Data Table Block Settings Overview

Updated on July 18, 2023 by Editorial Team

Table of Contents

Adding a table to a WordPress post or page is an incredibly useful way to display content in an organised and visually appealing manner. Whether you are creating a complex table for a product comparison, or simply displaying a few rows of data, tables can be a great addition to any content.

There are many plugins available which you can use to add table in your WordPress website. With most plugins, you have to use a shortcode to add the table on the page, but with the Data Table block from The Plus Blocks for Gutenberg, you can create advanced tables within the WordPress block editor. You can add images, icons, search, sort etc. in your WordPress data table.

Required Setup

  • Make sure the default WordPress Block editor is active. 
  • You need to have The Plus Blocks for Gutenberg plugin installed and activated.
  • Make sure the Data Table block is activated, to verify this visit Plus Settings → and Search for Data Table and activate.
  • This is a Freemium block to unlock the extra features, you need the PRO version of The Plus Blocks for Gutenberg.

Learn via Video Tutorial

How to activate the Data Table Block?

Go to 

  • The Plus Settings → Plus blocks 
  • Search for the block name and turn on the toggle then click Save.
data table activate

Key Features

How to Add Data Table Block In WordPress?

There are multiple ways you can add a Data Table block or any other block in the WordPress block editor.

Click on the + icon at the top left of the editor or the + icon in the editor and search for the name of the block or widget, for instance, TP Data Table Block, then click on the widget to add to the page.

Or you can type / (forward slash) in the editor and type the name of the block and then click on it to add.

This way you can add an accordion or any other Gutenberg block.

How to Add Content in the Data Table Block?

Once you’ve added the block on the page, it will create a dummy table for you. You can work on the existing table or you can delete all the data and start from scratch. 

First, you have to choose the table content source from the Type dropdown under the Table tab. Here you’ll find three options – 

data table content

Standard (Free) – With this option, you have to add the table content manually.

CSV File (Pro) – This option allows you to import a CSV file data in your table.

Google Sheet (Pro) – With this option, you can import Google Sheets data in your table. 

We will use the Standard option here.

From the Table Header tab, you can add the table’s header. Once you open the tab, the first item you’ll see is a Row. It is the row of the table header.

data table header stracture

Note: To add a row in the table header or body, you have to initiate a row first. 

Open the item, you’ll see an Action dropdown with two options – 

Start New Row – To initiate a new table row.

Cell Content – To add content in the table cell.

data table header row

It must be set to Start New Row.

Open the first Cell: ID item to edit the header cell content. You’ll see the Action dropdown is set to Cell Content because it is a content cell.

Then in the Content tab, you can add text content in the Text field. 

From the Icon tab, you can add an image or icon to the table content. Learn the process.

Finally, from the Advanced tab, you can manage the Column Span (colspan), Row Span (rowspan), column width, individual cell colour and background colour.

Note: The column width set here will apply to all the cells of that particular column.

data table header content

You can follow the same process to edit the other table header cells.

Click the + Add content button to add more cells to the table header.

Note: You can add a row as well but ideally, a table header should have only one row.

To add or edit the table body content go to the Table Body tab. It works very similarly to the Table Header section. 

Similar to the Table Header, it will have a row first. Make sure the Action dropdown is set to Start New Row.

data table body stracture

Next, open the item you want to edit, and make sure the Action dropdown is set to Cell Content

From the Content tab, you can add the content for the cell in the Text field. You can also add a link to the cell from the URL field.

You can turn on the Button toggle to add a button in the cell. Learn the process.

From the Icon tab, you can add an image or icon to the table content. Learn the process.

Then from the Advanced tab, you can manage the content alignment, Column Span (colspan), Row Span (rowspan) and you can also use the Mark this cell as a Table Heading? dropdown, to turn the cell into a table heading.

data table body content

You can follow the same process to edit other table body cells.

Click the + Add content button to add more rows and cells in the table body.

Note: To add a row in the table header or body, you have to initiate a row first.

Note: Make sure the number of columns in the table header and body is the same.

Table Extra Settings

The Table widget from The Plus Addons for Elementor has some advanced features, which you can find under the Extra Settings tab. We’ve covered each option in a separate doc.

  • Search – Add a search feature to search the content of a table easily.
  • Sorting – Easily sort table column data using the sortable feature.
  • Entry Filter – You can limit the initial visible table rows with the entry filter.
  • Mobile Responsive – Easily make your table mobile responsive.

How to Style the Data Table Block?

If you want to style the table, you’ll find all the styling options under the Style tab.

Note: Depending on the table content source styling options will vary.

Table Header – From here, you can manage the table header content alignment, typography, colour and row background colour, padding, border etc.

Note: The text colour and row background colour set from an individual cell will override the text colour and background colour set from the table header tab.

data table style

Table Body – You can use this tab to style the table body. You can manage content alignment, vertical alignment, typography, colour and row background colour, padding, border etc. You can also add a stripe effect to the table from here.

Button – If you use buttons in your table, you can manage its style, like padding, width, typography, colour, background colour, border etc. from here.

Icon / Image Options – From here, you can control the styling of icons and images of your table. You can manage the icon size, colour, position and spacing. You’ll find similar settings for the image as well.

Search Bar / Show Entries – If you are using the search or show entry options in your table, you can manage their style from here. You’ll find settings for sorting icon colour, label colour, input text colour, typography, background colour, padding, border etc. You can also set the width and bottom space for the search bar and show entry field separately.

Background – From this tab, you can manage the overall table margin, padding, background, border etc.

Advanced – This is our global extension available for all our blocks. From here you can add a custom CSS class in the Additional CSS class(es) field. If you know CSS you can use this class to further finetune the style by using your own custom CSS.

Advanced options remain common for all our blocks, you can explore all it options from here.

View Advanced tab tutorial.