Help:Collapsing
 | This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. | <templatestyles src="Shortcut/styles.css"></templatestyles> |
A collapsible element contains a toggle a reader can use to show or hide the element's content. Elements are made collapsible by adding the mw-collapsible class.
Contents
Collapsible tables
The mw-collapsible class can make any element collapsible, but tables are particularly simple to make collapsible. Adding the mw-collapsible class to a table automatically positions the toggle, and selects which parts to collapse.
A common use is to make a collapsible layout table, which always displays an introduction or summary, but hides the rest of the content from immediate view. The introduction or summary is in the first row, and the content is in subsequent rows. The content is then easily accessible by using the 'show' button.
In the examples below, the use of the class wikitable is merely for appearance; it is not needed for mw-collapsible to function.
| Code entered | Output produced | ||
|---|---|---|---|
{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
| <strong>Lorem ipsum</strong>
|-
| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
|}
|
|
More complex data tables can also be collapsible.
| Code entered | Output produced | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+ class="nowrap" | Winter Olympic Games
|-
|
! scope="col" | City
! scope="col" | Country
|-
! scope="row" | 1994
| Lillehammer || Norway
|-
! scope="row" | 1998
| Nagano || Japan
|}
|
|
Collapsing by default
Just using the mw-collapsible class leaves the element expanded by default, but it can be collapsed by the reader. It is also possible to make the element collapsed by default, and optionally expanded. There are several methods for doing this, depending on the situations in which you want the element to collapse.
"mw-collapsed"
Adding the mw-collapsed class will cause the element to always be initially collapsed, no matter what happens around it. It is the simplest method for doing so. Using the examples above:
| Code entered | Output produced | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
| <strong>Lorem ipsum</strong>
|-
| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
|}
|
| |||||||||
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ class="nowrap" | Winter Olympic Games
|-
|
! scope="col" | City
! scope="col" | Country
|-
! scope="row" | 1994
| Lillehammer || Norway
|-
! scope="row" | 1998
| Nagano || Japan
|}
|
|
"autocollapse"
Adding the autocollapse class causes an element to collapse if there are 2 or more collapsible elements on the page. This threshold might be different on other projects and is customizable. The example below, therefore, collapses because there are numerous collapsible elements on this page.
| Code entered | Output produced | ||
|---|---|---|---|
{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible autocollapse"
| <strong>Lorem ipsum</strong>
|-
| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
|}
|
|
"innercollapse" and "outercollapse"
Using this pair of classes, it is possible to make an element collapsed by default only when it is contained within a particular outer element. An element with the mw-collapsible and innercollapse classes is collapsed by default if it is contained within an element with the outercollapse class; otherwise, it is uncollapsed by default. This is mainly useful for templates, which are often nested.
| Code entered | Output produced | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible innercollapse"
| This <code>innercollapse</code> element is
|-
| <em>uncollapsed</em> by default
|}
<div class="wikitable outercollapse" style="padding:1em; background:#ccc;">
This is an element with the <code>outercollapse</code> class.
{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible innercollapse"
| This <code>innercollapse</code> element is
|-
| <em>collapsed</em> by default
|}
</div>
|
This is an element with the
|
Other notes
Tables with captions
A table without a caption will collapse to its first row. A table with a caption will collapse to its caption, with no rows, therefore no width. Use class="nowrap" or {{nowrap}} to keep the caption from being squeezed into a vertical column when the table is collapsed.
| Code entered | Output produced | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{|class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+ class="nowrap" | Somewhat long table caption
! Name !! Score
|-
| John || 59
|-
| Bob || 72
|}
|
|
Sortable tables
Collapsible tables can be combined with the sortable tables functionality without difficulty. However, because the hide/show button is placed with collapsible in the first header cell located or with mw-collapsible in the right header cell (this difference may change), its positioning can look a bit peculiar if the cell is not wide enough:
| Code entered | Output produced | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible sortable" style="width:5em"
<!--table width too narrow, on purpose here-->
|-
! Name !! Score
|-
| John || 59
|-
| Bob || 72
|}
|
|
A possible alternative is to add a caption over the table. See the following example.
| Code entered | Output produced | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
{|class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+ class="nowrap" | Caption
! Name !! Score
|-
| John || 59
|-
| Bob || 72
|}
|
|
Customization
Registered users can edit their personal js file to change some of the variables used.
autoCollapse = 4 //how many collapsible tables on the page before autocollapse works (default=2)
var collapseCaption = 'collapse' //text of the [hide] link (default='hide')
var expandCaption = 'uncollapse' //text of the [show] link (default='show')
Limitations
This functionality requires the end-user's browser to have JavaScript enabled. If Javascript is disabled, the default behaviour is to show the content.
See also
Documentation:
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Scrolling lists and collapsible content – style guidelines for collapsing content
- Help:Table
- Help:Table of contents
Templates:
- {{Collapse}}
- {{Collapse-top}} and {{Collapse-bottom}} – More feature-rich than {{collapse}}
- {{Hidden}}
- {{Navbar-collapsible}}
