Help:Table

This page is a how-to guide detailing a practice or process on the wiki.

For a basic introduction, see the Introduction to tables on Wikipedia. For style considerations, see Manual of Style/Tables, also on Wikipedia.

A table is an arrangement of columns and rows used to organize and position data. Tables can be created on wiki pages using special wikitext syntax, and there are many different styles and tricks that can be used to customise them.

Tables on finiki

The Wikipedia standard for tables uses class="wikitable" and can get automatically generated by using the table button on the Edit toolbar, which results in:

Header text	Header text	Header text
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example

The same table using the {{Table}}, which is intended is used to standardize the appearance of Excel to Wiki generated tables, results in:

Header text	Header text	Header text
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example

Clearly there is an inconsistency in the format depending on which method is used. Editors are reminded to exercise careful consideration before choosing which method is used. For consistency reasons, the general guideline for finiki is to follow Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Any exceptions are covered in finiki:Manual of Style.

Centering the columns of a table

If you want to have columns centered in a table, then add style="text-align:center" after class="wikitable" which results in:

Header text	Header text	Header text
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example

Or for aligning some specific cells left and right:

Header text	Header text	Header text
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example

Sortable tables

Tables can be made sortable by adding the CSS sortable; for details see Help:Sorting. Since this can be very useful, it is wise to keep the possibilities and limitations of this feature in mind when designing a table.

Sortable wikitables look like this:

name	data	more data
cats	273	53
dogs	65	8,492
mice	1,649	548

Row highlighting

class=mw-datatable allows for row highlighting. This makes it easier to follow the data and info across a row, especially in wider tables.

See Template:Mw-datatable. Add {{mw-datatable}} in the wikitext before the table wikitext.

Add class=mw-datatable to the top of the table wikitext.

name	data	more data
cats	273	53
dogs	65	8,492
mice	1,649	548

From Excel to a sortable wikitable

To start in Excel and end up with a sortable wikitable in finiki, follow these instructions:

Prepare your table in MS Excel. Don't bother with any formatting: it will be lost
Copy the relevant cells in the buffer (Ctrl-c)
Paste the contents (Ctrl-v) in Excel to Wiki
Delete the unneeded blank line at the end
Unselect “format header”, click on “convert”
Copy the converted result in the buffer (Ctrl-c) and paste it (Ctrl-v) in finiki
Replace {{Table}} by class="wikitable sortable", and add style="text-align:center" if needed
For the first line of the table, replace | by ! as shown here
Voilà!

How to deal with long column titles

Use line breaks, such as in the following table:

	Annualized standard deviation (%)	Maximum annualized return (%)	Minimum annualized return (%)
One year rolling	5.8	29.0	-19.1
5 years rolling	2.9	4.8	-9.5
10 years rolling	2.0	3.7	-4.8
20 years rolling	0.9	1.8	-1.6

Other table tips

Tables are also helpful to format figures and notes. For example, this table aligns two figures side-by-side (from Risk and return):

{| style = "margin-left:1em;margin-right:0em;"
||[[File:Range of Annual Cdn Returns.png|451px]][[File:Range of Annual US Returns.png|451px]]
|-
|align = "center"|'''Figure 1. Range of Returns: 1970 - 2011'''<ref group="note">The effect of removing 1982 from the bonds return was less than 1% (US -0.6%, Cdn -0.9%).</ref><ref name="attrib">Based on data from Libra Investment Management, which is Copyright © Libra Investment Management Inc. 2005-2012. All rights reserved. Used with permission.</ref>
|}

Figure 1. Range of Returns: 1970 - 2011^{[note 1]}^[1]

Here's an example to embed table notes. This table utilizes the "rowspan" and "colspan" properties (from Risk and return):

{| style="margin:auto; border="1" cellpadding="0.2px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|+ '''Table 1. 1970 - 2011 Portfolio Returns and Risk (Hypothetical)'''
|-
| align = "center" rowspan = "3"| Portfolio<br>Allocation||Stocks||20%||30%||40%||50%||60%||70%||80%
|-
||T.Bills||20%||15%||10%||5%||5%||5%||5%
|-
||Bonds||60%||55%||50%||45%||35%||25%||15%
|-
|colspan = "2"| Expected Return:||10%||10%||10%||11%||11%||11%||11%
|-
|colspan = "2"| Max predicted loss (95%):||-1%||-2%||-3%||-3%||-5%||-6%||-7%
|-
|colspan = "2"| 2008 return:||-4%||-8%||-12%||-15%||-19%||-22%||-26%
|-
|colspan = "9"|
* TSX/Composite stock returns include dividends
*Three month Treasury bills
*Canadian Long bonds
*Asset classes are uncorrelated
|}

**Table 1. 1970 - 2011 Portfolio Returns and Risk (Hypothetical)**
Portfolio Allocation	Stocks	20%	30%	40%	50%	60%	70%	80%
	T.Bills	20%	15%	10%	5%	5%	5%	5%
	Bonds	60%	55%	50%	45%	35%	25%	15%
Expected Return:		10%	10%	10%	11%	11%	11%	11%
Max predicted loss (95%):		-1%	-2%	-3%	-3%	-5%	-6%	-7%
2008 return:		-4%	-8%	-12%	-15%	-19%	-22%	-26%
TSX/Composite stock returns include dividends Three month Treasury bills Canadian Long bonds Asset classes are uncorrelated

Notes

^ The effect of removing 1982 from the bonds return was less than 1% (US -0.6%, Cdn -0.9%).

References

External links

TablesGenerator.com, Generate tables in MediaWiki format

[1] The effect of removing 1982 from the bonds return was less than 1% (US -0.6%, Cdn -0.9%).

[attrib-2] Based on data from Libra Investment Management, which is Copyright © Libra Investment Management Inc. 2005-2012. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

[note 1]

[1]