Tables

Overview

This page gives information about syntax to build wiki-tables in MediaWiki.

• Tables (Youtube)

Customizing the Column Widths

Output

• The wiki markup will generate a table as follows:

200px	300px	400px
The width of this column is 200px	The width of this column is 300px	The width of this column is 400px
The width of this column is 200px	The width of this column is 300px	The width of this column is 400px

Using the Toolbar

You can use the Mediawiki edit toolbar to create tables.The toolbar is helpful to generate the necessary codings.

Use the first button on the right of the toolbar to insert a table when editing a page.

By default, it includes the next text:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! header 1

! header 2

! header 3

|-

| row 1, cell 1

| row 1, cell 2

| row 1, cell 3

|-

| row 2, cell 1

| row 2, cell 2

| row 2, cell 3

|}

Pipe syntax tutorial

The table's caption

Column heading 1	Column heading 2	Column heading 3
Row heading 1	Cell 2	Cell 3
Row heading A	Cell B	Cell C

Although HTML table syntax also works, special wikicode can be used as a shortcut to create a table. The pipe (vertical bar) codes function exactly the same as HTML table markup, so a knowledge of HTML table code will help in understanding 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 will start on the next line.

{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
  cell code goes here
|-
  cell code goes here
|}

• Type the codes for each table cell in the next row, starting with a bar:

{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
| cell codes go here
|-
| cells in the next row go here
| more cells in the same row here
|}

• Cells can be separated with either a new line and new bar, or by a double bar "||" on the same line. Both produce the same output:

{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
|Cell 1 || Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
|Cell A 
|Cell B
|Cell C
|}

• If you use single bars, then what you think the first cell is in fact a format modifier applied to the cell, and the the rest of your "cells" are merged into one:

{| border="1"
|-
|format modifier (not displayed)|These all |(including the pipes)|go into |the first cell
|-
|}

which is probably not what you want:

These all |(including the pipes)|go into |the first cell

However, the format modifier is useful:

{| border="1"
|-
|Cell 1 (no modifier - not aligned)
|-
|align="right" |Cell 2 (right aligned)
|-
|}

Cell 1 (no modifier - not aligned)

Cell 2 (right aligned)

Just remember: no more than 2 single pipes on a line!

• a row of column headings is identified by using "!" instead of "|", and using "!!" instead of "||". Header cells typically render differently than regular cells, depending on the browser. They are often rendered in a bold font and centered.

{|
|+ The table's caption
! Column heading 1 !! Column heading 2 !! Column heading 3
|-
|Cell 1 || Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
|Cell A
|Cell B
|Cell C
|}

• 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's caption
! Column heading 1 !! Column heading 2 !! Column heading 3
|-
! Row heading 1 
| Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
! Row heading A 
|Cell B
|Cell C
|}

• Optional parameters can modify the behavior of cells, rows, or the entire table. For instance, a border could be added to the table:

{| border="1"
|+ The table's caption
! Column heading 1 !! Column heading 2 !! Column heading 3
|-
! Row heading 1
| Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
! Row heading A
|Cell B
|Cell C
|}

The final table would display like this:

The table's caption

Column heading 1	Column heading 2	Column heading 3
Row heading 1	Cell 2	Cell 3
Row heading A	Cell B	Cell C

The table parameters and cell parameters are the same as in HTML, see [1] and Table (HTML). 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. For example, the background colors of cells can be changed with cell parameters, making the table into a diagram, like 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. To show a visible pipe in a cell, use <nowiki>|</nowiki> or &#124;.

Examples

Simple example

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 markup

{| 
| A 
| B
|- 
| C
| D
|}

{| 
| A || B
|- 
| C || D 
|}

What it looks like in your browser

A	B
C	D

Multiplication table

Wiki markup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+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
|}

What it looks like in your browser (see: Help:User_style)

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

Color; scope of parameters

Two ways of specifying color of text and background for a single cell are as follows. The first form is preferred:

Wiki markup

{| 
| style="background:red; color:white" | abc
| def
| bgcolor="red" | <font color="white"> ghi </font>
| jkl
|}

What it looks like in your browser

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:

Wiki markup

{| style="background:yellow; color:green"
|- 
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="background:red; color:white"
| jkl || mno || pqr
|-
| stu || style="background:silver" | vwx || yz
|}

What it looks like in your browser

abc	def	ghi
jkl	mno	pqr
stu	vwx	yz

To make the table blend in with the background, use style="background:none". (Warning: style="background:inherit", does not work with some browsers, including IE6!)

Width, height

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.

Wiki markup

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|- 
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px" 
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}

What it looks like in your browser

abc	def	ghi
jkl	mno	pqr
stu	vwx	yz

Note that style="inline CSS" has no effect with some browsers. If compatibility is important, equivalent older constructs like width="75%" should work on more browsers.

