Help:Wiki University Wikitext--Tables - Placement





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Table placement
So far we have talked about the creation of tables and how to make them pleasant to look at. However, we need to look at how they are placed on a page and how they affect other items on the page. Here is an example using our demonstration table and a width of 50% and our Lorem ipsum text: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis. What if we want the table on the right side of the page?
 * When the table is placed, it defaults to the left side of the page under the last item added.
 * If other items are added after the table they will appear below it.
 * NOTICE the table's default position is on the left side of the page and any text appears below.
 * NOTICE even though there is room on the right side of the table the text does not wrap around the table.

Text wrapping - left side of table
float: right Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis. Here is the coding:  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis.
 * Here's a new attribute: float: right .  This will move the table to the right side of the page.  Now pay attention to what happens to the text:
 * NOTICE the table is on the right side of the page.
 * NOTICE the text wrapped around the left side of the table.

Text wrapping - right side of table
What if we want the text to wrap around on the right side of the table? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis.
 * We then use float: left .  Even though the table is defaulted to the left, this float:left will cause the text to wrap around on the right side of the table.

Here is our table with a 10 pixel margin on the right side: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis.
 * NOTICE now you can see there is no space between the text and the right side of the table.  If you thought you could fix that by installing margin-right:  10px in the beginning table tag, you were right.

Here is the coding:  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis.

Tables in the middle
margin: auto

What if you want the table to be in the middle of the page or the spacing on either side of the table the same? Here's what that looks like: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec sit amet iaculis metus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce elementum efficitur faucibus. Curabitur eleifend quis ligula ac ullamcorper. Curabitur eget suscipit turpis.
 * Use the margin: auto attribute:

The coding in the opening table tag is:
 * {| style="border:1px solid red; width:50%; margin: auto ; "


 * NOTICE the text does not wrap around the table on this attribute and there is no space between the text and the bottom of the table.

No wrapping
clear: both What if you want some but not all text to wrap around your table regardless where you place it?


 * Place the attribute "clear:both" in an opening paragraph or div tag, then follow it directly with the closing paragraph or div tag as follows:
 * 


 * Place this code BEFORE the paragraph or text you DO NOT want to wrap around the table.


 * NOTICE There is nothing (no text) between the opening and closing tags containing this attribute.
 * NOTICE If you have two paragraphs, the first paragraph will wrap around the table when you use the float attribute within that table. When you insert this code between the first and second paragraph, the second paragraph will not wrap around the table.

Try these out


 Exercises Check your answers
 * Place our demonstration table on the right side of the page.
 * Place our lorem ipsum paragraph under the table.
 * Place a 10 pixel space between the table and the text.

 Quick Quiz
 * Text will always float up to the right side of a table when placing a table on the page.
 * A. True
 * B. False


 * Text will float when you place a table on the right side of a page.
 * A. True
 * B. False


 * You cannot place a table in the middle of the page.
 * A. True
 * B. False

Check your answers

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