Is there a way to resize the columns of a table on Confluence?

[Briana Whelan]

When I first created my table the first column needed to be widest, but now I need the last column to be widest and I can't figure out how to specify custom ratios of column sizes

[m]

Total hack but it works and without a plugin.

1. Go to the column you want set.
2. Edit the first sentence of the heading (or one that is kind of long).
3. Locate a space between two words "foo bar" so the space between foo and bar.
4. Select the space.
5. Insert < Symbol.
6. Choose the first symbol which is invisible because it is a no-break space.
   The system pastes it in there.
7. Repeat for the rest of the spaces in just that first sentence.

There you have it, the hacky way to do this. What this does is fools Confluence into thinking thatfirstsentenceisjustonelongstringofcharacters.

[Lester Martin]

works perfectly -- thanks!

[Tony Noto]

Thanks, I've used a similar lower-tech method. I typically have a blank row at the bottom of many of my tables, so in there I'll just put a long string of x's (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) based on how wide I want each column. I then highlight the x's and turn the font color to white so they're not visible. They are only visible if someone select the cell/row/table for coping. You could also put this string of x's in the header or first row if you prefer. Seems to work well enough.

[RPT Admin]

Great tip. Thank you.

[Mark Bednarski]

Great tip! Still a bummer you can't do this more easily.

[Blog Blog]

Very useful tip manthony!

Thanks!

[Peter Kidson]

Ah ... it's "insert the first symbol (which is invisible)"
rather than "insert the first symbol  which is invisible)"  :-)
And what's the less-than char there for ?
Cheers

[PhilB]

I don't believe you can specify column widths with the built-in table construct. However, there are various plugins available that will give you what you need.

The one I've seen most often is the table-plus macro that comes with the Table Plugin for Confluence. Look for it in the marketplace.

[Bob Swift OSS (Bob Swift Atlassian Apps)]

See How to control table column width specifically.

[Jonathan Smith]

This solution is completely manual, but if you are working on a template and have access to source editor (within editing mode <>), you can set the width of the various cells.

[David Skreiner]

This issue has a free user macro in the comments (Fabian Meier). It allows one to set the width for all tables on a page without wasting money on a plugin.

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONF-3393

[Nicolas Casel]

@manthony

Thanks for this useful tip.

However, what can I do in this specific case: the cell content is a "User id" macro (i.e. it displays user full name according to the userid I've entered when creating the macro block)?

For instance, when source code is:

<p>
	<ac:structured-macro ac:name="profile">                       
		<ac:parameter ac:name="user">                  
			<ri:user ri:userkey="1e270f8444cxxxxxxxxxxx"/>
		</ac:parameter>
	</ac:structured-macro>                    
</p>

[Mitchell Im]

It's not the cleanest way, but I've found this one to be the simplest. If you're using Confluence 4.1.5+ and are reasonably comfortable with HTML, do the following:

1. Install the Confluence Source Editor (https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.atlassian.confluence.plugins.editor.confluence-source-editor).
2. Edit your page, and then click on the <> button in the upper right corner to raise a "popup" window with the source of the page.
3. Find your table in the XHTML, and then tweak it to your heart's content, including using the column width attributes.

[Susan Vineyard]

I just installed the Source Editor and it's not letting me make changes to the table. I found a JIRA someone else raised with the same problem. The changes in tables are not saving. Too bad....