"| B
|-
| C
| D
|-
| E
| colspan=2 align="center"| F
|-
| rowspan=3| G
| H
| I
|-
| J
| K
|-
| colspan=2 align="center"| L
|}
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Other types of
table
syntax that MediaWiki supports:
XHTML
HTML and wiki
All three are supported by MediaWiki and create (currently) valid HTML output, but the pipe syntax is the simplest, except perhaps for people who are already familiar with HTML. Also, HTML and wiki
See also
HTML element#Tables
. Note however that the
thead
tbody
tfoot
colgroup
, and
col
elements are currently not
supported in MediaWiki
Comparison of table syntax
XHTML
HTML & Wiki-td
Wiki-pipe
Table
{| params
|}
Caption
|+ caption
Row
|- params
Data cell
| cell1
| cell2
Data cell
|cell1||cell2||cell3
Header cell
! heading
Sample table
| 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
{|
| 1 || 2
|-
| 3 || 4
|}
Sample table
| 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 |
| 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 |
{|
| 1 || 2
|-
| 3 || 4
|-
| 5 || 6
|}
Pros
Can be previewed/debugged with any XHTML editor
Can be formatted for easier reading
Well-known
Can be previewed/debugged with any HTML editor
Can be formatted for easier reading
Well-known
Takes less space than XHTML
Easy to write
Easy to read
Takes little space
Cons
Tedious
Takes a lot of space
Difficult to read quickly
Confusing, especially for people with little HTML experience
Poorly formed
Poorly delimited
Generally odd looking
May not have browser support in future
Unfamiliar syntax
Rigid structure
Cannot be indented
Text (as in HTML tags) may be easier for some people to read than series of pipes, plus signs, exclamation marks, etc.
XHTML
HTML & Wiki-td
Wiki-pipe
The pipe syntax, developed by
Magnus Manske
, substitutes pipes (|) for HTML. There is an
on-line 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
{| ''params''
|}
which equals
Careful
: You
must include
the
space
between
{|
and
params
, or the first parameter gets ignored.
|-
which results in
Parameters can be added like this:
|-
params
which results in
Note:
Cells are generated either like this:
|cell1
|cell2
|cell3
or like this:
|cell1||cell2||cell3
which both equal
so "||" equals "newline" + "|"
Parameters in cells can be used like this:
params
|cell1||
params
|cell2||
params
|cell3
which will result in
>cell1
>cell2
>cell3
Functions the same way as TD, except "!" is used instead of the opening "|". "!!" can be used instead of "||". Parameters still use "|", though! Example:
params
|cell1
A
|+ Caption
which generates
You can also use parameters:
|+
params
|Caption
which will generate
>Caption
(To see demonstrated effects, you may have to increase or decrease the fontsize setting of the browser; also you can vary the width of the browser window.)
You can use
align=right
, text after the table code appears to the left of the table.
Multiplication table 5*3
12
10
15
here begins the text immediately after 5*3 multiplication table.
Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis tellus. Donec ante dolor, iaculis nec, gravida ac, cursus in, eros. Mauris vestibulum, felis et egestas ullamcorper, purus nibh vehicula sem, eu egestas ante nisl non justo. Fusce tincidunt, lorem nec dapibus consectetuer, leo orci mollis ipsum, eget suscipit eros purus in ante. At ipsum vitae est lacinia tincidunt. Maecenas elit orci, gravida ut, molestie non, venenatis vel, lorem. Sed lacinia. Suspendisse potenti. Sed ultricies cursus lectus. In id magna sit amet nibh suscipit euismod. Integer enim. Donec sapien ante, accumsan ut, sodales commodo, auctor quis, lacus. Maecenas a elit lacinia urna posuere sodales. Curabitur pede pede, molestie id, blandit vitae, varius ac, purus. Mauris at ipsum vitae est lacinia tincidunt. Maecenas elit orci, gravida ut, molestie non, venenatis vel, lorem. Sed lacinia. Suspendisse potenti. Sed ultricies cursus lectus. In id magna sit amet nibh suscipit euismod. Integer enim. Donec sapien ante, accumsan ut, sodales commodo, auctor quis, lacus. Maecenas a elit lacinia urna posuere sodales. Curabitur pede pede, molestie id, blandit vitae, varius ac, purus.
