Onboarding: Your First Run in Ninja Tables

The first time you open Ninja Tables, the plugin helps you get to a published table quickly. This page explains each onboarding screen, what it does and how to skip it. Nothing here is required: you can always create tables yourself from Create Table.

Screen	When it shows	Skip it
Guided setup	The site has no tables at all	Skip setup
Empty state	You skipped the setup and still have no tables	Create or import a table
Welcome banner	Tables list, until you dismiss it	The x button

After onboarding, build and publish a table by hand with the Quick start.

Use the guided setup

The setup shows on Ninja Tables › Tables while the site has no tables at all, including none in the trash.

Step 1: Choose how to start

The card's header counts the steps ("Step 1 of 2"). The first step is Welcome to Ninja Tables. Under How do you want to start?, pick one of four cards, then click Continue. Continue stays off until you pick one.

• Start blank: "Type or paste rows from a spreadsheet."
• Upload a file: "CSV, Excel (.xlsx) or JSON."
• Connect a data source: "Fluent Forms, WordPress posts, WooCommerce, Google Sheets…"
• Drag & Drop table: "A free layout or a ready-made pricing, comparison or schedule template."

Step 2: Finish the table

Step 2 is the last step, and it depends on the card you picked. Everything happens inside the setup card, so you don't leave the screen until the table exists.

Start blank shows Set up your table:

• Table name: for example "Pricing table". If you leave it empty, the table is named My first table.
• Description: optional. You can change it later in the table's details; see Table title, caption and description.

Click Create your table. Ninja Tables creates an empty table with the FooTable engine and opens it on the Table Rows tab. Add your columns next; the steps are in the Quick start.

The other cards show the same panel you get on the Create Table screen:

• Upload a file shows the file panel. See Import a CSV, Excel or JSON file.
• Connect a data source first lists the sources: WP Posts/CPTs, WooCommerce products, WooCommerce reviews, Fluent Forms entries, FluentCart products, Google Sheets, Remote CSV / JSON and Custom SQL query. Click one to open its panel, and use the back arrow next to the title to pick another source. Fluent Forms entries and FluentCart products stay in the list when their plugin isn't active, marked Plugin unavailable. The WooCommerce cards only appear when WooCommerce is active. Pro sources carry a Pro badge on the free version. See All table types at a glance.
• Drag & Drop table shows Create From Scratch and Import From CSV/JSON, with the ready-made templates below. Click a template to select it, click Next, name the table, then click Create Table. See Create your first Drag & Drop table.

TIP

The Start blank card has no engine choice and always makes a FooTable, while the Create Table screen defaults to DataTables. If you want DataTables, click Skip setup and use Create Table instead. See Create a FooTable and Choose an Engine.

Click Back to return to step 1. The note under the card says the setup is optional and everything in it can be changed later.

Skip the setup

Click Skip setup at the bottom left of the card at any time. The setup is replaced by a plain screen, You don't have any tables yet, with two buttons:

• Create a table opens the Create Table screen.
• Import opens the Import screen.

To bring the guided setup back, click Use the guided setup instead on that screen.

The setup and the screens after it remember your choices in your browser, not on the site. See Find your way around.

See the welcome banner

A Welcome to the new Ninja Tables banner sits at the top of the Tables list until you dismiss it. It tells you that your tables, shortcodes and front end are unchanged, and only the admin screens were reorganized. What moved? opens a list of where each old screen lives now (close it with Got it), and the x hides the banner for everyone on the site. The full map is in Find your way around.

Common questions

How do I see the onboarding again on a site that already has tables?

Add onboarding to the Ninja Tables admin address, for example admin.php?page=ninja_tables&onboarding=1 (it can also go after the #). The guided setup and the welcome banner show for that visit, whatever the site has, and your skips and hides are not saved. Click Skip setup, or create a table, and the parameter is removed.

The guided setup doesn't show for me.

It only shows while the site has no tables, including none in the trash. If you clicked Skip setup before, choose Use the guided setup instead on the empty screen.

Will the setup show again on another computer?

Yes. Onboarding choices are saved in your browser, not on the site, so another browser or a cleared browser shows them again.

Why is my first table a FooTable?

The guided setup has no engine choice and always creates a FooTable. The Create Table screen defaults to DataTables. See Create a FooTable and FooTable or DataTables.

Where to go next

• Build and publish a table by hand: Quick start
• See every table type: All table types at a glance
• Learn the admin screens: Find your way around