Setting your column widths

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
|-
|Poké Ball || Regular Poké Ball || All Versions
|-
|Great Ball || Better than a Poké Ball || All Versions
|}

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, like this:

{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|width="100pt"|This column is 100 points wide
|width="200pt"|This column is 200 points wide
|width="300pt"|This column is 300 points wide
|-
|blah || blah || blah
|}

This column is 100 points wide	This column is 200 points wide	This column is 300 points wide
blah	blah	blah

Vertical alignment

By default data in tables is vertically centrally aligned, which results in odd-looking layouts like this:

Row heading	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. 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.	A shorter piece of text.
Row heading	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. 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.	A shorter piece of text.

To fix this, apply the valign="top" attribute to the rows (unfortunately it seems to be necessary to apply this individually to every single row). For example:

{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-valign="top"
|width="10%"|'''Row heading'''
|width="70%"|A longer piece of text. Lorem ipsum...
|width="20%"|A shorter piece of text.
|-valign="top"
|'''Row heading'''
|A longer piece of text. Lorem ipsum... 
|A shorter piece of text.
|}

Row heading	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. 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.	A shorter piece of text.
Row heading	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. 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.	A shorter piece of text.

Positioning

One can position the table itself, and all contents in a row, and contents in a cell, but not with a single parameter for 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.

Mélange

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.

Wiki markup

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''An example table'''
|-
! style="background:#efefef;" | First header
! colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;" | 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:Wiki.png]]
| align="center" width="150px" | [[Image:Wiki.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 Wikimedia logos
|}
|}

What it looks like in your browser

An example table

First header	Second header
upper left		right side
lower left	lower middle
A table in a table Two Wikimedia logos

Floating table

Wiki markup

This paragraph is before the table.  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...

{| align="right" border="1"
| Col 1, row 1 
|rowspan="2"| Col 2, row 1 (and 2) 
| Col 3, row 1 
|- 
| Col 1, row 2 
| Col 3, row 2 
|}

Note the floating table to the right.   

This paragraph is after the table.  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...

What it looks like in your browser

This paragraph is before the table. 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...

Col 1, row 1	Col 2, row 1 (and 2)	Col 3, row 1
Col 1, row 2		Col 3, row 2

Note the floating table to the right.

This paragraph is after the table. 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...

Nested tables

This shows one table (in blue) nested inside another table's cell2. Nested tables have to start on a new line.

Wiki markup

{| border="1"
| &alpha;
| align="center" | cell2
{| border="2" style="background-color:#ABCDEF;"
| NESTED
|-
| TABLE
|}
| valign="bottom" | the original table again
|}

What it looks like in your browser

α

cell2 NESTED TABLE

the original table again

Combined use of COLSPAN and ROWSPAN

Wiki markup

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|-
! Column 1 || Column 2 || Column 3
|-
| rowspan="2"| A
| colspan="2" align="center"| B
|-
| C <!-- column 1 occupied by cell A -->
| D 
|-
| E
| rowspan="2" colspan="2" align="center"| F
|- 
| G <!-- column 2+3 occupied by cell F -->
|- 
| colspan="3" align="center"| H
|}

What it looks like in your browser

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. Likewise complete columns are not displayed if all their cells are empty. Borders between non-empty and empty cells might be also not displayed (depending on the browser), use   to fill an empty cell with dummy content.

Centering tables

Centered tables can be achieved, but they will not "float"; that is to say, no text will appear to either side. The trick is {| style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"

Wiki markup

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|+ '''Cells left-aligned, table centered'''
! Duis || aute || irure
|-
| dolor  || in reprehenderit || in voluptate velit
|-
| esse cillum dolore || eu fugiat nulla || pariatur.
|}

What it looks like in your browser

Cells left-aligned, table centered

Duis	aute	irure
dolor	in reprehenderit	in voluptate velit
esse cillum dolore	eu fugiat nulla	pariatur.

Setting parameters

At the start of a cell, add your parameter followed by a single pipe. For example width="300"| will set that cell to a width of 300 pixels. To set more than one parameter, leave a space between each one.

Wiki markup

{| style="color:white"
|-
| bgcolor="red"|cell1 || width="300" bgcolor="blue"|cell2 || bgcolor="green"|cell3
|}

What it looks like in your browser

cell1

cell2

cell3

Decimal point alignment

A method to get columns of numbers aligned at the decimal point is as follows:

Wiki markup

{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
|align="right"| 432 || .1
|-
|align="right"| 43 || .21
|-
|align="right"| 4 || .321
|}

What it looks like in your browser

432	.1
43	.21
4	.321

If the column of numbers appears in a table with cell padding or cell spacing, one can still align the decimal points without an unsightly gap in the middle. Embed a table in each number's cell and specify its column widths. Make the embedded tables' column widths the same for each cell in the column. (If decimal points are still misaligned using this method, the main table's column may be too narrow. Add a parameter to increase the column's width.)

