How to Style a Table with CSS

See CSS: Tips and Tricks for similar articles.

Back before CSS, people used HTML tables to lay out web pages. The rule is the same now as it was then: tables should not be used to lay out pages. They should be used for tabular data, such as financial reports or a meeting agenda. To style tables with CSS, you should first be familiar with HTML table syntax.

The following is a list of the CSS you can use in tables, the tags you can use them with, and a brief description of each:

CSSTagsDescription
border-spacingtableSpecifies the space between adjacent borders and the content surrounding the table.
border-collapsetableTakes the values separate and collapse. Used to indicate whether adjacent borders should be merged (collapse) or not (separate).
paddingtableWhen applied to table cells (e.g., th and td), creates a buffer between their content and the cell borders.
bordertableAllows you to control the borders of each side of the table and each side of each cell independently using the border properties.
background-imagetable, th, tdSpecifies the background image.
background-colorallSpecifies the background color.
widthtable, th, tdSpecifies the width of the table, th, or td.
heighttable, tr, th, tdSpecifies the height of the table, th, or td.
text-aligntr, th, tdAligns the text.
vertical-aligntr, th, tdAligns vertically.

The following code shows this CSS in use:

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<style type="text/css">
body {
	background-color: #f6f6ff;
	font-family: Calibri, Myriad;
}

#main {
	width: 780px;
	padding: 20px;
	margin: auto;
}

table.timecard {
	margin: auto;
	width: 600px;
	border-collapse: collapse;
	border: 1px solid #fff; /*for older IE*/
	border-style: hidden;
}

table.timecard caption {
	background-color: #f79646;
	color: #fff;
	font-size: x-large;
	font-weight: bold;
	letter-spacing: .3em;
}

table.timecard thead th {
	padding: 8px;
	background-color: #fde9d9;
	font-size: large;
}

table.timecard thead th#thDay {
	width: 40%;	
}

table.timecard thead th#thRegular, table.timecard thead th#thOvertime, table.timecard thead th#thTotal {
	width: 20%;
}

table.timecard th, table.timecard td {
	padding: 3px;
	border-width: 1px;
	border-style: solid;
	border-color: #f79646 #ccc;
}

table.timecard td {
	text-align: right;
}

table.timecard tbody th {
	text-align: left;
	font-weight: normal;
}

table.timecard tfoot {
	font-weight: bold;
	font-size: large;
	background-color: #687886;
	color: #fff;
}

table.timecard tr.even {
	background-color: #fde9d9;
}
</style>
<title>Employee Timecard</title>
</head>

<body>
<div id="main">
<table class="timecard">
	<caption>Employee Timecard</caption>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th id="thDay">Day</th>
			<th id="thRegular">Regular</th>
			<th id="thOvertime">Overtime</th>
			<th id="thTotal">Total</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr class="odd">
			<th>Monday</th>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>0</td>
			<td>8</td>
		</tr>
		<tr class="even">
			<th>Tuesday</th>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>2.5</td>
			<td>10.5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr class="odd">
			<th>Wednesday</th>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>0</td>
			<td>8</td>
		</tr>
		<tr class="even">
			<th>Thursday</th>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>0</td>
			<td>8</td>
		</tr>
		<tr class="odd">
			<th>Friday</th>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>0</td>
			<td>8</td>
		</tr>
		<tr class="even">
			<th>Saturday</th>
			<td>0</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr class="odd">
			<th>Sunday</th>
			<td>0</td>
			<td>1</td>
			<td>1</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
	<tfoot>
		<tr>
			<th>Total weekly hours:</th>
			<td>40</td>
			<td>8.5</td>
			<td>48.5</td>
		</tr>
	</tfoot>
</table>
</div>
</body>
</html>

This code renders the following:CSS table


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