Page MenuHomePhabricator

Add auto number column option to wikitable
Open, LowPublicFeature

Description

Hello, So far, I don't believe there's any way to add "auto number column" to wiki tables. In the picture below (link), I have created a column manually containing numbers in rows, but whenever I want to add another row or delete a row, I need to update the entire column with numbers manually, which really takes a lot of time and power, or the user often disapproves and gives up editing.

Screenshot (284).png (768×1 px, 73 KB)

In my opinion, this feature should be added to tables. For example, an option to ask the user if you want to add an Automatic number column? or something like that. Thanks

Event Timeline

Aklapper changed the task status from Open to Stalled.Oct 18 2021, 12:29 PM
Aklapper changed the subtype of this task from "Task" to "Feature Request".

@AramBakir: Thanks for reporting this. In the future, please use the feature request form (linked from the top of the task creation page) to create feature requests.

Please provide use case(s) (describe the actual underlying problem which you want to solve. Do not describe only a solution), and Benefits (why should this be implemented?). Which type of table content needs an autoincremented number and why? Is this a common content? Do you have a specific example when you had to add another row or delete a row in the middle of such a table; and if yes what is the table about exactly?

@Aklapper Thank you, In the future, if I want to create a task like this, I will fill out it's right form.

Actually, I thought I'd just put my message/idea here, so the developers themselves understand what I mean. I don't really know exactly what to write here to add what I want. I'm sure you understand me, but I don't know how to explain the feature. I think I wrote what matters above. I hope developers can help with this task. Anyway, I will try to write something.

Use case(s): [I don't know what to write here.]

Benefits: As I said above, This feature helps users edit "tables with number column". So they don't waste time updating the number column manually. In this case, just imagine you have a table with 30 rows and you should add one row above the first one (or delete the first one); you should rearrange that column containing numbers from the first row to the last. So, this takes time and sometimes make the user to close that tab from the browser.
This feature may not be necessary for a table with 5 rows, but is required for one with too many (i.e. 15 or more) rows. Finally, it must exist (in my opinion).

Do you have a specific example of a specific existing table which would welcome auto-incrementing numbers? (Links welcome.)

@Aklapper Actually, I'm not a programmer. So, I have no table with this feature. I would say that this feature should be added to the wikitables as an option (if possible), which is very helpful for users. Additionally, I found:

  1. Extension:Autoincrement which uses {{AUTOINCREMENT}} magic word, but at this time it is not working.
  2. Template:Row numbers, but it doesn't seem to work in some cases (as written on the tag).
  3. Template:Static row numbers, but I don't know if there's a problem.

I don't think there's a very easy way.

Repeating that it's helpful for users does not help understand *why*, and that's why I asked for one specific example in which you yourself wanted this feature. There must be a specific moment and reason why you got this idea, and I ask you to share a link to that table which made you get this idea. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_bridges seems to be one example, with the "Rank" column.

Aklapper changed the task status from Stalled to Open.Oct 19 2021, 6:28 AM
Aklapper triaged this task as Low priority.

@Aklapper I already inserted the link above (here). The picture I attached above is the article.

The table includes provincial radio stations sorted from 87.8 MHz to 108.0 MHz according to Frequency Modulation (FM). Here, the first column contain numbers that refers to the number of radios in the area. So, when a radio station is added or removed, the number column must be rearranged.

This is the headings of the table in English. I reversed the columns of the table.

No.TitleFrequency Modulation (MHz)Availability

I don't know if that's enough.

Confirming that i face the same Problem everytime when i update the table i created (link) needless to say the table also exists on other wikis --> (Simple, Ks)

@Aklapper, This feature task has remained inactive for more than 7 months. Can you get this task to a good result? Thanks!

@AramBakir: I cannot, as anyone is free to decide if they want to work on something or not. :) If you are interested, please see https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_to_become_a_MediaWiki_hacker - thanks! See also https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Bug_management/Development_prioritization

@Aklapper, Yes, you are right. My comment was just a reminder. Anyway, I'm not a very technical user and I think I can't to do so, but I will read those links you provided to improve my skills in the future. I hope some users can work around this task. Thanks!