[html] Setting table column width

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>

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.

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.

Add colgroup after your table tag. Define width and number of column here. and add 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>

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

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>

These are my two suggestions.

1. 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.

   _x000D_

   _x000D_

       table { table-layout: fixed; }_x000D_
       .subject { width: 70%; }

   _x000D_

       <table>_x000D_
         <tr>_x000D_
           <th>From</th>_x000D_
           <th class="subject">Subject</th>_x000D_
           <th>Date</th>_x000D_
         </tr>_x000D_
       </table>

   _x000D_

   _x000D_
   _x000D_

2. Without using classes. Three different methods but the result is identical.

   a)

   _x000D_

   _x000D_

       table { table-layout: fixed; }_x000D_
       th+th { width: 70%; }_x000D_
       th+th+th { width: 15%; }

   _x000D_

       <table>_x000D_
         <tr>_x000D_
           <th>From</th>_x000D_
           <th>Subject</th>_x000D_
           <th>Date</th>_x000D_
         </tr>_x000D_
       </table>

   _x000D_

   _x000D_
   _x000D_

   b)

   _x000D_

   _x000D_

       table { table-layout: fixed; }_x000D_
       th:nth-of-type(2) { width: 70%; }

   _x000D_

       <table>_x000D_
         <tr>_x000D_
           <th>From</th>_x000D_
           <th>Subject</th>_x000D_
           <th>Date</th>_x000D_
         </tr>_x000D_
       </table>

   _x000D_

   _x000D_
   _x000D_

   c) This one is my favourite. Same as b) but with better browser support.

   _x000D_

   _x000D_

       table { table-layout: fixed; }_x000D_
       th:first-child+th { width: 70%; }

   _x000D_

       <table>_x000D_
         <tr>_x000D_
           <th>From</th>_x000D_
           <th>Subject</th>_x000D_
           <th>Date</th>_x000D_
         </tr>_x000D_
       </table>

   _x000D_

   _x000D_
   _x000D_

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>

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%;
}

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

<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

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%;
}

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.