Summary

This article provides instructions for adding a table into a TeamDynamix (TDx) Knowledge Base (KB) article from a table in an Excel worksheet or a Microsoft Word document. This process involves several steps to remove extra formatting from those other apps so the table looks good in the TDx KB article. This article is intended for KB editors. See also Knowledge Base: Working with Tables.

Accessibility is a very important subject which applies to knowledge base articles as well other web pages.  By following this process instead of pasting an image of that information, we ensure the content is accessible to all readers.  Images of tables do not meet accessibility needs, however with a few quick steps we can take a table or part of an Excel spreadsheet and insert it into a KB article using HTML.  

How-To

Instructions

Step 1 - Highlight and copy the desired section of the Excel spreadsheet or table in Microsoft Word. Be sure to include the header row.

Step 2 - Paste that section of information into a blank Word Document. The data will appear as a table in the Word doc.

Step 3 - Make any needed formatting changes to the pasted data in the Word Document.

Step 4 - Click File > Save As then choose type Web Page, Filtered (*htm, *html) instead of the default "Word Document (*.docx)" type. Give the file a name, choose a location, and click Save.

Step 5 - Navigate to the location where you saved the Web Page, Filterered file.

Step 6 - Right Click on the file and use "Open With" to choose the browser of your liking.

Step 7 - Once the file is open in your browser, right click on the table and select "View Page Source". This will open up the table's HTML source code in another browser tab or window.

Step 8 - Select all of the HTML code listed and copy that code.

Step 9 - Open the Knowledge Base article that needs to be updated. Choose Edit Article. 

Step 10 - Find where the table belongs in the article.  Remove any old images, text, or tables and leave several blank lines, to make it easier to find where you want to put the table.

Step 11 - Click the Source button at the top left of the WYSIWYG tool bar.  

Step 12 - Navigate through the HTML source code until you find where the table belongs in the article. If you added a bunch of blank lines, you will probably see a long row of this HTML code for blank lines:

<p>&nbsp;</p>

Step 13 - Put your cursor at the very beginning of one of the blank line codes in the middle of your list, and paste the html code you copied in Step 8 above.

Step 14 -  Click Source once again to return to normal editing mode and view the table in the article. 

Step 15 - Clean up formatting, remove any extra blank lines, and proceed to edit the article as desired. See Knowledge Base: Working with Tables for additional information on formatting tables.

Outcome

You can paste tables from Excel and Microsoft Word into TDx KB articles.

Further Readings

Knowledge Base: Working with Tables

Need additional help?

Visit the TDx Knowledge Base (KB) category in the Knowledge Base.

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