Help:Wiki University Wikitext--Tables

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Tables

Beginning years for Wiki University Wikitext--Tables government records^[1]
Birth	Marriage	Death	Court	Land	Probate
1914*	1845	1914*	1845	1845	1845
*State birth and death records began in 1914. Limited compliance until 1920's

Now that you are familiar with borders, padding, margins, colors, etc, you are ready to advance to learning how to create and edit tables like the one above.
Once you are familiar with tables, you will have the tools to create and edit Templates, Sidebars and NavBoxes, so pay close attention to how tables are created.

Opening and closing tags

{|

Tables have opening and closing tags:

This is the opening table tag: {|

NOTICE that it consists of a curly bracket and a pipe.

This is the closing table tag: |}

NOTICE that it consists of a pipe and a curly bracket.

|}

Just the opposite of the opening table tag.

These two tags open and close a table.

Rows

Tables consist of rows with cells. However rows have NO CLOSING tag. Rows are created with a |-

|-

NOTICE that it consists of a pipe and a dash.

Cells

|

Rows are made up of cells where the actual information is displayed. Cells have NO CLOSING tag. Cells are created with just a |

NOTICE that it consists only of a pipe.

Tables are many rows of cells

This is wikitext coding for a table with one row populated with four cells:

{|

|-

|

|

|

|

|}

If we were to load this, we would see nothing because the individual cells must have something in them in order to display:

{|

|-

| Apples

| Carrots

| Peanuts

| Wheat

|}

NOTICE the opening and closing table tags
NOTICE the row tag has no closing tag
NOTICE each cell has no closing tag

This is how our beginning table looks on the page:

Apples

Carrots

Peanuts

Wheat

To add another row of cells, just repeat the row tag and cell tags:

{|

|-

|

|

|

|

|-

|

|

|

|

|}

Here is our table with two rows and four cells in each row

{|

|-

| Apples

| Carrots

| Peanuts

| Wheat

|-

| Pears

| Peas

| Walnuts

| Soybeans

|}

Here is our table so far:

Apples	Carrots	Peanuts	Wheat
Pears	Peas	Walnuts	Soybeans

NOTICE this table does not look much like a table. Tables usually have borders, column titles, etc. These and other topics relating to tables are coming in the next chapters. Meanwhile please do the exercise below so you will have some practice in creating a table.

---

Adding rows and cells

To add rows and cells, add your row tags followed by your cell tags. You can add as many as you like.

Try these out

Exercises

Create a table with four rows and four cells in each row.
- In the first column list four fruits.
- In the second column, four vegetables.
- In the third column, four nuts.
- In the fourth colomn, four grains.
- This table will be the basis for all future exercises on tables. (Be careful we are talking about columns not rows. This exercise will teach you how to arrange items in columns.)

Check your answers

Quick Quiz

Tables do not need a closing tag

A. True

B. False

Rows must have a closing tag

A. True

b. False

Cells must have something in them for the table to be visible.

A. True

B. False

Check your answers

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↑ Alice Eichholz, Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources, 3rd ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Pub., 2004), 65-67. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27rb 2004.

[1] Alice Eichholz, Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources, 3rd ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry Pub., 2004), 65-67. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27rb 2004.

[1]