Table Stylesheet CSS Examples for Beautiful and Functional Tables

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Posted Oct 27, 2024

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Let's dive into the world of table stylesheets and make our tables both beautiful and functional.

A simple yet effective way to style a table is by using the `border-collapse` property, as seen in the "Minimalist Table" example. This property can be set to either `collapse` or `separate`, and it affects how the borders of adjacent cells are displayed.

The "Stylish Table" example showcases the use of the `border-spacing` property, which allows us to add space between the cells and the borders. This property is particularly useful when we want to create a more visually appealing table design.

By applying the `text-align` property, as demonstrated in the "Centered Table" example, we can easily center the text within the table cells. This is a great way to add some visual balance to our tables.

Table Styles

Styling tables in CSS can be achieved in various ways, including styling rows, columns, and cells. You can use classes to style rows, like creating a class to change the background and text color of some rows.

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To style rows, you can use the pseudo-class nth-element to create a zebra effect, as shown in the example where the style applies the zebra effect for a table with the id zebra-h. This results in an alternating background color for every other row.

Styling columns is more complicated, but you can achieve it by adding a certain style to all cells in one column. For example, you can change the style of the second column in a table by applying a style to all cells in that column.

Here are some key CSS properties used for table styling: background-colorcolorborder-collapsetext-alignheightwidthpadding These properties can be used to set the background color and text color, make table borders collapse, set the text position, and style the table's height, width, and padding.

Border Spacing

The border-spacing property is a crucial aspect of table styles. It specifies the gap between the adjacent cell borders.

You can adjust this gap to create a more visually appealing table. For example, adding a 20 pixels gap between adjacent border cells can make a big difference.

By using the border-spacing property, you can control the amount of space between the borders of adjacent table cells. This can help to create a clean and organized layout.

Contents

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Table styles can be a bit tricky, but don't worry, I've got you covered. To start, let's talk about removing unwanted spaces between cells. You can do this by using the cellspacing attribute of the table element, setting it to 0 to completely remove the spaces.

Styling tables with CSS can be a bit overwhelming, but it's actually quite intuitive once you get the hang of it. One of the main tips is to use the border-collapse property to remove the double border effect and prevent gaps.

Here are the main tips for styling tables with CSS:

  • border: to add borders to table cells
  • border-collapse: to remove the double border effect
  • border-spacing: to control the space between borders
  • caption-side: to control the position of the table caption
  • empty-cells: to control the display of empty cells
  • table-layout: to control the layout of the table
  • width and height: to control the size of the table
  • text-align: to control the alignment of text within cells
  • vertical-align: to control the vertical alignment of text within cells
  • padding: to add space between the border and the content of cells

Styling table rows is also a breeze. You can add a style to the table row (tr) elements, like changing the background and text color of some rows by creating a class and applying it to the second row of the table.

Style

To style a table, you can start by understanding the terminology for different table elements, including rows, columns, and cells.

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Styling table rows is a straightforward process, where you simply add a style to the table row (tr) elements. For example, you can change the background and text color of some rows by creating a class and applying it to the second row of the table.

You can create a zebra effect by using the pseudo-class nth-element, which applies the style to every nth row of the table. This can be achieved by adding a style to the table with a specific id.

Styling table columns is more complicated, as you need to add a style to all cells in one column to style a whole column. You can use the pseudo-class nth-element of the data elements to create a vertical zebra effect.

To make columns hoverable, you need to apply multiple styles to the different elements in a table. This can be achieved by using the CSS hover selector.

Styling individual cells is easy, where you create a new CSS class and apply it to a particular data element (td). You can also apply a hover effect to all cells of a certain table by using a specific style.

Here are some ways to style tables:

  • Use the nth-child() selector to create a zebra-striped table.
  • Use the border-bottom property to create horizontal borders between table rows.
  • Use the nth-child() selector and the background-color property to create a zebra-striped design.

By using these styling techniques, you can make your tables stand out and add an interactive effect to them. For example, you can highlight both the column and the row, and also the cell, by using a combination of CSS styles.

Layout and Alignment

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Layout and Alignment is a crucial aspect of styling tables with CSS. The table-layout property can be set to either auto or fixed, which affects how columns are arranged and sized.

The table-layout property can be set to either auto or fixed, which affects how columns are arranged and sized.

To control the horizontal alignment of table content, the text-align property is used. By default, content inside table cells is left-aligned.

The text-align property can be set to left, center, or right to change the horizontal alignment of table content.

