Data Tables is a term I am using to describe client-side (JavaScript) fancy formatting, sorting and other features of tabular data. Sometimes called a 'Data Grid', Data Tables is a name for systems that present data to the User Interface in a robust way without unnecessary programming. "Unnecessary programming" is a complicated phrase. It's good to know the frameworks (e.g. jQuery), because they're powerful and quite often in demand. However, you should know how the underlying technology works, and sometimes that is both necessary and more in demand [1].
Solutions
- https://datatables.net/index is a plugin for jQuery that I've used. It's probably the #1 solution in the category. This is available for MediaWiki.
- Steve Schwartz created DynaTable This is even cooler. Best of all, it's AGPL licensed, so it's completely free software, and will remain so.
There are other solutions that create CRUD interfaces to databases, but they're either not worth mentioning, or I haven't fully researched it. There used to be a phpGrid that was free (GPL) software, but not now. phpgrid.org and phpgrid.com definitely are not
See Also
There is an extension called DataTable2 which has nothing to do with client-side display, formatting and functionality of tabular data. The DataTable2 extension in the converse of SemanticMediaWiki. It allows you to store data centrally (many records on a single page) and re-use that data on other pages. == References ==