How To Create A Table In Wordpress Without Plugin

How to Add Tables in WordPress

Tables and charts are great tools for preparing and presenting information to your readers in a logical and visually appealing manner. Designed properly, WordPress table plugins improve user experience by lessening the mental energy needed to understand the data they contain.

WordPress tables are useful for presenting various structured information such as pricing information about a product or service you sell, a list of people (staff, clients, partners) along with their data, or for sports lovers, the standing of teams on league tables.

These and many more – as you will find out in the latter part of this tutorial – are some of the things you can do with tables.

But how do you create responsive tables in WordPress? WordPress editor, though intuitive, lacks table creation functionality. That is to say, if you were writing a post for instance and wish to insert a table, there's no table icon to click.

Note: If you are using the new Gutenberg editor, you do have the option to add tables. Simply click the plus sign to add a new block, search for table, and click the table icon.

If you, like so many other WP users, are not keen about Gutenberg, you will either have to generate the HTML code needed to create the table or use a WordPress table plugin.
We will explain both methods in this tutorial, so read on.

How to Create WordPress Tables without Plugins

Firstly, let us discuss how to create tables without the use of plugins. There are a couple of ways to insert tables in WordPress without a plugin for creating tables. However, we will be considering just two: via Google sheet or doc and using tables generator.

WordPress Tables Using Google Doc

For this method, you will first need to create a Google document or sheet, whichever you choose. But for this tutorial, we will be using doc.

After creating the file, navigate to Insert >> Tables. Then select the number of table rows and columns you would like to add.

Google Docs

Once you've selected your desired number of rows and columns, hit the enter key. Next, populate the table, then copy and paste it from Google docs to WordPress editor.

Wordpress Google Docs

And with that, you have for yourself a brand new table ready for publishing.

The problem with this method, however, is that you have little to no customization options. So, there's very little room for styling. Added to that, tables created in such a way are barely ever responsive. That is to say, on mobile devices, the table may break.

Now the second non-plugin method.

Using Table Generators

At the very basics, WordPress tables are composed of HTML, which when coupled with CSS styles will give you a visually appealing table. But not everyone is good at coding.

This is where online table generators come into play. The way they work is this: you create and design a table in them, then the table's HTML code will be generated. You can then copy and paste the generated table to your WordPress website.

Some of the online table generators go as far as creating responsive tables that fit well across all screen sizes. Others add styling, though to a limited extent.

Table generators worth giving a shot include Responsive Table Generator Tool and Rapid Tables.

Creating and adding tables in WordPress posts with the two techniques above works pretty well. The problem is, they can only do so much and you can not use advanced features. Worse, you could run into technical problems using them, especially if you aren't much of a techie.

The easiest option for creating tables in WordPress is using plugins. With plugins, you don't even need to know how HTML codes work to use them.

With that said, here are the 6 best WordPress table generator plugins guaranteed to give you good results.

Best 6 Table Plugins for WordPress

Plugins not only make it easy to insert tables, but most also offer limitless customization options. And they work pretty well regardless of the WordPress themes they are used on.

With that said, here table plugins worth trying.

TablePress Plugin – WordPress Tables

Tablepress Plugin

Talking about beginner-friendly free WordPress table generator plugins, Tablepress is one of the best. With 800,000 active installations and 3,000 positive reviews, proof that the plugin is worth giving a shot.

One of the coolest features of this plugin is that it gives you a lot of room for customization. It lets you insert images, links and media files. Also, you can edit the structure of the table you create with it, change its background color, and even import tables straight from Google Docs.

The plugin comes with extensions which, among other things, lets you make your tables responsive, filter rows and columns etc.

How to Use TablePress Plugin

To get started, first install and activate the plugin from your WordPress dashboard.

After installation and activation, navigate to Tablepress >> Add New Table

WordPress Table Plugin

On the next page, specify a name for the table you are about to create. Enter the table's description if any, and then set the desired number of rows and columns.

Tablepress Plugin for WordPress

When you are done, click the Add Table button.

Upon click, you will be taken to the table's edit page. Here you can populate the table by adding content to it. To do so, scroll down until you find the Table content section.

In addition to adding content to the table, you can also insert images and links, delete/duplicate rows and columns collapse table cells, and so on.

Once you are done, scroll down and click the Save changes button.

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.

Plugin Table Generator

Copy the code, open the post where you wish to insert the table, then paste the copied code.

If you have a table as a CSV file or XLS format, you can easily import it into WordPress using TablePress. Simply navigate to TablePress >> Import a Table. Select the file containing the table, specify the format (CSV, XLS or HTML) and import either as a new table or a replacement.