Here's a summary of the table-layout property values:

  • auto: adjusts the column widths automatically based on content
  • fixed: specifies the fixed column width

The vertical-align property is used to set the vertical alignment of table content. By default, content in table cells is vertically aligned to the middle.

Border Collapse

The border-collapse property is a game-changer for table styling. It merges the border between table cells into a single border.

You can use the border-collapse property to remove the double border effect that can make your tables look cluttered. Table borders will then collapse into one and prevent gaps.

The border-collapse property is a key part of the table styling properties, which also include background-color, color, text-align, height, width, and padding.

Border-Spacing

Credit: youtube.com, CSS Property : border-spacing explained !

Border-spacing is a property that specifies the gap between adjacent cell borders. It's a useful feature to control the layout of tables.

You can add a 20-pixel gap between adjacent border cells by using the border-spacing property. The result is a clear separation between cells.

Border-spacing works only when the border-collapse property is set to separate. This is important to keep in mind when styling your tables.

The border-spacing property accepts either one or two values. If you use one value, it sets both the vertical and horizontal spacing of table borders.

Here's a breakdown of the values:

  • One value: sets both vertical and horizontal spacing
  • Two values: first value sets horizontal spacing, second value sets vertical spacing

In some cases, you might want to remove the spaces between cells altogether. You can do this by using the cellspacing attribute of the table element. Setting it to 0 will completely remove the spaces.

Caption-Side

Caption-Side is a crucial aspect of table layout and alignment. You can use the caption-side property to set the position of the table caption.

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The caption-side property allows you to specify the position of the caption, and you can use the top and bottom keywords to indicate the position.

In some cases, you might want to position the caption at the bottom of the table, as seen in an example where the caption is set to be at the bottom.

Horizontal Alignment

Horizontal Alignment is a crucial aspect of table styling. The text-align property is used to set the horizontal alignment of table content.

By default, the content inside table cells is left-aligned. This means that if you don't specify any alignment, your text will be aligned to the left.

The text-align property can be used to set the horizontal alignment of content in or elements. You can align the content to the right, left, or center.

Here's a quick rundown of the default alignment for different table elements:

With the text-align property, you can override the default alignment and set it to right for both and elements.

Vertical Alignment

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Vertical alignment is an essential aspect of layout and alignment in web development. By default, table content is vertically aligned to the middle.

The vertical-align property in CSS allows you to set the vertical alignment of content in table cells. This property can be applied to both and elements.

You can use the vertical-align property to vertically align content to the top, middle, or bottom. This is useful for creating visually appealing tables.

In fact, by default, both and elements have their content vertically aligned to the middle. This can be changed using the vertical-align property.

Here are the common values for the vertical-align property: topmiddlebottom

For example, you can use vertical-align to vertically align the content of elements to the bottom. This can be useful for creating tables with a specific layout.

Width and Height

To set the dimensions of a CSS table, we need two styling properties: width and height. The width property determines how much the table should stretch horizontally.

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We can set these values using length indicators such as pixels (px) or percentages (%). The height property, on the other hand, determines the vertical parameters of the table.

The width and height properties can be used in different ways. For example, the width property can be used for the whole table, while the height property can be used for specific elements, like the headings.

Horizontal Dividers

To create horizontal dividers in a table, you can use the border-bottom property in CSS. This property allows you to define the width, style, and color of the border in one declaration.

Adding the border-bottom property to and elements will create horizontal dividers. This is a simple yet effective way to separate rows in a table.

If you want to add more style to your horizontal dividers, you can experiment with different values for the border-bottom property. For example, you could change the width or style of the border to create a unique look.

Here are some common values you can use for the border-bottom property:

By using the border-bottom property, you can easily add horizontal dividers to your tables and create a more visually appealing layout.

Empty Cells

Credit: youtube.com, CSS Property : empty-cells explained !

Empty cells in a table can be a bit tricky to handle, but don't worry, it's easier than you think. The empty-cells property determines whether cells without any content should have borders and backgrounds.

The empty-cells property can have two values: show and hide. If you set it to hide, the borders and backgrounds of empty cells won't be shown. This is useful when you have a lot of empty cells in your table and you want to keep it clean-looking.

Here are the possible values for the empty-cells property: show and hide. If you choose hide, it's like turning off the visibility of those empty cells.

The empty-cells property only works if the border-collapse is set to separate. If it's set to collapse, the property won't have any effect.

Ann Predovic

Lead Writer

Ann Predovic is a seasoned writer with a passion for crafting informative and engaging content. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for research, she has established herself as a go-to expert in various fields, including technology and software. Her writing career has taken her down a path of exploring complex topics, making them accessible to a broad audience.

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