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Since the introduction of the table markdown should people still be using images of tables instead of the markdown? Or should we be enforcing the use of the new markdown? If we find a question that uses a table image should we flag it?

Tl;DR: What are the current expectations in relation to the use of the table markdown? Is it something we should encourage while discouraging other ways or is this just something that isn't important?

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    meta.stackoverflow.com/q/285551/3404097
    – philipxy
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 5:13
  • @philipxy Yes I was thinking that question when I made this post. It's similar but different context so I wanted to actually make the explicit question here to confirm the correct way to handle this. I'll choose the most informative answer to mark as the answer in 24 hours. But I'm finding the current answers extremely useful. Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 5:21
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    When was the ability to format a table introduced to the stack Overflow markdown capability. If it included why is it not described in How do I format my posts using Markdown or HTML?
    – itprorh66
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 19:39
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    I wish I could change the title to "Uploading images of tables considered harmful?"
    – Julia
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 22:42
  • @itprorh66 The announcement is here: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/356997/…. Tables are explained here: stackoverflow.com/editing-help
    – Julia
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 22:45
  • @Julia, thanks I missed that. Hopefully we can get it incorporated into the How to Pages soon.
    – itprorh66
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 0:43
  • Do you have an example of such question? It matters what table is it. You can't just make a meta post covering everything and then flag all questions with tables screenshots.
    – Sinatr
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 12:08
  • @Sinatr I do not have any examples I based this on. I made this question to understand how we should handle it and now that the points of cases where images are better in certain cases is raised, we now have more knowledge. Every new answer just helps us handle this better and hopefully reduce the argument when it comes to the handling of the new markdown. Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 0:43
  • I have just proposed we get this as an faq post as i believe this will be a resource to be frequently used when it comes to determining the correct actions in regards to table markdown vs images Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 3:21

4 Answers 4

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The rule of thumb should always be to favor whatever makes a question easiest to read and to answer. Even before the introduction of table markdown, images of tables were discouraged, for a number of reasons. First, you can't easily copy-paste the data from them to an answer/comment referencing that data. Second, and probably more importantly, images make life harder for people with different visual abilities/preferences - they can't be zoomed-in as well as text can, they don't really work properly with screen-readers, they don't adhere to your dark-mode preference, etc.

Should you discourage the usage of images of tables? Absolutely.

Should you flags posts that contain them? No. Flags have two purposes - first, to automatically handle offensive posts that need to be removed (such as spam or hate speech) and second to alert moderators to larger issues that may need their intervention - and no moderator is going to edit a post and copy the text from an image to the a markdown table.

Having said that, you have another easy way to discourage the use of images - comment on the post and let the OP know there are better options.

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    I'm not sure I agree with your paragraph on flagging. I don't see any reason why they should be treated any different from images of code - if the question is unanswerable without it, then close it until the OP fixes it. Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 18:26
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    TBH, I don't flag posts with code posted as an image either. Flagging is great, but if the goal is to get the OP to edit their post and post formatted text instead, I feel that just leaving a comment does a better job
    – Mureinik
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 21:09
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    Then what do you do if OP never fixes it? Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 22:05
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    @JohnMontgomery, ...downvote or vote-to-close. Those are separate operations from flagging for moderator intervention. Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 3:50
  • I like the solution of adding the comments. Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 9:45
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    "Should you discourage the usage of images of tables? Absolutely" - why is that absolutely? What table are you talking about? All of them? Some tables are easy to convert to a new markdown, others are impossible (e.g. table with pictures in cells or something else what is not supported). Some are easier to see as zoomed out screenshot, which you can click to expand. It depends. No absolutely.
    – Sinatr
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 12:16
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    @CharlesDuffy Flags for closure exist too if you're under 3k rep, like the OP of this question. I specifically said in my first comment that it should be closed, and Mureinik apparently disagreed with that. Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 18:11
  • @JohnMontgomery Regarding "I don't see any reason why they should be treated any different from images of code": it's hard to quantify how much I'm impressed with your way of thinking. It is what makes this community and the whole world evolve. It helps me become a better person every day. Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 15:45
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Since the introduction of the table markdown should people still be using images of tables instead of the markdown?

No. Really, no one should have ever been using images of tables. Creating ASCII tables using code formatting would have been preferred for accessibility. But definitely now the supported table markdown should be used.

If we find a question that uses a table image should we flag it?

No. Flag it as what? There's no flag for "the formatting of this post could be improved"; that is known as "submitting an edit".

What are the current expectations in relation to the use of the table markdown. Is it something we should encourage while discouraging other ways or is this just something that isn't important?

Use it! It looks cool and it's functional.

But use it correctly: Don't turn non-tabular stuff into tables. Don't go dredging up legions of old posts just to make edits turning things into tables. Don't abuse people in comments for failing to use it or not knowing about it (just help them out by submitting an edit).

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    "Use it! It looks cool and it's functional." Please don't use it for SQL questions. Give us DDL and DML (CREATE TABLE and INSERT) statements that we can copy/paste and execute rather than tables of data which require almost as much processing to be useful as an image.
    – MT0
    Commented Dec 16, 2020 at 23:14
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    That's fair. It isn't designed for SQL tables. It's designed for presentation-level tables. It's the same logic as why you don't post a screenshot of code. Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 5:35
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    The FAQ on images of code seems to suggest that those should be flagged as "needs debugging details". (Why) does that not apply?
    – Haem
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 7:25
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Since the introduction of the table markdown should people still be using images of tables instead of the markdown? Or should we be enforcing the use of the new markdown?

Yes, No, Maybe .... it all depends on what the question is.

  • If your question is asking, for example, how to style a table (maybe in & ) to get a particular graphical effect then an image of a mock-up of the table may be much more appropriate in conveying your intentions than using markdown and trying to describe in words and/or code what your intentions are to style it. (You should, of course, also include your code and a description of where it doesn't match up to your requirements and alt-text on the image to help people using screen readers.)

  • If you are asking questions on debugging code that takes input/output of tabular data then you should not use either an image nor the new markdown. Instead, you should give the data in the format it will be passed into the code you want to debug so that people answering the question can copy/paste the input into their tests and run it.

    This is particularly applicable to questions where you should give the data as DDL and DML (CREATE TABLE and INSERT) statements that can be copy/pasted & executed to build the required data structures. Similarly, if you have tabular or (etc.) formatted data then give it to us in the appropriate format rather than expecting people who are trying to help you to have to also convert your data from an image or the new markup format to something useable.

  • If you are trying to display tabular data that does not fall into either of the above two categories then, yes, use the new markdown. Don't use an image as it cannot be read by screen readers and cannot be copy/pasted from to use in an answer and don't format it as code if it isn't appropriate as it makes it less readable than a well presented table.

Ask yourself "which format is most appropriate to convey my intentions and to help people who are going to answer the question?" and then use that format.

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Well, right-out rejection might a bit too much, there are fairly acceptable cases where the image of a table might be needed as a part of the post.

Sure, blocking them would stop majority of the low-quality posts, but in turn it will actually also block those handful who try to ask good questions, and provide as much info as possible.

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