Being able to provide visitors with tables on your website can be really handy. Tables help you sort and present data to people in a way that makes your information easier to understand.
The WordPress visual editor offers many features, but there are some things that it won’t do by default, such as letting you create tables without having to learn code.
Although you can create tables manually in WordPress if you have knowledge of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), for most non-technical users, this is not a feasible option.
Fortunately, you can do almost anything you can imagine on a WordPress site with plugins, and inserting tables into your content with the click of a mouse is no exception.
In this tutorial you will learn how to easily create and insert tables into your site’s pages with no coding skills required.
How To Add Tables In Posts And Pages In WordPress
To add tables to your WordPress posts or pages with no coding skills required, we’ll use a FREE plugin called TablePress.
TablePress – WordPress Plugin
TablePress is a great plugin for creating, editing and managing tables in WordPress.
TablePress does not require you to have any knowledge or skills coding HTML, CSS, etc. It provides a simple user interface that allows you to easily edit your table data. You can add any type of data, even formulas to tables.
An additional JavaScript library can be used to add features like pagination, sorting, filtering, and more for your visitors. You can include the tables into your post content using shortcodes and display tables using text widgets.
You can also import and export tables from/to CSV files (e.g. from Excel), HTML files, and JSON formats.
The plugin was written and developed by Tobias Bäthge and is licensed as Free Software under GNU General Public License 2 (GPL 2).
How To Use TablePress Plugin For WordPress – Tutorial
To create and manage tables in WordPress using TablePress, first install and activate the TablePress plugin.
Download this plugin here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress
Or install it directly from your WP Dashboard …
Once the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu item will appear on your Dashboard menu called TablePress …
Click on TablePress and choose Plugin Options from the list of submenus …
The “Plugin Options” screen affects the plugin’s styling and display settings …
For example, in the “User Options” section, you can modify the position of the TablePress menu entry in your admin menu.
Normally, the menu entry appears somewhere around the middle of your menu column. If you plan to use this plugin a lot, then you can easily position the menu item near the top of the menu by selecting “Top-level (middle)” in the User Options > Admin menu entry dropdown menu …
The TablePress menu item will now appear closer to the top of the admin menu …
You can also specify other settings in the “Plugin Options” tab, such as table formatting styles, default language, etc. If you don’t need to change this section, just leave the options as the default.
With TablePress, tables are created and formatted within the plugin section. Tables are then placed via a shortcode into your pages and posts. Your tables will then display after your content is published.
The advantage of doing this is that you can easily change the information in your tables without having to touch your pages and posts. The plugin then updates all of your table data everywhere where the table has been added to your content.
To create a new table select TablePress > Add New Table …
Type in the table name, a description (optional), and the number of rows and columns you want for the 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 edit the name, description and size of any tables you create at anytime…
Once your new table has been created, it will be listed in the “All Tables” list and be assigned a unique Shortcode ID …
The TablePress shortcode lets you easily add tables anywhere inside a post or page by simply inserting or copying and pasting the shortcode wherever you want to display your table …
Once you have created a new table, adding content to it is 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 format your content (e.g. add bold text, insert hyperlinks, etc …)
After your new table has been 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, display alternate background colours on consecutive rows, highlight rows when a visitor hovers their mouse over the table, display the table name and description above or below the table, and more …
You can also modify your table after it has been created in the “Table Manipulation” section. You can add links and images, hide, show, insert, delete and duplicate selected rows and columns, add new rows and columns, combine cells, etc …
You can also enable JavaScript library features in your tables that will allow site visitors to sort, filter and search your table content, change the number of table rows displayed on your pages (and also allow visitors to change the number of rows displayed), display table information, etc …
You can see how your table looks anytime, by clicking on the Preview button …
A preview window will open allowing you to preview your table. Certain features like JavaScript options are disabled in preview mode, but will display when your post or page is published …
Click the Save Changes button when finished to save your table data …
To view a list of all your tables TablePress > All Tables …
All the tables you have created are listed here. You can edit, see shortcodes, copy, export, delete and preview tables …
Using The Shortcode To Insert Tables Into Your Content
You embed a table inside any pages and posts using a shortcode.
Click on the Show Shortcode menu item below the table title to get the shortcode …
The plugin also adds a shortcode menu icon to your WordPress content editor. This allows you to easily insert tables into your posts and pages while working on your content.
Place your mouse cursor where you want the table to show then click the TablePress menu icon …
TablePress Menu Icon In Visual Editor Screen
Note: You can also insert a table when working inside the “Text” area of the WordPress editor …
TablePress Menu Icon In HTML Editor Screen
Clicking on the menu icon brings up a list of all your available tables.
Select the table you want to add to the content and click Insert Shortcode …
Your TablePress shortcode will be added to your content …
Publish the post or page to display your table …
As stated earlier, one of the great things about TablePress is that you can edit things after publishing the table without having to open your post or page. Edit the content in the plugin area, then save the new table settings and refresh your post to view the updated information.
Another great time-saving feature of the TablePress plugin, is that if you plan to keep adding new data to an existing table, you can simply export your current table, then add new items, make changes, etc. You can then re-import your exported file with the news changes and your table content will be automatically updated throughout your site.
To export a table, select TablePress > Export a Table in the main menu …
In the “Export Tables” section, select 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 easily re-import your table into WordPress.
To import a table into WordPress from your hard drive, go to the menu and choose TablePress > Import a Table …
TablePress can import tables from existing data, such as CSV file data, from a spreadsheet application, an HTML file, or its own JSON format.
To import a table, select and enter the source in the “Import Tables” area. You can also import multiple tables from ZIP files and choose whether to import tables as a new table or write over an existing table.
To learn more about TablePress, including where to access the plugin documentation for extra features, get plugin 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 a very useful time saving free plugin will help you easily create and embed tables into your WordPress posts and pages.
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