Tables
Defining an HTML Table
An HTML table is defined with the <table>
tag.
Each table row is defined with the <tr>
tag. A table header is defined with the <th>
tag. By default, table headings are bold and centered. A table data/cell is defined with the <td>
tag.
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jill</td>
<td>Smith</td>
<td>50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eve</td>
<td>Jackson</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>
Note: The
<td>
elements are the data containers of the table. They can contain all sorts of HTML elements; text, images, lists, other tables, etc.
HTML Table - Adding a Border
If you do not specify a border for the table, it will be displayed without borders.
A border is set using the CSS border
property:
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
}
Remember to define borders for both the table and the table cells.
HTML Table - Collapsed Borders
If you want the borders to collapse into one border, add the CSS border-collapse
property:
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
HTML Table - Adding Cell Padding
Cell padding specifies the space between the cell content and its borders.
If you do not specify a padding, the table cells will be displayed without padding.
To set the padding, use the CSS padding
property:
th, td {
padding: 15px;
}
HTML Table - Left-align Headings
By default, table headings are bold and centered.
To left-align the table headings, use the CSS text-align
property:
th {
text-align: left;
}
HTML Table - Adding Border Spacing
Border spacing specifies the space between the cells.
To set the border spacing for a table, use the CSS border-spacing
property:
table {
border-spacing: 5px;
}
Note: If the table has collapsed borders,
border-spacing
has no effect.
HTML Table - Cells that Span Many Columns
To make a cell span more than one column, use the colspan
attribute:
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th colspan="2">Telephone</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bill Gates</td>
<td>55577854</td>
<td>55577855</td>
</tr>
</table>
HTML Table - Cells that Span Many Rows
To make a cell span more than one row, use the rowspan
attribute:
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Name:</th>
<td>Bill Gates</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Telephone:</th>
<td>55577854</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>55577855</td>
</tr>
</table>
HTML Table - Adding a Caption
To add a caption to a table, use the <caption>
tag:
<table style="width:100%">
<caption>Monthly savings</caption>
<tr>
<th>Month</th>
<th>Savings</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January</td>
<td>$100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February</td>
<td>$50</td>
</tr>
</table>
Note: The
<caption>
tag must be inserted immediately after the<table>
tag.
A Special Style for One Table
To define a special style for a special table, add an id
attribute to the table:
<table id="t01">
<tr>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eve</td>
<td>Jackson</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>
Now you can define a special style for this table:
table#t01 {
width: 100%;
background-color: #f1f1c1;
}
And add more styles:
table#t01 tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color: #eee;
}
table#t01 tr:nth-child(odd) {
background-color: #fff;
}
table#t01 th {
color: white;
background-color: black;
}
Chapter Summary
-
Use the HTML
<table>
element to define a table -
Use the HTML
<tr>
element to define a table row -
Use the HTML
<td>
element to define a table data -
Use the HTML
<th>
element to define a table heading -
Use the HTML
<caption>
element to define a table caption -
Use the CSS
border
property to define a border -
Use the CSS
border-collapse
property to collapse cell borders -
Use the CSS
padding
property to add padding to cells -
Use the CSS
text-align
property to align cell text -
Use the CSS
border-spacing
property to set the spacing between cells -
Use the
colspan
attribute to make a cell span many columns -
Use the
rowspan
attribute to make a cell span many rows -
Use the
id
attribute to uniquely define one table
HTML Table Tags
Tag | Description |
---|---|
<table> | Defines a table |
<th> | Defines a header cell in a table |
<tr> | Defines a row in a table |
<td> | Defines a cell in a table |
<caption> | Defines a table caption |
<colgroup> | Specifies a group of one or more columns in a table for formatting |
<col> | Specifies column properties for each column within a <colgroup> element |
<thead> | Groups the header content in a table |
<tbody> | Groups the body content in a table |
<tfoot> | Groups the footer content in a table |
For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.