Wiki markup

{|border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2"
|
{|cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|align="right" width="50%"| 432 ||width="50%"| .1
|}
|-
|
{|cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|align="right" width="50%"| 43 ||width="50%"| .21
|}
|-
|
{|cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|align="right" width="50%"| 4 ||width="50%"| .321
|}
|}

What it looks like in your browser

432 .1

43 .21

4 .321

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

Style classes

Some users have created CSS classes and templates to make table styles easier. Instead of remembering table parameters, you just include an appropriate style 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:

{| 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 × 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 2 2 4 6 3 3 6 9 4 4 8 12 5 5 10 15
becomes this:
{| class="wikitable" |+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 × 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 2 2 4 6 3 3 6 9 4 4 8 12 5 5 10 15

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 markup

{| class="wikitable" style="font-style:italic; font-size:120%; border:3px dashed red;"
|+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
|}

What it looks like in your browser

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

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.

Of course this works only for browsers supporting inline CSS, if it's important use XHTML markup like <big> instead of "font-size:120%", or Wiki markup like ''text'' instead of "font-style:italic".

Sorting

For a sortable table (wikitable sortable) see Help:Sorting.

Table row depending on a template parameter

Wiki-syntax for a table row can be made optional using ParserFunctions. To avoid confusion between pipe characters as used in ParserFunctions, and those which are part of the table syntax, the latter are put with a special Template:Tim, see Template:Tim.

Other table syntax

Other types of table syntax that MediaWiki supports:

1. XHTML
2. HTML and wiki <td> syntax (Do not use)

All three are supported by MediaWiki and create (currently) valid HTML output, but the pipe syntax is the simplest, especially for people who are already familiar with HTML. Also, HTML and wiki <td> syntax will not necessarily remain browser-supported in the upcoming future, especially on handheld internet-accessible devices.

See also Table (HTML), 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	<table></table>	<table></table>	{| |}
Caption	<caption>caption</caption>	<caption>caption</caption>	|+ caption
Row	<tr></tr>	<tr>	|-
Data cell	<td>cell1</td> <td>cell2</td>	<td>cell1 <td>cell2	| cell1 | cell2
Data cell	<td>cell1</td> <td>cell2</td> <td>cell3</td>	<td>cell1 <td>cell2 <td>cell3	| cell1 || cell2 || cell3
Header cell	<th>heading</th>	<th>heading	! heading
Sample table	1 2 3 4
	<table> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> </tr> </table>	<table> <tr> <td> 1 <td> 2 <tr> <td> 3 <td> 4 </table>	{| | 1 || 2 |- | 3 || 4 |}
Sample table	1 2 3 4 5 6
	<table> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>6</td> </tr> </table>	<table> <tr> <td> 1 <td> 2 <tr> <td> 3 <td> 4 <tr> <td> 5 <td> 6 </table>	{| | 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	Should not be used 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. Is nothing more than a shortcut for HTML-style tags. Not easily understood by those unfamiliar with HTML table concepts
	XHTML	HTML & Wiki-td	Wiki-pipe

Pipe syntax in terms of the HTML produced

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.

Tables

A table is defined by {| ''params'' |} which equals <table ''params''>Insert non-formatted text here </table>

Careful: You must include the space between {| and params, or the first parameter gets ignored.

Rows

<tr> tags will be generated automatically for the first row. To start a new row, use

|-

which results in

<tr>

Parameters can be added like this:

|- params

which results in

<tr params>

Note:

• <tr> tags will be automatically opened at the first <td> equivalent
• <tr> tags will be automatically closed at <tr> and </table> equivalents

Cells

Cells are generated either like this:

|cell1
|cell2
|cell3

or like this:

|cell1||cell2||cell3

which both equal

<td>cell1</td><td>cell2</td><td>cell3</td>

so "||" equals "newline" + "|"

Parameters in cells can be used like this:

|params|cell1||params|cell2||params|cell3

which will result in

<td params>cell1</td>
<td params>cell2</td>
<td params>cell3</td>

Headers

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

Captions

A <caption> tag is created by

|+ Caption

which generates

<caption>Caption</caption>

You can also use parameters:

|+ params|Caption

which will generate

<caption params>Caption</caption>

Displaying the table code which generates a table

A simple wiki markup table's code inside a Code box can be seen below.

{| border="5" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
| style="text-align: center;" | [[Image:gnome-system.png]]
|-
! Computer
|-
| Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz
|}

Above code produces/displays below table:

File:Gnome-system.png
Computer
Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz

Below code, generated and displayed the above table's Code box code itself, on the screen and web page, inside a blue colored dashed bordered rectangular box.

