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


Answers:
author: m
body: 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](https://www.evernote.com/shard/s254/sh/8305f3ed-5e1f-4828-9d82-d3b5221ad791/62828a8e9d085269ae4240038c68c6a3) 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.

comments: author: Lester Martin
body: works perfectly -- thanks!


author: Tony Noto
body: 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.


author: RPT Admin
body: Great tip. Thank you.


author: Mark Bednarski
body: Great tip! Still a bummer you can't do this more easily.


author: Blog Blog
body: Very useful tip manthony!

Thanks!


author: Peter Kidson
body: 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  

<br />


author: PhilB
body: 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](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.confluence.table). Look for it in the marketplace.

comments: author: Bob Swift (personal)
body: See [How to control table column width](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/display/TBL/How+to+control+table+column+width) specifically.


author: Jonathan Smith
body: 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.

![example.jpg](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/2404i48D457A9BB990C44/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "example.jpg")


author: David Skreiner
body: 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>


author: Nicolas Casel
body: @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:

```
&lt;p&gt;	&lt;ac:structured-macro ac:name="profile"&gt;                       		&lt;ac:parameter ac:name="user"&gt;                  			&lt;ri:user ri:userkey="1e270f8444cxxxxxxxxxxx"/&gt;		&lt;/ac:parameter&gt;	&lt;/ac:structured-macro&gt;                    &lt;/p&gt;
```


author: Mitchell Im
body: 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.

comments: author: Susan Vineyard
body: 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....