Responsive table by Geoff Yuen

This is a responsive table example created by Geoff Yuen. In this example, he uses display:block and data attributes to style the table and make it responsive. To see how it works, just click on the button Run Pen below:

How to create a responsive table

Step 1: Add Html

<h1>RWD List to Table</h1>
<table class="rwd-table">
  <tr>
    <th>Movie Title</th>
    <th>Genre</th>
    <th>Year</th>
    <th>Gross</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td data-th="Movie Title">Star Wars</td>
    <td data-th="Genre">Adventure, Sci-fi</td>
    <td data-th="Year">1977</td>
    <td data-th="Gross">$460,935,665</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td data-th="Movie Title">Howard The Duck</td>
    <td data-th="Genre">"Comedy"</td>
    <td data-th="Year">1986</td>
    <td data-th="Gross">$16,295,774</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td data-th="Movie Title">American Graffiti</td>
    <td data-th="Genre">Comedy, Drama</td>
    <td data-th="Year">1973</td>
    <td data-th="Gross">$115,000,000</td>
  </tr>
</table>

<p>
  &larr; Drag window (in editor or full page view) to see the effect. &rarr;
</p>

Step 2: Add CSS

@import 'compass/css3';

// More practical CSS...
// using mobile first method 
// (IE8,7 requires respond.js polyfill https://github.com/scottjehl/Respond)

$breakpoint-alpha: 480px; // adjust to your needs

.rwd-table {
  margin: 1em 0;
  min-width: 300px; // adjust to your needs

  tr {
    border-top: 1px solid #ddd;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
  }

  th {
    display: none; 
    // for accessibility, use a visually hidden method here instead!
    // Thanks, reddit!
  }

  td {
    display: block;

    &:first-child {
      padding-top: 0.5em;
    }
    &:last-child {
      padding-bottom: 0.5em;
    }

    &:before {
      content: attr(data-th) ': '; 
      // who knew you could do this? The internet, that's who.
      font-weight: bold;

      // optional stuff to make it look nicer
      width: 6.5em; 
      // magic number :( adjust according to your own content
      display: inline-block;
      // end options

      @media (min-width: $breakpoint-alpha) {
        display: none;
      }
    }
  }

  th,
  td {
    text-align: left;

    @media (min-width: $breakpoint-alpha) {
      display: table-cell;
      padding: 0.25em 0.5em;

      &:first-child {
        padding-left: 0;
      }

      &:last-child {
        padding-right: 0;
      }
    }
  }
}

// presentational styling
@import 'https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Montserrat:300,400,700';

body {
  padding: 0 2em;
  font-family: Montserrat, sans-serif;
  -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
  text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;
  color: #444;
  background: #eee;
}

h1 {
  font-weight: normal;
  letter-spacing: -1px;
  color: #34495e;
}

.rwd-table {
  background: #34495e;
  color: #fff;
  border-radius: 0.4em;
  overflow: hidden;
  tr {
    border-color: lighten(#34495e, 10%);
  }
  th,
  td {
    margin: 0.5em 1em;
    @media (min-width: $breakpoint-alpha) {
      padding: 1em !important;
    }
  }
  th,
  td:before {
    color: #dd5;
  }
}

// Responsive table method using display:block and data attributes
// Thanks to @leefroese for suggestion about data attributes

Web UI Element

Table