<pre>
{| border="5" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
| style="text-align: center;" | [[Image:gnome-system.png]]
|-
! Computer
|-
| Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz
|}
</pre>

Note that, HTML tag <pre> was used to achieve displaying the above code and the Code box.

Other alternatives to display table code

In most cases, when a code line is longer than the web browser window's width, then a scrolling bar appears at bottom, to let the viewer slide to the right side (and also left side) to see the rest of the code, because, the use of <pre> tag causes code lines to remain intact, unless an EOL (CR/LF) hidden character is reached in that text line. But having to slide or scroll to the right or left to view the full code line is often not comfortable to many users. To solve such problem, using the <p>, <tt> and <br /> HTML tags, are better than using the <pre> tag, as those will not result in the need to move the scroll-bar to the right (or left) side for viewing, by causing code lines to wrap around so that they don't exceed the length allowed by the web browser window's width. By placing the code inside the <tt>...</tt> HTML tags, the code is displayed with a fixed width text/font, (like the <pre> tag uses) for easier reading. HTML tag <br /> is used to display (or bring) next line of code, starting from the next line. HTML tag <p> along with its CSS style properties, is used to create the blue colored dashed bordered rectangular box (Code box) around the codes, (like the HTML <pre> tag, which gets these properties from the main.css stylesheet file).

An example of table code with a long line is:

{| border="5" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
| style="text-align: center;" | [[Image:gnome-system.png]]
|-
! Computer
|-
| style="color: yellow; background-color: green;" | Processor Speed: <span style="color: white;"> 1.8 GHz </span>
|}

producing the below table:

File:Gnome-system.png
Computer
Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz

The Code box above the table has the auto line wrapping feature enabled. Note the long line of code (the sixth line from top), which is wrapped inside the Code box. This Code box and the code inside it, can be displayed by using the below code in the edit box.

<p style="padding: 1em; border: 1px dashed #2f6fab; color: Black; background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 1.1em;"> <tt>
<nowiki>{|</nowiki> border="5" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
| style="text-align: center;" | <nowiki>[[</nowiki>Image:gnome-system.png]] <br />
|- <br />
! Computer <br />
|- <br />
| style="color: yellow; background-color: green;" | Processor Speed: <nowiki><span style="color: white;"></nowiki> 1.8 GHz <nowiki></span></nowiki> <br />
<nowiki>|}</nowiki> <br />
</tt> </p>

See the above codes, note that, <nowiki>...</nowiki> tags were used to disable wiki markup codes for beginning a table ({|), ending a table (|}), start of an image displaying ([[), or a hyperlink, etc. All wiki & HTML markup codes need to be disabled by enclosing them inside the <nowiki>...</nowiki> tags. If these codes were to be displayed inside another table, then, each | (pipe) & ! (Exclamation mark) symbol also needed to be enclosed inside the <nowiki> tags. Note that, the longer line is automatically wrapped according to the width of the web browser's window, inside the Code box.

Alternatively, we can replace each | (pipe symbol) character with &#124; (HTML decimal entity code), replace each ! (exclamation mark) with &#33; code, replace { (beginning curly/second bracket) with &#123; and we may replace } (closing curly/second bracket) with &#125; code. Also replace the < (less than sign, or beginning angle bracket) with &#60; numeric entity code or, replace it with &lt; (HTML symbol entity code). For more on HTML decimal or hexadecimal numeric entity codes, please see w:Windows Alt codes. To display the wiki image markup code, we should replace the [ (beginning square/third bracket) with &#91; and we may replace ] (closing square/third bracket) with &#93;. When we are replacing characters with their numeric enitity codes, we are actually disabling their normal functionality, so we can display them on the web page(s).

By using the numeric entity codes, mentioned in above paragraph, below codes can display the above Code box in another alternative (better) way. Note that, the longer line is automatically wrapped, without exceeding the browser window's width, inside the below Code box.

File:Gnome-system.png Computer Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz

<p style="padding: 1em; border: 1px dashed #2f6fab; color: Black; background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 1.1em;"> <tt>
&#123;&#124; border="5" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
&#124; style="text-align: center;" &#124; &#91;&#91;Image:gnome-system.png]] <br />
&#124;- <br />
&#33; Computer <br />
&#124;- <br />
&#124; style="color: yellow; background-color: green;" &#124; Processor Speed: &#60;span style="color: red;"> 1.8 GHz &#60;/span> <br />
&#124;&#125; <br />
</tt> </p>

External links

• HTML tables to wiki converter at cnic.org
• csv2wp - converts comma-separated values (CSV) format to pipe syntax. You may use this to import tables from Excel etc. (more information)
• HTML tables to wiki converter at uni-bonn.de
• HTML tables to wiki converter at diberri.dyndns.org
• pywikipediabot (can convert HTML tables to wiki)

Template:WikiDoc Sources