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Table sections

HTML course · Beginner · Lesson 43/68

Split a table into logical sections with <thead>, <tbody> and <tfoot>.

Splitting a table into sections

Splitting long tables into logical sections improves readability and accessibility. HTML offers three tags for this:

  • <thead> — table head (usually the <th> row)
  • <tbody> — the main data rows
  • <tfoot> — table foot (totals, summaries)

These three tags are written inside <table> to group rows.

Order of the sections

The recommended order is: first <thead>, then <tbody>, last <tfoot>. In older versions <tfoot> was written before <tbody>; today writing it last is preferred.

Not every table needs all three. Using only <tbody> is fine. But when a header or total exists, putting them in <thead> and <tfoot> is the right approach.

Exercise Write a sectioned table

Add a <table> to body. It should contain <thead>, <tbody> and <tfoot> sections in order. Each section must hold at least one <tr> row. Example: thead with Item / Qty, tbody with Flour / 3, tfoot with Total / 3.

Show example solution 
<body>
  <table>
    <thead>
      <tr><th scope="col">Item</th><th scope="col">Qty</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr><td>Flour</td><td>3</td></tr>
    </tbody>
    <tfoot>
      <tr><td>Total</td><td>3</td></tr>
    </tfoot>
  </table>
</body>

Test yourself

  1. Close the tbody

    <table>
  <thead>
    <tr><th>Day</th></tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td>Monday</td></tr>____
</table>
    Show answer 
    <table>
  <thead>
    <tr><th>Day</th></tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td>Monday</td></tr></tbody>
</table>

  2. Where does a 'Total' row at the bottom of a table belong?

    • <thead>
    • <tbody>
    • <caption>
    • <tfoot>
    Show answer

    <tfoot> — Correct. Summary and total rows go inside <tfoot>.

  3. Match each section to its role

    <thead>
    Header row section
    <tbody>
    Main data rows
    <tfoot>
    Summary and totals
    <caption>
    Text describing the table

All lessons in Beginner

1 Document basics

  1. What is HTML?
  2. The document skeleton
  3. Head and meta tags
  4. Title and language
  5. Comments and readability
  6. Summary - My first HTML page

2 Text content

  1. Headings: h1–h6
  2. Paragraphs
  3. Line break and horizontal rule
  4. Emphasis and important text
  5. Quotations and sources
  6. Summary - Article page

3 Project: About me page

  1. Project: About me page
  2. Skeleton and title
  3. Introductory text
  4. Emphasis and separation
  5. Project final - About me

4 Links and navigation

  1. Anchor links
  2. Absolute and relative URLs
  3. In-page links
  4. Link targets
  5. Email and phone links
  6. Summary - Navigation menu

5 Lists

  1. Unordered lists
  2. Ordered lists
  3. Description lists
  4. Nested lists
  5. Links in list items
  6. Summary - Table of contents

6 Project: Business card page

  1. Project: Business card page
  2. Name and title
  3. Contact list
  4. Skills and links
  5. Project final - Business card

7 Images and media

  1. Adding images
  2. Image dimensions
  3. Figure and figcaption
  4. Audio and video
  5. Alternative sources
  6. Summary - Media gallery

8 Intro to tables

  1. Table skeleton
  2. Header cells
  3. Table sections
  4. Caption and title
  5. Cell spanning
  6. Summary - Class schedule table

9 Project: Recipe page

  1. Project: Recipe page
  2. Recipe title and summary
  3. Ingredient list
  4. Steps and baking table
  5. Project final - Recipe page

10 Intro to forms

  1. Form skeleton
  2. Labelled input
  3. Input types
  4. Textarea and button
  5. Selection fields
  6. Summary - Feedback form

11 Intro to semantic tags

  1. Why semantic tags matter
  2. Header and footer
  3. Nav and main
  4. Article and section
  5. Aside and address
  6. Summary - Semantic blog skeleton

12 Beginner final

  1. Challenge - Document skeleton
  2. Challenge - Text and links
  3. Challenge - Lists and tables
  4. Challenge - Form and semantic structure
  5. Challenge - Beginner capstone