Import Table WordPress

Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – For WordPress Tables

Supsystic Table Plugin

If you run an e-commerce store and are looking for a table solution to create your pricing chart and catalog, Supsystic table plugin is the way to go. And the best part, you can get the most out of this plugin without spending a dime.

Some other advanced features of the plugin you might find interesting include: pagination, ease of sorting, search, and lots more.

With this plugin, you can create super responsive tables with as many columns and rows as you wish. In addition to that, the plugin comes with an editor feature that lets you create visual tables your audience will find appealing.

The plugin's free version is enough to get the job done. But if you like to get more out of it, you can upgrade to the pro version, starting at $39.

WP Table Manager

Table Manager Plugin

WP table manager is a premium table plugin for WordPress, letting you create visually appealing tables just the same way you would in Excel. That means if you are more comfortable creating tables with Excel, you will surely find this plugin cool to use.

If you have an existing table in Excel format you would like to import into WordPress, you can do so seamlessly with this plugin. You can perform mathematical calculations on the table without a single hitch.

Other interesting about the plugin include automatic backup for your tables, filtering, ordering, multiple language support, and lots more.

League Table

League Plugin

Ideal for sports and sports betting websites, this plugin has near limitless customization options. And it's pocket-friendly, with a price tag for the pro version of $23.

It allows you to import or export table data all at the click of a button. If you operate a multisite, this plugin will make your life pretty easy as it is multisite ready.

Of course, the plugin isn't limited to only those in the sporting arena. Regardless of the industry, you will find league table handy when looking to create comparison and price tables, data charts etc.

Superb Tables

Looking for something slick, responsive, customizable and at the same time SEO friendly? Superb tables is just where you might look to.

This premium WordPress table generator plugin is loaded with so many features that will make your life easy when creating elegant, responsive tables.

Superb Tb

Talking about pre-designed templates, Superb tables have lots of color schemes you could choose from. What that means is that you can create something really nice even when short on time.

In addition to that, the plugin comes with embedded Schema Markup, though only available in the premium version.

What's more, you can easily clone the table you create, use fonts of your choice, enable full-width mode, etc., all at the click of the button.

Though a premium plugin for WordPress, you can get started with the free version. In the free version, there are predesigned templates you could choose from. Also, the tables you create with the free version will always be responsive.

Whenever you are ready to upgrade to the premium version, you can start with as little as $11/year. Ideal for a single user.

For businesses, the business subscription model, starting at $67/year, will suffice. To buy off the plugin, all it would cost you is $199, and you will own it for life.

Visualizer from Themeisle

Visualizer

Visualizer is the next plugin for creating tables in WordPress we will be considering. Themeisle really went above and beyond to create this intuitive plugin. It does more than just creating tables – it also creates charts with a high level of interactivity.

That means if your business is such that it requires you creating charts and tables for your audience, Visualizer is the way to go.

The plugin comes with 14 predesigned chart templates, all of which are customizable. And there's practically no type of chart you can't create with it – pie, bar, and line charts are just some common examples.

Maybe you don't want everyone to view the chart on your website. Perhaps, you run a subscription-based site, and only want paying visitors to see your chart. Well, that's not a problem because visualizer lets you set permission right on your charts.

Pricing starts at $59 per site. This includes 1-year customer support, too.

There is a 30-day-money-back-guarantee on the product, so you needn't worry about testing it out.

WP Table Builder

WP Table Builder is the only WordPress table plugin that comes with a true drag-and-drop editor. It's like a page builder for creating tables. From comparison tables to pricing tables, you can create any type of tables using the drag-and-drop interface.

It has 7 elements right now – text, image, list, button, star rating, custom HTML, and shortcode. These elements are enough to create beautiful tables in WordPress.

The plugin comes with a cell management mode that lets you add/remove columns and rows, merge/split cells and more. It also has an option for making tables mobile responsive.

It's a free plugin. You can download it from the WordPress repository.

WordPress Tables – Conclusion

Tables are an important component of the web. With them, you can improve your website UX, as readers will find it easy to digest the data you present them.

Like we said earlier, WordPress classic editor lacks the power to create tables for you straight out of the box

To create tables, you will either need to use a third-party application like Google Docs or to create the code. We showed you how to use Google Docs and also how to use online code generators to create tables.

However, using plugins is the simplest solution for creating responsive, visually appealing tables. In this post, we analyzed 6 different plugins worth giving a try, starting from Superb tables.

While some are free, you will have to pay for others. Remember, you always get what you pay for.

We hope you found this article helpful. If you did, kindly share.

More Resources:

How to Navigate Around your WordPress Dashboard
How to Use Comments in WordPress
How to Use Categories in WordPress