Tables

Tables are made up of cells. A horizontal line of cells is called a "row" and a vertical line of cells is called a "column".
You can use tables to set up side-by-side text paragraphs that wrap around independently or graphics such as charts that sit side-by-side.
Tables can be useful for creating newsletters, brochures, web pages and forms.
Tables play a crucial part in any Word document so it is important you can manipulate then quickly and avoid the time consuming mistakes.
A table offers an easy way to group paragraphs side by side and to arrange text beside charts or pictures
A table is just a collection of horizontal rows and vertical columns that are used to create a grid of individual cells.
Table cells can contain text, numbers, fields, graphics and many other elements.
Originally tables were used just to display numbers but now tables are suitable for a whole range of different tasks.

Tables that span more than one page can easily have the same heading rows. Select the rows you would like to appear at the top of each page and press (Table > Headings)
You may find it easier to quickly draw your tables free hand using (Table > Draw Table). This may be quicker for drawing uniform tables to draw the outline
You can insert a tab within a table by pressing (Ctrl + Tab). Just pressing tab will move you to the next cell or create a new row

When you drag the edge of a column to adjust its width, the table width will not change, but other columns will reduce in width to compensate. To change the actual width of the table hold down Ctrl and Shift ??

If you want to see the exact measurements of rows and columns as you drag their borders hold down the Alt key as you drag
To quickly move a row, position the insertion point in the row and press (Shift + Alt) with either "Up Arrow" or "Down Arrow" to move the row up or down

Every cell contains an end-of-cell marker. To avoid copying the cell itself you must avoid copying this marker
If you alter the cell height in a particular cell all the cells in that row are effected
You can know control both the vertical and horizontal alignment at the same time from the shortcut menu when you right click a cell
Select text and press (Ctrl + Alt + "K") to remove any extraneous paragraph marks.
You can make the borders in your tables white so no lines or gridlines appear regardless of the individuals options
To add a double border to separate column headings from table entries, first apply single borders to all the sides, select the table choose (Format > Borders and Shading), and select the Grid under Setting. Select the first row of the table and change the line style of the border below the row
You can apply borders to paragraphs and graphics within a table cell in addition to the borders applied to the actual cells
If you want to apply the same border to a group of paragraphs, all the paragraphs must have the same indents, otherwise they are placed in separate boxes.
You can easily convert text to a table by using selecting (Table > Convert > Text to table) and then selecting a seperator character.
You can link an Excel table into your document by copying the table to the clipboard and selecting (Edit > Paste Special) and choosing "Paste as Link".

Showing Gridlines

Gridlines are similar to table borders except that they are only visible on the screen and will not be printed.
(Table > Hide Gridlines)
(Table > Show Gridlines)
This is a toggle

Linked HTML Tables

Sorting Data

2 dialog boxes

SS - Word cannot sort this table or selection because all of its rows are table headings
(Table > Properties > Row tab)
Untick the "repeat as header row at the top of each page.

Message

"Word cannot sort this table or selection because all of its rows are table headings"

Switch off "Repeat as header row at the top"
Table Properties > Row tab
SS

If you want to split an existing table into two tables click in the row you want to become the first row of the second table and choose (Tables > Split Table)
If your table continues for several pages and you want the same heading to repeat itself on each page select the heading rows and choose (Table > Heading Rows Repeat).
If a table appears at the top of the first page and you need to add text before it click in the top left cell and choose (Tables > Split Table). This will create a carriage return before the table.

To prevent rows breaking across pages select the rows, right click select (Table > Table Properties) (Row tab, and clear the "Allow Row to break across pages" checkbox. Widow and Orphan lines are not recommended. With this unchecked any rows that do not fit entirely on the page are moved to the next page.
The properties of a table can be accessed from (Table > Table Properties). This gives you more options for formatting the table rows, columns and cells.

A lot of table formatting tools do not allow you to format a table if cells have been merged. Using the IBE Table Formatter merged cells do not cause a problem
Any table with any amount of merged cells / heading rows formatted consistently

Quick Numbering

Highlight the column you want the numbers to appear in.
Press the Numbering button on the Formatting toolbar.

Example - summing rows and columns

Click anywhere on your table
click on Table > Sort)
Select Region in the sort by field
Select text because you are sorting text
Select ascending
Select the top row in the column you wish to sort by
Select header row

Example - Using the sum function

Place your cursor in the relevant cell
Press the Tab to create a new row
Table > Formula, Enter
Type Sum(above)
Select #,##0 in the number format
OK

If you have a table containing merged cells and there is a cell with merged cells in its row then when text within that cell spills over to the next page the extra test is not visible.

Heading Rows

To add a row for column headings, place the pointer in the top left-hand corner and use (Table > Insert Rows)
To repeat heading rows at the top of a table that spans more than one page use (Table > Repeat Heading Rows)

Important

To repeat your heading rows when a table spans more than one page highlight the heading rows and press (Tools > Headings)