Setting table column width - html

Question

I've got a simple table that is used for an inbox as follows:
<table border="1">
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th>Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>
How do I set the width so the From and Date are 15% of the page width and the Subject is 70%. I also want the table to take up the whole page width.

Answer 1

<table style="width: 100%">
<colgroup>
<col span="1" style="width: 15%;">
<col span="1" style="width: 70%;">
<col span="1" style="width: 15%;">
</colgroup>
<!-- Put <thead>, <tbody>, and <tr>'s here! -->
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #777">15%</td>
<td style="background-color: #aaa">70%</td>
<td style="background-color: #777">15%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Answer 2

table {
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #000;
}
th.from, th.date {
width: 15%
}
th.subject {
width: 70%; /* Not necessary, since only 70% width remains */
}
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="from">From</th>
<th class="subject">Subject</th>
<th class="date">Date</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>[from]</td>
<td>[subject]</td>
<td>[date]</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
The best practice is to keep your HTML and CSS separate for less code duplication, and for separation of concerns (HTML for structure and semantics, and CSS for presentation).
Note that, for this to work in older versions of Internet Explorer, you may have to give your table a specific width (e.g., 900px). That browser has some problems rendering an element with percentage dimensions if its wrapper doesn't have exact dimensions.

Answer 3

Use the CSS below, the first declaration will ensure your table sticks to the widths you provide (you'll need to add the classes in your HTML):
table{
table-layout:fixed;
}
th.from, th.date {
width: 15%;
}
th.subject{
width: 70%;
}

Answer 4

Alternative way with just one class while keeping your styles in a CSS file, which even works in IE7:
<table class="mytable">
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th>Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>
<style>
.mytable td, .mytable th { width:15%; }
.mytable td + td, .mytable th + th { width:70%; }
.mytable td + td + td, .mytable th + th + th { width:15%; }
</style>
More recently, you can also use the nth-child() selector from CSS3 (IE9+), where you'd just put the nr. of the respective column into the parenthesis instead of stringing them together with the adjacent selector. Like this, for example:
<style>
.mytable tr > *:nth-child(1) { width:15%; }
.mytable tr > *:nth-child(2) { width:70%; }
.mytable tr > *:nth-child(3) { width:15%; }
</style>

Answer 5

These are my two suggestions.
Using classes. There is no need to specify width of the two other columns as they will be set to 15% each automatically by the browser.
table { table-layout: fixed; }
.subject { width: 70%; }
<table>
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th class="subject">Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>
Without using classes. Three different methods but the result is identical.
a)
table { table-layout: fixed; }
th+th { width: 70%; }
th+th+th { width: 15%; }
<table>
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th>Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>
b)
table { table-layout: fixed; }
th:nth-of-type(2) { width: 70%; }
<table>
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th>Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>
c) This one is my favourite. Same as b) but with better browser support.
table { table-layout: fixed; }
th:first-child+th { width: 70%; }
<table>
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th>Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>

Answer 6

Add colgroup after your table tag. Define width and number of columns here, and add the tbody tag. Put your tr inside of tbody.
<table>
<colgroup>
<col span="1" style="width: 30%;">
<col span="1" style="width: 70%;">
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>First column</td>
<td>Second column</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Answer 7

Depending on your body (or the div which is wrapping your table) 'settings' you should be able to do this:
body {
width: 98%;
}
table {
width: 100%;
}
th {
border: 1px solid black;
}
th.From, th.Date {
width: 15%;
}
th.Date {
width: 70%;
}
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="From">From</th>
<th class="Subject">Subject</th>
<th class="Date">Date</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Me</td>
<td>Your question</td>
<td>5/30/2009 2:41:40 AM UTC</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Demo

Answer 8

Try this instead.
<table style="width: 100%">
<tr>
<th style="width: 20%">
column 1
</th>
<th style="width: 40%">
column 2
</th>
<th style="width: 40%">
column 3
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%">
value 1
</td>
<td style="width: 40%">
value 2
</td>
<td style="width: 40%">
value 3
</td>
</tr>
</table>

Answer 9

table { table-layout: fixed; }
.subject { width: 70%; }
<table>
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th class="subject">Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
</table>

Answer 10

Here's another minimal way to do it in CSS that works even in older browsers that do not support :nth-child and the like selectors: http://jsfiddle.net/3wZWt/.
HTML:
<table>
<tr>
<th>From</th>
<th>Subject</th>
<th>Date</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dmitriy</td>
<td>Learning CSS</td>
<td>7/5/2014</td>
</tr>
</table>
CSS:
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
width: 100%;
}
tr > * {
border: 1px solid #000;
}
tr > th + th {
width: 70%;
}
tr > th + th + th {
width: 15%;
}

Answer 11

<table>
<col width="130">
<col width="80">
<tr>
<th>Month</th>
<th>Savings</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January</td>
<td>$100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>February</td>
<td>$80</td>
</tr>
</table>
Demo

Answer 12

Don't use the border attribute, use CSS for all your styling needs.
<table style="border:1px; width:100%;">
<tr>
<th style="width:15%;">From</th>
<th style="width:70%;">Subject</th>
<th style="width:15%;">Date</th>
</tr>
... rest of the table code...
</table>
But embedding CSS like that is poor practice - one should use CSS classes instead, and put the CSS rules in an external CSS file.

Answer 13

style="column-width:300px;white-space: normal;"