Being able to easily add tables on your pages can be really handy. Tables help you sort and present data to people in a format that can make your information easier to understand.
The WordPress visual editor is great, but there are some things that it doesn’t do by default, such as letting you easily create tables.
Although you can create tables manually in WordPress if you know HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), for many non-technical WordPress users, this is not a feasible option.
Fortunately, you can do almost anything you can imagine on a WordPress site with plugins, and adding tables to your content with the click of a mouse is no exception.
In this tutorial you will learn how to create and add tables easily into your WordPress posts and pages with no coding skills required.
Creating And Adding Tables In WordPress Pages And Posts
If you want to create and add tables into your WordPress content with no coding skills required, the tutorial below will show you how to easily add tables into your WordPress posts and pages using a FREE plugin called TablePress.
TablePress – WP Plugin
TablePress is a great plugin for creating, editing and managing tables in WordPress.
TablePress doesn’t require you to have any knowledge or skills coding HTML, CSS, etc. The plugin provides a simple interface that lets you easily edit your table data. You can add any kind of data, even formulas to your tables.
An additional JavaScript library can be used to include features like pagination, sorting, filtering, and more for visitors. You can insert tables into your post content using shortcodes and display these inside text widgets.
You can also import and export tables from/to CSV files (e.g. from Excel), HTML files, and JSON.
TablePress was created by Tobias Bäthge and is licensed as Free Software under GNU General Public License 2 (GPL 2).
How To Use TablePress – Step-By-Step Tutorial
To create and add tables to WordPress, first install and activate the TablePress plugin.
Download this plugin here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress
Or install it from within your WP Dashboard …
Once you have installed and activated the plugin, a new menu item will be added to your WordPress admin menu called TablePress …
Click on TablePress and choose Plugin Options from the submenu list …
The “Plugin Options” area controls your plugin styling and display settings …
For example, in the “User Options” section, you can modify where the TablePress menu entry appears on your WP admin menu.
Normally, the menu item appears somewhere near the middle of your menu column. If you plan to use this plugin a lot, then you can easily position the menu item closer to the top of the Dashboard menu by specifying “Top-level (middle)” on the User Options > Admin menu entry dropdown menu …
The TablePress menu item now shows closer to the top area of your menu …
You can also specify other settings in the “Plugin Options” area, such as table formatting styles, default language, etc. Leave the default options as they are if you don’t need to change things in this area.
With TablePress, you create and edit your tables within the plugin screen. Tables are then placed via a shortcode into your text. Your table will then display or update after your content is republished.
The great thing about doing this is that you can easily update the data in your tables without having to manually edit your posts and pages. The plugin then updates all of your table data inside all posts and pages where the table has been added to your content.
To add a new table select TablePress > Add New Table …
Enter the table name, a description (optional), and the number of rows and columns you would like for your new table into the “Add New Table” form in the Add New tab, then click on the Add Table button to create your new table. You can change the name, description and size of your tables at anytime…
Once the new table has been created, it will appear in the “All Tables” list and get assigned a unique Shortcode ID …
The TablePress shortcode allows you to easily add tables anywhere in your content by simply typing or copying and pasting the shortcode wherever you want your table to be displayed …
Once a new table has been created, adding content to it is very easy.
In the “Table Content” section, click inside the cell and either type or paste the content you want to display. You can add text, images and HTML formatting to your content (e.g. add bold text, insert links, etc …)
Once your new table is created, additional options appear that let you configure your table.
For example, in the “Table Options” area you can specify the first row of your table to be the table header and the last row of the table to be the table footer, make the background of consecutive rows alternate in colour, highlight a row when a visitor hovers their mouse over the table, print the table name and description above or below the table, and more …
You can also modify your table content after creating it in the “Table Manipulation” section. You can perform a number of manipulations on your table, such as inserting links and images, hiding, showing, inserting, deleting and duplicating selected columns and rows, adding new rows and columns, combining cells, etc …
You can also enable JavaScript library features in your tables that will allow your visitors to sort, filter and search your table content, set the number of table rows showing on your posts (and let users change the number of rows displayed), display table information, etc …
You can see how your table looks anytime, by clicking the Preview button …
A preview window will open displaying the table. Certain features like JavaScript options are disabled in preview mode, but will display once your table is published …
Click the Save Changes button after you are done editing to save your table information …
To view a list of all the tables you have created choose TablePress > All Tables …
All your tables are displayed in a list. You can edit, see shortcodes, copy, delete, export and preview your tables …
Using The TablePress Shortcode To Insert Tables Into Your Content
You insert tables inside pages and blog posts using a shortcode.
Click on the Show Shortcode menu item under your table title to get the shortcode …
The plugin also adds a shortcode menu icon to your WordPress editor. This allows you to easily insert tables into your posts and pages while working on your content.
Place your cursor where you want the table to appear then click the TablePress menu icon …
TablePress Menu Icon In Visual Editor Screen
Note: You can also add a table when working in the “Text” area of the WP editor …
TablePress Menu Icon In WordPress HTML Editor Screen
Clicking on the menu icon displays a list of your existing tables.
Select the table you want to embed into the post or page and click Insert Shortcode …
Your TablePress shortcode will be added to your content …
Publish the post or page to display the table contents …
As stated earlier, one of the great things about TablePress is that you can edit the contents of your table after publishing the table without having to open your post or page. Tweak the content in the plugin area, then save your new table settings and refresh your page to view the updated information.
Another great time-saving feature of this plugin, is that if you plan to keep adding more data to an existing table, you can simply export your current table, then add new data, make changes, etc. You can then re-import your table file with the news changes and your table content will be automatically updated throughout your site.
To export a table, click on TablePress > Export a Table in the main menu …
In the “Export Tables” section, choose the table(s) you would like to export (you can select multiple tables by holding down the “Ctrl” key), then select the Export Format you want(e.g. CSV) and any other export options you’d like to make and click on the Export Table button to download the table file to your hard drive …
After making changes and resaving your table file, you can then re-import your table into WordPress.
To import a table, go to your sidebar menu and choose TablePress > Import a Table …
TablePress can import tables from existing data, such as CSV file data, from a spreadsheet application (e.g. Excel), an HTML file resembling a webpage, or its own JSON format.
To import a table, select and enter the import source in the “Import Tables” section. You can import multiple tables from a compressed (ZIP) file and choose whether to import tables as a new table or to replace an existing table.
For more information about using the plugin, including where to access the plugin documentation for additional features, or get technical support, contact the plugin developer, etc., click on the “About Tab” in the plugin admin section, or select TablePress > About TablePress …
As you can see, TablePress is quite a powerful and feature-rich plugin that is free and will help you easily create and insert tables into your WordPress posts and pages.
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com