Help:Tables

Tables may be authored in wiki pages using either XHTML table elements directly, or using wikicode formatting to define the table. XHTML table elements and their use are well described on various web pages and will not be discussed here. The benefit of wikicode is that the table is constructed of character symbols which tend to make it easier to perceive the table structure in the article editing view compared to XHTML table elements. As a general rule, it is best to avoid using a table unless you need one. Table markup often complicates page editing.

Wiki table markup summary

 * The above marks must start on a new line except the double  and   for optionally adding consecutive cells to a line. However, blank spaces at the beginning of a line are ignored.
 * XHTML attributes. Each mark, except table end, optionally accepts one or more XHTML attributes. Attributes must be on the same line as the mark. Separate attributes from each other with a single space.
 * Cells and caption ( or ,   or  , and  ) hold content. So separate any attributes from content with a single pipe . Cell content may follow on same line or on following lines.
 * Table and row marks ( and  ) do not directly hold content. Do not add pipe  after their optional attributes. If you erroneously add a pipe after attributes for the table mark or row mark the parser will delete it and your final attribute if it was touching the erroneous pipe!
 * Content may (a) follow its cell mark on the same line after any optional XHTML attributes or (b) on lines below the cell mark. Content that uses wiki markup that itself needs to start on a new line, such as lists, headings, or nested tables, must be on its own new line.
 * Pipe character as content. To insert a pipe character into a table use the &lt;nowiki&gt; &lt;/nowiki&gt; escaping markup

Basics
The following table lacks borders and good spacing but shows the simplest wiki markup table structure.

The cells in the same row can be listed on one line separated by  (two pipe symbols). If the text in the cell contains a line break, use  instead.

Extra spaces within cells in the wiki markup, as in the wiki markup below, do not affect the actual table rendering.

You can have longer text or more complex wiki syntax inside table cells, too:

Table headers
Table headers can be created by using " " (exclamation mark) instead of " " (pipe symbol). Headers usually show up bold and centered by default.

Note: When using attributes as in the heading 'Item' a vertical bar '|' is used for separation. Not an exclamation character '!'.

Caption
A table caption can be added to the top of any table as follows.