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HTML: <colgroup> tag

This HTML tutorial explains how to use the HTML element called the <colgroup> tag with syntax and examples.

Description

The HTML <colgroup> tag groups a set of columns in an HTML table so that you can apply formatting or add classes to the group instead of each individual cell. This tag is also commonly referred to as the <colgroup> element.

Syntax

In HTML, the syntax for the <colgroup> tag is: (example of a table where the first three columns have a background color of #FFF9C4 and the last column has a yellow background)

<body>
<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="3" style="background-color:#FFF9C4;">
    <col style="background-color:yellow;">
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Quantity</th>
      <th>Price</th>
      <th>Total</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Bananas</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>$12</td>
      <td>$60</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

Sample Output

Attributes

In addition to the Global Attributes, the following is a list of attributes that are specific to the <colgroup> tag:

Attribute Description HTML Compatibility
align Horizontal alignment of text in each cell within the column group. It can be one of the following values: left, center, right, justify, char Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5, use CSS
bgcolor Background color of each cell within the column group Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5, use CSS
char Set the character to align the cells in a column group Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5
charoff Number of characters to offset column data from the alignment characters (in char attribute) Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5
span Integer value indicating the number of columns that the column group spans HTML 4.01, HTML5
valign Vertical alignment of text of each cell within the column group. It can be one of the following values: baseline, bottom, middle, top Deprecated in HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5, use CSS
width Default width for each column in the column group. The width can be expressed in pixels, a percentage value or relative width. HTML 4.01, Obsolete in HTML5

Note

Browser Compatibility

The <colgroup> tag has basic support with the following browsers:

  • Chrome
  • Android
  • Firefox (Gecko)
  • Firefox Mobile (Gecko)
  • Internet Explorer (IE)
  • Edge Mobile
  • Opera
  • Opera Mobile
  • Safari (WebKit)
  • Safari Mobile

Example

We will discuss the <colgroup> tag below, exploring examples of how to use the <colgroup> tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and XHTML 1.1.

  • HTML5
  • HTML4
  • XHTML

HTML5 Document

If you created a new web page in HTML5, your <colgroup> tag might look like this:

<!doctype html>
<html>

<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>HTML5 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="3" style="background-color:#FFF9C4;">
    <col style="background-color:yellow;">
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Quantity</th>
      <th>Price</th>
      <th>Total</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Bananas</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>$12</td>
      <td>$60</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML5 Document example, we have created a table with <colgroup>, <thead> and <tbody> sections. Within the <colgroup> section, we've used two <col> tags. The first <col> tag groups the first three columns and sets the background color of the columns to #FFF9C4. The second <col> tag groups the 4th column and sets its background color to yellow.

HTML 4.01 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in HTML 4.01 Transitional, your <colgroup> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="3" style="background-color:#FFF9C4;">
    <col style="background-color:yellow;">
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Quantity</th>
      <th>Price</th>
      <th>Total</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Bananas</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>$12</td>
      <td>$60</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML 4.01 Transitional Document example, we have created a table with <colgroup>, <thead> and <tbody> sections. Within the <colgroup> section, we've used two <col> tags. The first <col> tag groups the first three columns and sets the background color of the columns to #FFF9C4. The second <col> tag groups the 4th column and sets its background color to yellow.

XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Transitional, your <colgroup> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHMTL 1.0 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="3" style="background-color:#FFF9C4" />
    <col style="background-color:yellow;" />
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Quantity</th>
      <th>Price</th>
      <th>Total</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Bananas</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>$12</td>
      <td>$60</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document example, we have created a table with <colgroup>, <thead> and <tbody> sections. Within the <colgroup> section, we've used two <col> tags. The first <col> tag groups the first three columns and sets the background color of the columns to #FFF9C4. The second <col> tag groups the 4th column and sets its background color to yellow.

XHTML 1.0 Strict Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Strict, your <colgroup> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.0 Strict Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="3" style="background-color:#FFF9C4" />
    <col style="background-color:yellow;" />
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Quantity</th>
      <th>Price</th>
      <th>Total</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Bananas</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>$12</td>
      <td>$60</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Strict Document example, we have created a table with <colgroup>, <thead> and <tbody> sections. Within the <colgroup> section, we've used two <col> tags. The first <col> tag groups the first three columns and sets the background color of the columns to #FFF9C4. The second <col> tag groups the 4th column and sets its background color to yellow.

XHTML 1.1 Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.1, your <colgroup> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.1 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col span="3" style="background-color:#FFF9C4" />
    <col style="background-color:yellow;" />
  </colgroup>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Item</th>
      <th>Quantity</th>
      <th>Price</th>
      <th>Total</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Bananas</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>$12</td>
      <td>$60</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.1 Document example, we have created a table with <colgroup>, <thead> and <tbody> sections. Within the <colgroup> section, we've used two <col> tags. The first <col> tag groups the first three columns and sets the background color of the columns to #FFF9C4. The second <col> tag groups the 4th column and sets its background color to yellow.

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