Table of Contents
We would define the main idea of any CMS like:
The easy way of the maintenance website content, keep it fresh and accurate by non-technical administrators. Thanks to that, you can use your website as the primary communication channel with low expenses. Therefore switching to a Gutenberg theme and blocks is your best choice to accomplish your marketing goals. We prove the above by presenting how to add a table in WordPress without a plugin.
You can find some blog posts on how to add a table in WordPress without a plugin that mentions it is not easy or you need to use Google Docs or Word. Well, that may be true unless you still haven’t switched to the Citadela Gutenberg theme. Old themes with their page builder use a classic editor. And there was no such easy option as Gutenberg editor gives you.
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Explore two options for WordPress tables in Citadela
Based on your WordPress table content, you have two choices for Gutenberg block that create a table in WordPress. You’re getting many more options than you can imagine in combination with other blocks.
- Price Table block (available only in Citadela Pro plugin)
- Table block (core WordPress block)
Use Citadela premium version, and you won’t need an extra plugin to add the table in WordPress.
Pricing table block
Because tables are usually used to present items and prices, we’ve created a special Price Table block, which is included in Citadela Blocks plugin (widely compatible with most of modern WP themes). You can use it very easily in WordPress block editor to present and administer prices in an attractive way.
This block has advanced settings and you can set up responsive version according to your needs. It is available in Citadela Pro Plugin.
However, WordPress itself offers a default block for creating tables. Its called simply: Table block, and you can use it to create a very basic presentation, for example of your subscription packages, within a minutes.
Today we will look at Table Block in more details and talk about:
- Why are tables in WordPress practical
- How to use Table block and create a table in WordPress (without plugin)
- Table block settings in toolbar
- WordPress Table block settings in the inspector
- Extra tip: How to insert a table next to the image
Why are tables in WordPress practical
Tables have universal usage in Posts and Pages. Basic functionality is to organize data or numbers. Tables are also beneficial for bloggers. For example travel bloggers can compare prices for individual destinations. Food bloggers can easily create list of ingredients or required quantity.
Last but not least it is possible to use tables to present opening hours or price tables of services and products. It does not matter if you have a website for a restaurant, beauty salon or bakery. You’ll find usage for tables on your website for sure.
How to use Table block and create table in WordPress (without plugin)
Creating tables in WordPress using block editor is a piece of cake. Using Table block you can create tables in a few clicks without plugin or coding. Let’s have a look at how it works:
- As a first thing you need to insert WordPress Table block. You can do it by clicking on “+” that is located in the top bar or anywhere within the editor. After that, you can choose a particular block.
It is also possible to insert Table block using slash “/“, following word “table” to search for table block.
After adding Table block to your page or post, you have to set basic settings such as the number of columns and rows.
Explore the newest Citadela theme, where you can create tables using WordPress Table block and also use our custom made blocks. Learn more about Citadela that you can customize with layout packages developed for specific types of business.
Table block settings in toolbar
Now you know how to make a table in WordPress. Next we will show you how to work with it.
Top toolbar above the table allows you to make changes to styling and formatting. Using these settings you can change how will the table look like. Don’t forget that the final look always depends on the active WordPress theme that you use.
What can be changed?
1. Block styles
Using first icon you can select tables styles. You can choose one of 2 options:
- Default – table cells will have borders, without any background. Background color for the whole block can be added later.
- Stripes – table without borders, but every second line will be highlighted using a background. This style is more modern and less formal.
2. Aligning WordPress Table block
Table alignment can be also changed in the top toolbar above block. You can choose one of the classic ones such as left, right or center, but you can also make table wide or full width. The availability of the last two always depends on the active WordPress theme that you use.
3. Formatting table content
Text or numbers inside tables can be set to bold or italic. You can add link to other page, graph or image.
4. Text alignment in table
The latest version of WP ensures that it is possible to align not only the entire table but also the text inside the rows. You can now align inserted text on each line separately. This feature helps you create a nicer table.
5. Number of columns and rows
How to add table columns or rows in WordPress? In Table block, it’s very easy. This block allows adding or removing cells very quickly. Simply click on “Edit table” and after that, on the action, you would like to do. If you click on “Add Row After”, a new row will be created right away at the bottom.
WordPress Table block settings in inspector
While the top toolbar enables you to change settings for table cells, a right-side toolbar called Inspector is used for more complex settings of Table block. Also here you can configure block styles (Default or Stripes), but what more, you can also set background color and table width.
Table Settings
By default table cells dynamically adjust to the amount of text that is inside. You can also allow the function “Fixed width table cells”. All cells will have the same width no matter what you put inside.
Color Settings
Inspector also allows you to change table background color. If you have selected Default style, the whole table will have the same background color. If you have selected Stripes, only every second line will have background set.
Newly added feature: Support of header and footer
To make tables more accessible, developers added the header and footer option to the WordPress Table block. This functionality also provides better structural definition (of data) and gives more accurate information to mobile assistants. The table structure now includes <thead>, <tfoot>
, and <tbody>
to identify and distinguish the table’s header, footer, and body. You can enable or disable the header and footer section directly from Inspector.
Extra tip: How to create table in WordPress without plugin next to the image
Do you need to have a table and image side-by-side? To do it you need to use Columns Block. This block will allow you to insert different content types into columns and have them nicely aligned.
How to do it?
Insert Table Block into one column and Image Block into second. You’ll achieve a nested table inside WordPress Column Block next to the image. It’s very simple and you do not have to worry about alignment or responsive version.
You can read more about Column block in our article How to make columns in WordPress without plugin.
Excelente aporte!
Very good post, wordpress have options that tons of user don,t see, Your post clarify it. It,s the died of table plugins
Great…!
Whithout Plugin Classic
Such a nice info! Sureⅼү a should-read and a discovery!
It actually helped me thanks so much.
Thanks. it was really of help
Very helpful. Great to learn about the new Gutenberg block features. Keep on the good work! Have a nice day
It misses a quintessential feature i.e. responsive.
If I view the table in mobile with 6 columns or more, it is compressed and looks awful.
Atleast they should have tested it !
This is really very helpful. Thanks
Now you are done creating the table, the next step is to add it to your post. To do so, you will first have to copy the table’s Shortcode. That can be done by navigating to TablePress All Tables. Then locate the table you would like to copy, beneath it click Show Shortcode? Upon click, a pop alert will appear showing the shortcode.
Can’t understand why the WordPress developers didn’t think about making the table responsive in 2020. How is that even possible? So before that happens, there is still going to be a use for plugins to solve this. In my honest opinion. Great article though.
How to add Border to the Table?
Hello there,
Thanks for asking. There is no option to manage it in panel administration by default. Perhaps you might consider using another type of table block. Please have a look at the one provided by PublishPress Blocks (where you can manage different types of borders, colours, fonts, background etc.
Have a good day!
Zlatko
AIT team
Is there any way to merge cells of a column without using any plugins?
Hello there,
Thanks for asking. The block treated by WordPress community doesn’t allow merge cells for the moment. Perhaps, in the future there could be an option for that.
If there is anything else we can assist you, feel free to contact us back.
Have a good day!
Zlatko
AIT team