How To Add And Manage Tables In WordPress Posts

The TinyMCE editor of WordPress is feature rich and easy to use. But by default, it does not have any options to add and edit tables, a headache for beginners who do not know much HTML.

If you always wanted to add nice tables in your blog posts, then one of the following plugins can make the job easy for you.

First one is TinyMCE Advanced which  extends the functionality of the default WYSIWYG editor.  The plugin not only lets you easily add tables, but comes with many other formatting options.

Using TinyMCE Advanced

First, install the TinyMCE Advanced plugin from WordPress Plugin Directory. Activate it and go to Settings -> TinyMCE Advanced.

You will see a Drag and Drop interface similar to the WordPress editor. You can drag and drop the icons to arrange/delete buttons. The table menu item is a group of 11 buttons:

TinyMCE Advanced Table Options

Drag it to the toolbar and it will appear in the editor. Just click Insert table button(first one) and you will be able to add table and define advanced properties easily without messing with code.

Second Option is to use the WP-Table Reloaded plugin.

Using WP-Table Reloaded

WP-Table Reloaded is suited for bloggers who have to use same tables again in posts. This plugin lets you create a table through an easy interface and then you can embed it in posts.

After installing WP-Table Reloaded,  go to Tools -> WP-Table reloaded. Click Add new table in top menu and enter table name, description and number of rows and columns. Click Add Table button and then go to Edit table. Click the table you just created. You will be presented with an easy interface where you can add values.

After adding values, save the table. You can insert table in any post/page by adding shortcode [table id=-your-table's-id- /].

One notable feature of this plugin is that it lets you export and import tables from CSV, XML and HTML formats.

Which One Will Be Better For You?

If you do not use a lot of tables in your posts, thenTinyMCE Advanced is the better option. Apart from tables, it also adds a lot of extra features to WordPress editor which are very useful.

If you use Tables in every second post and need to repeat/export/import them regularly, WP-Table Reloaded will suit you better.

Do you know of any other plugin that can do a good job with tables? Let us know through comments.