Title: Search function not working when using #colspan#
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Search function not working when using #colspan#

 *  Resolved [Judy Leslie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/judy-leslie/)
 * (@judy-leslie)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/)
 * Hi, Tobias –
 * In advance, thank you very much for your plugin — and for all your obvious hard
   work in support of it. I’m new to your plugin, but think I have a rudimentary
   grasp of it. I’m creating a table and need to have some occasional column spans
   throughout, but when I use them, I lose the search and sort function. Here are
   some screen shots of what I’m getting: [Screen shots](http://judithleslie.com/hs1.html)
 * Thank you very much for any guidance you can provide.
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tablepress/)

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Tobias Bäthge](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobiasbg/)
 * (@tobiasbg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/#post-4947275)
 * Hi,
 * thanks for your post, and sorry for the trouble.
 * That’s somewhat expected here: The DataTables JS library that TablePress uses
   for those features simply does not support tables that have connected cells (
   for the sorting, this makes great sense, as it can not tear combined cells in
   a row apart, if you think about it).
    You’ll have to decide: Either use combined
   cells in the table, or the JS features. You can’t have both though 🙁 Sorry for
   not having better news here.
 * Regards,
    Tobias
 *  Thread Starter [Judy Leslie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/judy-leslie/)
 * (@judy-leslie)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/#post-4947296)
 * Thanks, Tobias. Yes, that is bad news indeed. I did assume the sort would not
   work for the reason you mentioned, and my client does not care about that. However,
   the search function is important as it’s a rather lengthy table. Oh well, back
   to the drawing board.
 * I don’t suppose there’s an independent search plugin that could be added to the
   page for table searching?
 * Thanks again for your help. It’s much appreciated.
 * Best regards,
 * Judy
 *  Plugin Author [Tobias Bäthge](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobiasbg/)
 * (@tobiasbg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/#post-4947371)
 * Hi Judy,
 * I’m actually not sure why the DataTables JS library doesn’t at least support 
   search in tables with combined cells. You could maybe ask in their forums at 
   [http://datatables.net/](http://datatables.net/) and suggest this as a feature.
 * There are some other independent JS libraries for table sorting, but I haven’t
   yet seen one that can also do good filtering/search, sorry 🙁
 * Regards,
    Tobias
 *  Thread Starter [Judy Leslie](https://wordpress.org/support/users/judy-leslie/)
 * (@judy-leslie)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/#post-4947376)
 * Hi, Tobias –
 * Thanks for getting back to me. I will check out DataTables and report back if
   I find anything. In the meantime, I reworked the table with a long column 1 and
   reduced the size of the table body text (eliminating the column spans) so that
   the category headings would be accommodated. It works well in all but one instance.
   Problem solved — all’s well that ends well.
 * Thanks again for your great plugin and subsequent support. I’ve given you my 
   5-star review and will be making a donation for your outstanding work.
 * All the best,
 * Judy
 *  Plugin Author [Tobias Bäthge](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobiasbg/)
 * (@tobiasbg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/#post-4947377)
 * Hi Judy,
 * no problem! I hope that DataTables can maybe offer search in tables with combined
   cells in the future. That would indeed be helpful for many users.
 * And thanks for the rating and for wanting to donate, I really appreciate it!
 * Best wishes,
    Tobias

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

The topic ‘Search function not working when using #colspan#’ is closed to new replies.

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## Tags

 * [colspan](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/colspan/)
 * [search function](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/search-function/)

 * 5 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Tobias Bäthge](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobiasbg/)
 * Last activity: [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-function-not-working-when-using-colspan/#post-4947377)
 * Status: resolved