Create & Manage Tables

Site Help How To: Posting
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:bookmark: This guide explains how to add tables to your posts using composer &/or Markdown.

:person_raising_hand: Required user level: All users

Adding tables to your posts can help present data in a structured and easy-to-read format. This guide will walk you through creating tables using the composer(Insert Table) &/or using Markdown on NSFireHub.ca, covering table basics, alignment, and special features like adding emojis and images.

Table of Content

  1. Composer Menu - Insert Table
  2. Using Markdown
  3. Copy-Pastinf Tables
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Composer Menu - Insert Table

:zap: Features

A GUI for easily building tables

A click of a button in the composer brings up a spreadsheet editor to easily generate tables in Markdown.

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A Powerful Table Editor

Editing tables in posts are easier than ever. Clicking an Edit Table button will bring up a spreadsheet editor for quick and easy updates to your table.

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Using Markdown

Creating a simple table

Creating a table in Discourse using Markdown is straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

  1. Start by defining the header:
  • The first row of your table will contain the headers for each column.
  • The second row separates the headers from the rest of the table.

Here is an example for a table with three columns:

| Col A | Col B | Col C |
|---|---|---|

This results in:

Col A Col B Col C
  1. Add rows of data:
  • Each row starts and ends with the | character.
  • Ensure the number of columns matches that of the header.

Example:

| Col A | Col B | Col C |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | B1 | C1 |
| A2 | B2 | :smile: |

This results in:

Col A Col B Col C
A1 B1 C1
A2 B2 :smile:

Alignment

You can control the alignment of column contents with colons (:):

  • Left-aligned: |:---|
  • Center-aligned: |:---:|
  • Right-aligned: |---:|

Example:

| Left | Center | Right |
|:---|:---:|---:|
| My content is on the left | I'm the center of the world | I like being on the right side |
| :waxing_gibbous_moon: | :full_moon: | :waning_gibbous_moon: |

This results in:

Left Center Right
My content is on the left I’m the center of the world I like being on the right side
:waxing_gibbous_moon: :full_moon: :waning_gibbous_moon:

Clickable links in Tables

Adding clickable links within tables can be useful for directing users to specific resources or external content.

To include a clickable link, use the standard Markdown link syntax within a table cell. The format is [Link Text](URL).

Example:

| Column A | Column B | Column C |
|---|---|---|
| [Google](https://www.google.com) | Example Text | Another Link |

This results in:

Column A Column B Column C
Google Example Text Another Link
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Copy-pasting tables

You can copy tables from external documents or spreadsheets and paste them directly into posts, Discourse will automatically convert them into Markdown.

If you frequently create tables, you can also use tools like TableConvert to convert tables from other formats (CSV, JSON, etc.) into Markdown.