Need help with new table structure

[11aman]

Before the upgrade, the CRUD listing tables followed a straightforward HTML structure where the , , and were all wrapped within a single

element. This allowed me to implement a clean, aligned design across the entire table.

However, after upgrading, the table structure seems to have been split—placing the header, body, and footer into separate

containers rather than a single cohesive table element. As a result, the design I had built (based on the unified structure) is now completely misaligned.

To illustrate the issue:

The first attached image (after-upgrade.png) shows how the table appears now — misaligned with spacing inconsistencies.

The second image (before-upgrade.png) shows how it looked before — neatly structured with proper alignment.

Due to this change, I’m facing significant UI distortion, including:

Column widths not aligning properly between header and body.

Unwanted spacing or misalignment between rows.

Scrollbar behavior and responsiveness are no longer consistent.

Could you please confirm whether this structural change was intentional? If so, is there any recommended approach, override, or configuration I can apply to maintain or replicate the previous behavior and restore my UI layout?

[backpack-ai-bot[bot]]

I understand your frustration with the table structure changes after upgrading Backpack. This is indeed a known issue that has been reported and addressed in various forms throughout Backpack's development.

Table Structure Changes and Alignment Issues

The misalignment issues you're experiencing with table headers, body, and footer are documented in several GitHub issues and pull requests. These problems typically occur when using non-responsive tables (disableResponsiveTable()) and have been a recurring challenge in Backpack.

Root Causes

Based on the knowledge sources, there are several factors contributing to these alignment issues:

1. CSS padding rules that affect column headers and cause shifting
2. Changes in how responsive vs. non-responsive tables are structured
3. Issues with sticky headers not matching table styles

For example, in PR #4780, it was noted that column headers were shifted and vertical alignment was incorrect. This was partly due to a CSS rule in the backstrap package that added padding to table headers.

Solutions

Here are some approaches to fix your table alignment issues:

1. Republish Backpack assets: Many of these issues have been fixed in newer versions, but require republishing assets:

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Backpack\CRUD\BackpackServiceProvider" --tag="public" --force
   

   Note that this will overwrite any customizations you've made to Backpack's public assets.

2. Enable responsive tables: If your use case allows it, using responsive tables (enableResponsiveTable()) often avoids these issues, as mentioned in this community forum post.

3. Custom CSS fixes: If you need to maintain non-responsive tables, you might need to add custom CSS to fix alignment issues. For example, in Issue #538, a solution was to add padding to the table-responsive box:

   .box-body.table-responsive { 
       padding-left: 15px; 
       padding-right: 15px; 
   }

Is This Intentional?

The structural changes to tables have been part of Backpack's evolution, with various PRs attempting to fix alignment and responsiveness issues. For example, PR #3331 made significant changes to table structure to improve bulk actions and responsiveness.

While these changes were intentional improvements, the misalignment issues you're experiencing are considered bugs that have been addressed in various updates.

I recommend first trying to republish your assets to get the latest fixes, and if issues persist, consider enabling responsive tables or implementing custom CSS fixes based on your specific needs.

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Relevant sources:

Fix table header when not responsive
Github Issue (closed): Bug on table responsive mode
Github Issue (open): [Bug] Table sticky header does not match table style and has alignment issues
VERY Important Note
[4.1] Fix crud table css selector
Github Issue (closed): Install & test Backpack v6 - report all bugs and quirks we find
Datatable Style
Github Issue (closed): Scrollbar appears bottom of table
Github Issue (closed): [3.6][Bug] CSS issue - tbody td is wider then thead td when relations are used
Github Issue (closed): [Bug] extra headers disableResponsiveTable
Fix the design of the crud table when bulk actions are enable
Github Issue (closed): Column headers got shifted. Again.
Fixed icons and alignment on non responsive datatable
Github Issue (closed): [Bug] Column headers width is wrong if responsive table is disabled
Github Issue (closed): [Bug] Column headers are shifted when responsiveTable is set to true after upgrading to Backpack 5

[karandatwani92]

Hey @11aman

I'm unable to reproduce the issue.

• Which theme are you using?
• I see that first image has less columns. And each row is without vertical ellipse icon. And that has to be visible if more columns are present in the row.
  
• have you removed the columns from code or toggled the column visibility using column visibility toggle?