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Why make tables?

Tables are a very easy way of organising information.

Basic markup

All tables begin with {| and end with |}.

The most common markup used is known as the "pipe" - which looks like this |.

Building a basic table

The following code will build a basic table.

In the first line we set the widths of the borders and the space between cells.

{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"

On the second line we enter the title of the table.

|+ 2006/07 Premier League Table

The following lines create the column headings, when creating the column headings we use a "!" instead of a pipe.

|-
!Position
!Club Name
!Points

Now we create the rows and the information that goes in them. Each line starts with a pipe and each row of information is seperated by a |-.

|-
|1 || Manchester United || 89
|-
|2 || Chelsea || 83
|-
|3 || Liverpool || 68
|-
|4 || Arsenal || 68
|-
|5 || Tottenham || 60
|-
|6 || Bolton || 59

Notice that each cell is split by a double pipe ||. Usually there would be no space between the pipes, here the space is there to make reading the code easier.

This will create a basic table, which looks like this.

Useful extras

Table width:

In the first line of the table it is possible to define the table's width, for example:

{| width=1000pt border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"

Column width:

To define the column width just add a percentage of the overall width to the column heading lines, as follows:

! width=25% | Position
! width=50% | Club Name
! width=25% | Points

The table now looks like this:

Common mistakes

One of the most common mistakes people make with tables is forgetting to put pipes in the code.

Also common is forgetting to finish the table with |}

See also

• For a complete guide to making tables see here