The ability to easily add tables to your content can be really handy. Tables are great for sorting and presenting data to people in a format that can make your information easier to understand.
WordPress provides users with a great visual editor, but there are some things that the default editor doesn’t let you do, like being able to 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 WordPress users, this is not a realistic option.
Fortunately, WordPress plugins give users almost unlimited expansion capabilities, 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 without requiring knowledge of HTML or CSS or coding skills.
How To Insert Tables Into Your Content Easily Without Touching Code
Follow the tutorial below to learn how to create and add tables in WordPress using a FREE plugin called TablePress.
TablePress
A powerful and time-saving plugin for creating, editing and managing tables in WordPress is TablePress.
TablePress requires no knowledge or skills coding HTML, CSS, etc. It provides a simple interface that allows you to easily edit table data. Tables can contain any kind of data, even formulas.
An additional JavaScript library can be used to include features like sorting, pagination, filtering, and more for your site visitors. You can easily include the tables into your page 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 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 WP – Step-By-Step Tutorial
To create and manage tables in WordPress posts and pages, first install and activate the TablePress plugin.
You can download the plugin here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress
Or install it directly from your Dashboard …
Once the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see a new menu item added to your admin 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.
By default, the menu item displays somewhere around the middle of your menu. If you plan to use this plugin often, then you can position the menu item close to the top of your Dashboard menu by specifying “Top-level (middle)” on the User Options > Admin menu entry dropdown menu …
The TablePress menu entry now displays closer towards the top of the menu list …
You can also specify other options in the “Plugin Options” tab, like formatting styles for your tables, 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 tables inside the plugin screen. Tables are then added via a shortcode into your content. Your table will then display after your post or page is published.
The great thing about doing this is that you can easily update the information in your tables without having to open any of your posts and pages. TablePress then updates all of your table information 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 change the name, description and size of any table you create at anytime…
Once your new table is created, it will display in the “All Tables” list and be assigned a unique Shortcode ID …
The TablePress shortcode allows you to easily insert tables anywhere inside a post or page by simply typing or copying and pasting the shortcode wherever you want to display your table …
Once you have created a new table, adding content to the table is really easy.
In the “Table Content” section, just 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. bold or italicize words, insert hyperlinks, etc …)
Once your new table is created, additional options appear that let you configure your table.
For example, in the “Table Options” section you can select the first row of your table to be the table header or the last row of the table to be the table footer, make the background of consecutive rows alternate in color, highlight a row when visitors hover their mouse over the table, display the table name and description above or below the table, and more …
You can also modify your table content after it has been created in the “Table Manipulation” area. You can insert images or links, 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 visitors to sort, filter and search your table content, set the number of table rows displayed on your posts (and let visitors specify the number of rows displayed), display table information, etc …
You can preview your table anytime, by clicking on the Preview button …
A preview window will open on your browser displaying the table. Certain features such as the JavaScript options are disabled in preview mode, but will display once your table is published …
Remember to click the Save Changes button when finished to save your table information …
To view a list of all your tables TablePress > All Tables …
A list of all your tables will be displayed in this screen. You can edit, see the shortcode, copy, delete, export and preview tables …
Using The Shortcode
You insert a table into your page content with a shortcode.
Get the shortcode for your tables by clicking on the Show Shortcode menu item under your table title to get the shortcode …
The plugin also adds a menu item 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 add a table when working in the “Text” area of the editor …
TablePress Menu Icon In WordPress Text Editor Screen
Clicking on the menu icon opens a window containing a list of all the available tables you have created.
Select the table you want to insert into the post or page and click Insert Shortcode …
Your TablePress shortcode will be added …
Your table contents will display as soon as you publish your post or page …
As stated earlier, one of the great things about this plugin is that you can edit data after publishing the table without having to open your post or page. Change the content in the plugin area, then save your new table settings and refresh your post to view the updated content.
Another great time-saving feature of this plugin, is that if you plan to keep adding 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 an existing table, click on TablePress > Export a Table in your main menu …
In the “Export Tables” section, choose the table(s) you want 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 editing and resaving your table file, you can then re-import the table into WordPress.
To import a table, select TablePress > Import a Table …
TablePress can import tables from existing data, such as CSV file data, from a spreadsheet application, an HTML file resembling a webpage, or its own 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 select whether to import a table as a new table or to replace an existing table.
For more information about using the plugin, including where to access documentation about additional features, or get technical support, contact the plugin author, etc., click on the “About Tab” in the plugin admin section, or select TablePress > About TablePress …
As you can see, TablePress is an extremely powerful and feature-rich plugin that is free and will help you easily create and insert tables into your WordPress posts and pages.
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