Tables¶

Create and format tables in Opus documents.

Basic Tables¶

Use pipes and hyphens to create tables:

| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Cell 1   | Cell 2   | Cell 3   |
| Cell 4   | Cell 5   | Cell 6   |

Renders as:

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Cell 1	Cell 2	Cell 3
Cell 4	Cell 5	Cell 6

Creating Tables¶

Slash Command¶

Type /table to open the table creator:

Specify rows and columns
Click Create
Fill in cells

Visual Editor¶

Click inside a table to show the table toolbar:

Add/remove rows and columns
Merge cells
Align content
Delete table

Column Alignment¶

Use colons in the separator row:

| Left | Center | Right |
|:-----|:------:|------:|
| L    |   C    |     R |
| 1    |   2    |     3 |

Renders as:

Left	Center	Right
L	C	R
1	2	3

Table Captions¶

Add a caption below the table:

| Year | Value |
|------|-------|
| 2020 | 100   |
| 2021 | 150   |

: Annual values for the study period. {#tbl:values}

Reference the table with @tbl:values.

Formatting in Tables¶

Text Formatting¶

You can use standard formatting inside cells:

| Name | Description |
|------|-------------|
| **Bold** | Important items |
| *Italic* | Emphasized text |
| `Code` | Technical terms |

Equations in Tables¶

| Variable | Formula |
|----------|---------|
| Area | $A = \pi r^2$ |
| Circumference | $C = 2\pi r$ |

Links in Tables¶

| Resource | Link |
|----------|------|
| Documentation | [Link](https://opus.phd/help) |

Complex Tables¶

Multi-line Cells¶

Use HTML for cells with multiple lines:

| Step | Description |
|------|-------------|
| 1 | Collect data<br>Clean dataset<br>Validate entries |
| 2 | Run analysis |

Spanning Cells¶

For merged cells, use HTML:

<table>
  <tr>
    <th colspan="2">Combined Header</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Cell 1</td>
    <td>Cell 2</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Wide Tables¶

For tables that don't fit, Opus automatically adds horizontal scrolling.

To force a table to full width:

| Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 |
|-------|-------|-------|
| A     | B     | C     |

{.full-width}

Data Tables¶

For data-heavy tables with many rows:

| ID | Name | Value | Category |
|----|------|-------|----------|
| 1  | Alpha | 10.5 | A |
| 2  | Beta | 20.3 | B |
| 3  | Gamma | 15.7 | A |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

Large Datasets

For tables with more than ~50 rows, consider linking to supplementary materials instead of embedding the full table.

Importing Tables¶

From CSV¶

Type /table and select Import CSV
Paste or upload your CSV data
Opus converts it to a Markdown table

From Excel¶

Select cells in Excel
Copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C)
Paste into Opus (Cmd/Ctrl + V)
Opus detects the table format

From Google Sheets¶

Same as Excel—copy cells and paste into Opus.

Table Styling¶

Striped Rows¶

| A | B | C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |

{.striped}

Bordered¶

{.bordered}

Compact¶

{.compact}

Combining Styles¶

{.striped .bordered .compact}

Best Practices¶

Keep Tables Simple¶

Avoid tables with too many columns (max 6-7 is readable)
Break complex tables into multiple simpler ones
Use consistent formatting throughout

Headers Matter¶

Always include a header row
Use clear, concise header text
Avoid abbreviations unless defined

Numeric Data¶

Align numbers to the right
Use consistent decimal places
Include units in headers, not cells

| Sample | Weight (kg) | Height (cm) |
|--------|------------:|------------:|
| A      |        1.23 |       45.6 |
| B      |        2.34 |       56.7 |

Statistical Tables¶

For statistical results:

| Variable | Mean | SD | *p*-value |
|----------|-----:|---:|----------:|
| Treatment | 4.52 | 1.23 | .003** |
| Control | 3.21 | 1.45 | — |

: Results of statistical analysis. \**p* < .01. {#tbl:stats}