Table block: flesh out editor features

[helen]

I'd like to discuss which features from the old TinyMCE table plugin should be recreated as functionality for the table block in Gutenberg and whether that should be in core or left to a plugin that extends the table block. This is coming from my review of an existing 10up plugin that adds the TinyMCE plugin to the classic WP editor and a determination that having such a forked code path in the same plugin probably doesn't make sense if table blocks are meant to be a core feature. We (10up) can help shepherd work on this block, since it's been low priority.

From https://github.com/10up/mce-table-buttons/issues/2:

Toolbar

• Dropdown button with multiple flyouts
  • Cell
    • Merge table cells
      • NOTE: Has modal when nothing selected
    • Split table cell
  • Row
    • Insert row before (exists with icon)
    • Insert row after (exists with icon)
    • Delete row (exists with icon)
    • — SEPARATOR —
    • Cut table row
    • Copy table row
    • Paste table row before
    • Paste table row after
  • Column (all exist with icons)
    • Insert column before
    • Insert column after
    • Delete column

Sidebar

• Table properties
  • Rows (this is currently only accessible when creating a new table)
  • Columns (this is currently only accessible when creating a new table)
  • Width
  • Height
  • Cell spacing
  • Cell padding
  • Border
  • Caption (checkbox)
  • Alignment (None, Left, Center, Right)
• Cell properties
  • Width
  • Height
  • Cell type (None/Cell, Header cell)
  • Scope (None, Row, Column, Row group, Column group)
  • Alignment (None, Left, Center, Right)
• Row properties
  • Row type (Header, Body[default], Footer)
  • Alignment (None, Left, Center, Right)
  • Height

Related Gutenberg issues/PRs:

• 2609

• 2620

• 1470

• 6314

[talldan]

Not at the moment @prakashsinghgaur. I had been working on the table block. I still have a few PRs that I'm looking to merge. Those don't include cell widths, unfortunately. After that I'll working on the navigation block.

[patrikhuber]

Hi, are there any updates on the accessibility issues? I.e. being able to specify a table header and caption in Gutenberg.

Additionally I want to add my support for the "merge cells" feature - I am really disappointed by the Gutenberg table block - it is as basic as it can get, severely limiting its usefulness.

Looking forward to any and all improvements.

Edit: I've found the ongoing PRs: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/15409, https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/15554. No ongoing work for merging cells (colspan/rowspan) it looks like.

[uzabila]

Gutenberg team, you are so lazy and it's seems you hate your users. Thank you very much for that.

[paaljoachim]

@sergeiermilov Hey Sergei. Thank you for adding a comment. It could have been said a bit more constructive such as how is this issue coming along, or when will we see an update to the Table Block, or I really need a better Table Block.

What happens is that there are so many aspects of Gutenberg being worked on, that some aspects are talked about and perhaps specific feedback is needed so that an issue stops up and is forgotten about for a while.

We really could use a status update on this general Table block issue.

[noisysocks]

Vertical alignment was requested in https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/49897.

[paaljoachim]

Here is another Table block issue to add to the list. Table Block: Should we use InnerBlocks? https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/18768

[amberhinds]

Is there any update on the likelihood of getting first-column row-scoped table headers in this block? That is an accessibility feature that is necessary for most tables out there.

[a4jp-com]

Please.

[anevins12]

Would be great to allow the use of column headers at a minimum. If the concern is how users will do things wrong then we can add scripts to validate incorrect structures.