Being able to easily add tables on your website can be really handy. Tables are great for sorting and presenting data to visitors in a way that makes 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, 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 WordPress users, this is not a realistic option.
Fortunately, WordPress plugins let you do almost anything you can imagine, and adding tables to your content is no exception.
In this step-by-step tutorial you will learn how to create and add tables easily into your pages and blog posts with no coding skills required.
How To Add Tables To WordPress Content
To add tables to your WordPress posts or pages with no HTML or CSS knowledge required, we’ll use a FREE WordPress plugin called TablePress.
TablePress – WP Plugin
TablePress is a powerful and time-saving WordPress plugin that makes creating, editing and managing tables in your WordPress posts and pages simple and easy.
TablePress does not require you to have any knowledge of HTML, CSS, etc. The plugin lets you easily edit your table data. Your tables can contain any kind of data, even formulas.
An additional JavaScript library can be used to add features like pagination, sorting, filtering, and more for site users. You can easily include the tables into your page content using shortcodes and even display tables inside text widgets.
You can also import and export tables from/to CSV files (e.g. from Excel), HTML files, and JSON.
This plugin was created by Tobias Bäthge and is licensed as Free Software under GNU General Public License 2 (GPL 2).
How To Use TablePress WP Plugin – Tutorial
To create and manage tables in WordPress, install and activate the TablePress plugin.
You can download the plugin here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress
Or install it directly from within your own Dashboard …
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu item will be added to your admin menu called TablePress …
Click on TablePress and select 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 change the position of the TablePress menu entry in your admin menu.
By default, the menu entry appears somewhere in the middle of your menu column. If you plan to use this plugin often, then you can position the menu item towards the top of the Dashboard menu by selecting “Top-level (middle)” on the User Options > Admin menu entry dropdown menu …
The TablePress menu item now shows towards the top section of your menu list …
You can also play with other plugin options in the “Plugin Options” tab, like table formatting styles, default language, and so on. If you don’t need to change this section, simply leave the default options.
With TablePress, tables are created and edited inside the plugin screen. Tables are then placed via a shortcode into your text. Your table will then display or update after your post or page is saved.
The great thing about doing this is that you can easily update the information inside your tables without having to manually edit your posts and pages. The plugin then updates all of your table information in all instances 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 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 your tables at anytime…
Once the new table is created, it will be added to 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 your table to display …
Once you have created a new table, adding content to your table is really easy.
In the “Table Content” section, click inside the cell and either type or paste your content. You can add text, images and format your content (e.g. bold or italicize words, insert links, etc …)
Once your new table is created, displays additional options for configuring your table.
For example, in the “Table Options” section you can specify the first row of your table to be the table header or the last row of the table to be the table footer, display alternate background colors on consecutive rows, 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 edit your table after it has been created in the “Table Manipulation” section. You can perform a number of table edits, such as adding 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 visitors to sort, filter and search your table content, change the number of table rows displayed on your site (and let visitors 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 the table. Certain features like 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 update 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 this section. You can edit, see shortcodes, copy, delete, export and preview tables …
Using The TablePress Shortcode
You embed tables inside pages and blog posts using a shortcode.
You can get the shortcode for your tables by clicking on the Show Shortcode menu item below 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 mouse cursor where you want the table to show then click the TablePress menu icon …
TablePress Menu Icon In WordPress 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 displays a list of all your tables.
Select the table you want to embed in your content 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 TablePress is that you can change the contents of your table after publishing the table without having to open your post or page. Change the content in the plugin area, then save the new table settings and refresh your page 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 data, 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, click on 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 editing and resaving your file, you can then re-import your table into WordPress.
To import a table into WordPress from your hard drive, select 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 source in the “Import Tables” section. You can also import multiple tables from a ZIP file and choose whether to import a table as a new table or to replace an existing table.
For more information about using TablePress, including where to access the plugin documentation for additional features, 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 an extremely powerful time saving plugin that is free and will help you easily create and add 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