However,
do not put preformatted text there
, it may overlap the table because it does not wrap.
To prevent this, use
:
Multiplication table 4*3
12
here begins the text immediately after 4*3 multiplication table.
Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis tellus. Donec ante dolor, iaculis nec, gravida ac, cursus in, eros. Mauris vestibulum, felis et egestas ullamcorper, purus nibh vehicula sem, eu egestas ante nisl non justo. Fusce tincidunt, lorem nec dapibus consectetuer, leo orci mollis ipsum, eget suscipit eros purus in ante.
now
comes the cleared BR:
here it was so preformatted text will start only after the table ended
You can use
align=left
, table will appear at the left and the following text to the right of it (but perhaps too close):
Multiplication table 2*3
here begins the text immediately after 2*3 multiplication table.
Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis tellus. Donec ante dolor, iaculis nec, gravida ac, cursus in, eros. Mauris vestibulum, felis et egestas ullamcorper, purus nibh vehicula sem, eu egestas ante nisl non justo. Fusce tincidunt, lorem nec dapibus consectetuer, leo orci mollis ipsum, eget suscipit eros purus in ante. At ipsum vitae est lacinia tincidunt. Maecenas elit orci, gravida ut, molestie non, venenatis vel, lorem. Sed lacinia. Suspendisse potenti. Sed ultricies cursus lectus. In id magna sit amet nibh suscipit euismod. Integer enim. Donec sapien ante, accumsan ut, sodales commodo, auctor quis, lacus. Maecenas a elit lacinia urna posuere sodales. Curabitur pede pede, molestie id, blandit vitae, varius ac, purus. Mauris at ipsum vitae est lacinia tincidunt. Maecenas elit orci, gravida ut, molestie non, venenatis vel, lorem. Sed lacinia. Suspendisse potenti. Sed ultricies cursus lectus. In id magna sit amet nibh suscipit euismod. Integer enim. Donec sapien ante, accumsan ut, sodales commodo, auctor quis, lacus. Maecenas a elit lacinia urna posuere sodales. Curabitur pede pede, molestie id, blandit vitae, varius ac, purus.
To create space around a table, image, or text, create a 1×1 table around it, with cellpadding:
Multiplication table
If you wish to force column widths to your own requirements, rather than accepting the width of the widest text element in a column's cells, then follow this example. Note that wrap-around of text is forced.
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
!width="50"|Name
!width="225"|Effect
!width="225"|Games Found In
|-
|Pokeball
|Regular Pokeball
|All Versions
|-
|Great Ball
|Better than a Pokeball
|All Versions
|}
Name
Effect
Games Found In
Pokeball
Regular Pokeball
All Versions
Great Ball
Better than a Pokeball
All Versions
At the start of a cell, add your parameter followed by a single pipe. For example
width=300px|
will set that cell to a width of 300 pixels. To set more than one parameter, leave a space between each one.
{|
|-
| bgcolor=red|cell1 || width=300px bgcolor=blue|cell2 || bgcolor=green|cell3
|}
What it looks like in your browser
edit
A method to get columns of numbers aligned at the decimal point is as follows:
{| cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0
|align=right| 432 || . || 1
|-
|align=right| 43 || . || 21
|-
|align=right| 4 || . || 321
|}
gives
In simple cases one can dispense with the table feature and simply start the lines with a space, and put spaces to position the numbers:
432.1
43.21
4.321
Some users have created
templates
to make table styles easier. Instead of remembering table parameters, you just include an appropriate style template after the
{|
. This helps keep table formatting consistent, and can allow a single change to the template to fix a problem or enhance the look of all tables that use it. For instance, this:
Multiplication table
12
10
15
becomes this:
Multiplication table
12
10
15
simply by replacing the
border="1" cellpadding="2"
section with
class="wikitable"
All of these templates should be organized/listed in a single place, like here.
As a by-product of the image gallery feature, a table can be made with the gallery tag; if a text entry contains a link, the whole entry is ignored.
Drenthe
Flevoland
Friesland
Gelderland
Groningen
Limburg
North Brabant (capital: [[Den Bosch]])
North Holland
Overijssel
South Holland
Utrecht
Zeeland
gives:
commons