Help:Lint errors/deletable-table-tag

This linter category has been added to assist editors in fixing wikitext and templates to ensure that their pages render correctly with a HTML5-based tool like RemexHTML and Parsoid.

Example:

{| ← Table 1 starts here
| foo
|-
{| ← Table 2 starts here. You can remove this code.
|- ← Row for Table 2. You may remove this too if you wish so.
| bar
|} ← this closing tag is now useless and should be removed too
|}

In this example, the first table will be closed once the second table is opened, This may not be what editors intended. In most case, editors should fix the wikitext and remove Table 2. While the following row-tag need not be removed, we recommend removing it. Since the closing table tag is no longer needed, it should be removed as well.

Alternative fixes

However, in some scenarios, editors might have forgotten to add a ‎<td> tag. In that scenario, the fix is to add a

|

before the start of Table 2 which will fix the problem as well.

Note that in some cases, the rendering may not necessarily be broken. In that case, it makes sense to explicitly close the first table.

So, the specific fix on a page is context-dependent.

Explanation

This linter category relates to a table being nested inside another table in a fosterable position (inside a ‎<tr> or |- tag, for example).

RemexHTML and Parsoid will preserve both table tags and will render two adjacent tables which might not be what the editor intended. In cases where the wikitext comes from a template, Linter will also tell you what template produced that output, but you will have to investigate the template source to identify the relevant piece of template code that produces that table tag and fix it. See example of a template fix.