Being able to display tables on your content can be really handy. Tables are great for sorting and presenting data to people in a way that makes your information easier to understand.
WordPress provides users with a feature-rich visual editor, but there are some things that it won’t do by default, such as giving you the option to create tables without having to learn code.
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 users, this is simply not a realistic option.
Fortunately, you can do almost anything you need done on a WordPress site with plugins, and adding tables to your content is no exception.
In this tutorial you will learn how to easily create and add tables into your content with no coding skills required.
How To Add Tables In Posts And Pages With WordPress
If you want to create and add tables into your WordPress content with no coding skills required, then the tutorial below will show you how to easily do this using a FREE plugin called TablePress.
TablePress – WordPress Plugin
TablePress is a powerful and time-saving plugin that makes creating, editing and managing tables in WordPress simple and easy.
TablePress requires no knowledge of HTML, CSS, etc. It provides a simple interface that allows you to easily edit table data. Your tables can contain any type of data, even formulas.
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 content using shortcodes and even display these using text widgets.
You can also import and export a table from/to CSV files (e.g. from Excel), HTML files, and JSON.
TablePress was developed by Tobias Bäthge and is licensed as Free Software under GNU General Public License 2 (GPL 2).
Using TablePress Plugin For WordPress – Step-By-Step Tutorial
To create and manage tables in WordPress, first install and activate the TablePress plugin.
You can download the plugin here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress
Or install it directly from within your Dashboard …
Once the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu item will get added to your main menu called TablePress …
Click on TablePress and choose Plugin Options from the submenu list …
The “Plugin Options” section affects the plugin’s styling and display settings …
For example, in the “User Options” section, you can change where the TablePress menu entry appears on your admin menu.
Normally, the menu entry displays somewhere in the middle of your menu column. If you plan to use this plugin a lot, then you can position the menu option close to the top of your menu by specifying “Top-level (middle)” in the User Options > Admin menu entry dropdown menu …
The TablePress menu item will now display closer to the top area of your admin menu …
You can also specify other plugin options in the “Plugin Options” section, such as formatting styles for your tables, default language, and so on. Leave these options as they are if you don’t need to change things in this section.
With TablePress, you create edit and format your tables within the plugin area. Tables are then added via a shortcode into your pages. The tables will then display after saving your content.
The benefit of working directly from the plugin is that you can easily change the data in your tables without having to touch your pages and posts. TablePress then updates all of your table information inside all posts and pages where the table has been added to your content.
To create a new table select TablePress > Add New Table …
Enter the 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 allows you to easily add tables anywhere in your content simply by typing or copying and pasting the shortcode wherever you want to display a table …
Once you have created a new table, adding content to your table is easy.
In the “Table Content” section, click inside the cell and type or paste your content. You can add text, images and format your content (e.g. add bold text, insert hyperlinks, 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, display alternate background colors on consecutive rows, highlight rows when visitors hover their mouse over the table, display the table name and description above or below the table, and more …
You can also edit your table after creating it in the “Table Manipulation” area. You can perform a range of different table edits, such as inserting links and images, hiding, showing, inserting, deleting and cloning selected rows and columns, adding new columns and rows, combining 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 showing on your posts (and also allow users 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 on your web browser allowing you to preview the table. Certain features such as the JavaScript options are disabled in preview mode, but will display when your table is published …
Click the Save Changes button after you are done editing to save your table information …
After you have created one or more tables, you can view a list of all your tables by choosing TablePress > All Tables …
Your tables are displayed in a list. You can edit, see shortcodes, copy, export, delete and preview tables …
Using The Shortcode
You can embed tables inside any posts and pages using the TablePress shortcode.
Click on the Show Shortcode menu item under your table title to get the shortcode …
The plugin also adds a menu item 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 insert a table when working in the “Text” area of the WP editor …
TablePress Menu Icon In Text Editor Screen
Clicking on the menu icon displays a list of all your available tables.
Select the table you want to add to your content and click Insert Shortcode …
Your TablePress shortcode will be inserted into your content …
Publish the post or page to display the 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 your new table settings and refresh your content to view the updated information.
Another great time-saving feature of the TablePress plugin, is that if you plan to keep adding data to an existing table, you can simply export your current table, then add new information, 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 your admin menu …
In the “Export Tables” section, select the table(s) to export (tip: 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 file to your hard drive …
After making changes and resaving the table file, you can then easily re-import your 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. You can also import existing tables from the WP-Table Reloaded plugin
To import a table, select and enter the import source in the “Import Tables” area. You can also import multiple tables from a compressed (ZIP) file and select whether to import tables as a new table or to replace an existing table.
For more information about the plugin, including accessing the plugin documentation for extra features, or get plugin 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 quite a useful time saving free plugin will help you easily create and embed tables into your site content.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum