This is "correct" behavior: tables in MW read mode do not have borders unless class="wikitable" is explicitly set. Perhaps pasted tables should automatically get class="wikitable", like newly created tables do?

In T85577#1105146, @Catrope wrote:

This is "correct" behavior: tables in MW read mode do not have borders unless class="wikitable" is explicitly set. Perhaps pasted tables should automatically get class="wikitable", like newly created tables do?

I believe that would be good. All tables I've ever seen in articles use this (or more complex) styling, and it's used almost everywhere in https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tables

I agree with @Quiddity. From the user's perspective, wikitable styling is how Mediawiki tables look. We should definitely apply class="wikitable" automatically.

In fact, I'd go further and ask why Vector doesn't style all tables like this by default? In the rare cases when people actually want the default style, that could be applied using a class.

It's important to note that we only want this to be the case in VE-MW, not VE-core. :-)

In fact, I'd go further and ask why Vector doesn't style all tables like this by default?

To answer my own question, it's probably that this would break tables used as a poor man's layout tool by Mediawiki editors

I've asked at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_talk:Table#Where_is_class.3Dwikitable_not_used.3F

In T85577#1379898, @Jdforrester-WMF wrote:

It's important to note that we only want this to be the case in VE-MW, not VE-core. :-)

Last I checked .wikitable ships in core. Am I crazy, or is there some other reason why not?

In T85577#1380307, @Neil_P._Quinn_WMF wrote:

In fact, I'd go further and ask why Vector doesn't style all tables like this by default?

To answer my own question, it's probably that this would break tables used as a poor man's layout tool by Mediawiki editors

These very rarely, if ever, occur in mainspace on en.wp. Probably rare on the other wikis. Why doesn't someone do the research of getting a dump of mainspace of x or y or z MW wikis and look for tables without the class assigned?

In T85577#1398663, @Izno wrote:

In T85577#1379898, @Jdforrester-WMF wrote:

It's important to note that we only want this to be the case in VE-MW, not VE-core. :-)

Last I checked .wikitable ships in core. Am I crazy, or is there some other reason why not?

You're not crazy, it's just that the naming is confusing :). "VE-core" (VisualEditor core) is a rich text editor independent of MediaWiki. "VE-MW" (VisualEditor MediaWiki) is what everyone knows as the VisualEditor, the extension to MediaWiki. We want this behavior in VE-MW, but not VE core.

In T85577#1380307, @Neil_P._Quinn_WMF wrote:

In fact, I'd go further and ask why Vector doesn't style all tables like this by default?

To answer my own question, it's probably that this would break tables used as a poor man's layout tool by Mediawiki editors

These very rarely, if ever, occur in mainspace on en.wp. Probably rare on the other wikis. Why doesn't someone do the research of getting a dump of mainspace of x or y or z MW wikis and look for tables without the class assigned?

We wish :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco has 39 table elements without the wikitable class. This includes the infobox, some nested infobox bits which have their own tables, all the navboxes, all the maintenance templates, assorted templates which generate infobox-like or thumbnail-like structures, and some other bits and pieces.

In T85577#1379805, @Neil_P._Quinn_WMF wrote:

In fact, I'd go further and ask why Vector doesn't style all tables like this by default? In the rare cases when people actually want the default style, that could be applied using a class.

fwiw... The use of .wikitable is relegated almost exclusively to discussions and help pages on Wikisource at best -- where the last thing we want is a table that renders nothing like the ones found in works we're transcribing.

Go ahead and make it the default for VE but please provide a way to override/usurp that or it will just wind up as another never-used dialog in our case.

So it sounds like .wikitable is, in fact, just one style out of many. So I think task will remain limited to what it says in the title: automatically give pasted tables class="wikitable" in VisualEditor-Mediawiki.

Question: Are we stripping any table classes these days?

I just got bit by this while helping some folks copy over existing information from a Word document.

Perhaps a solution would be to allow tables to have a modal like Media and Templates where one could click to bring up a window to make configuration changes to the table? One option could be to apply styles - directly by class name or perhaps language indicating "with borders" or some such. Less ambiguity in the language is better for editors unfamiliar with language such as "class=wikitable" but also understandably more difficult to implement consistently.

Or, conversely (and I can't believe I'm taking inspiration from Microsoft Word) upon paste there is a modal to ask editors 'match default style' or "keep existing style"?

Tables created in VE-MW do get class="wikitable" applied by default, correct?

Change 265785 had a related patch set uploaded (by Esanders):
MWTableNode: Apply wikitable class to pasted tables

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/265785

Change 265785 merged by jenkins-bot:
MWTableNode: Apply wikitable class to pasted tables

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/265785

Change 265812 had a related patch set uploaded (by Esanders):
Follow-up I9714cf3: Add tests for wikitable paste

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/265812

Change 265812 merged by jenkins-bot:
Follow-up I9714cf3: Add tests for wikitable paste

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/265812