To run the example that generates this table:
{<img src="https://raw.github.com/hunterae/table-for/master/example_table.png">}[http://example.com]

In Gemfile:
  gem "table-for", :git => "git@github.com:hunterae/table-for.git"

  # To be able to generate an admin namespaced controller with a non-admin namespaced model
  gem 'nifty-generators'

  # To make things look a little nicer
  gem 'therubyracer'
  gem 'less-rails' #Sprockets (what Rails 3.1 uses for its asset pipeline) supports LESS
  gem 'twitter-bootstrap-rails'

  # To paginate the list
  gem 'will_paginate', '~> 3.0'

In seeds.rb:
  User.create! :email => "hunterae@gmail.com", :first_name => "Andrew", :last_name => "Hunter"
  User.create! :email => "todd@calltrackingmetrics.com", :first_name => "Todd", :last_name => "Fisher"
  User.create! :email => "jon.phillips@livingsocial.com", :first_name => "Jon", :last_name => "Phillips"

From console:
  bundle install
  rails g nifty:scaffold Admin::User email:string first_name:string last_name:string
  rails generate bootstrap:install less
  rake db:create && rake db:migrate && rake db:seed && rake db:seed && rake db:seed && rake db:seed
  rails s

In routes.rb:
  namespace :admin do
    resources :users do
      collection do
        match :sort, :to => :index, :via => [:get, :post]
      end
    end
  end

In users_controller.rb (index action)
  @users = User.unscoped
  if params[:order] && ["asc", "desc"].include?(params[:sort_mode])
    order = params[:order].split(",").map {|o| "#{o} #{params[:sort_mode]}" }.join(", ")
    @users = @users.order(order)
  end
  @users = @users.paginate(:per_page => 10, :page => params[:page])

In views/admin/users/index.html.erb
  <%= table_for @users,
        # Specifies the html classes to be applied to the table element
        :table_html => { :class => "table table-hover table-bordered" },

        # Specifies that all columns are sortable by default
        :sortable => true,

        # Specifies the url that header sort links use
        :sort_url => sort_admin_users_path,

        # Specifies the namespace for generating links using Rails routing
        :link_namespace => :admin,

        # Specifies the classes and ids to be applied to each data row
        :data_row_html => {
          # The class of each row will alternate between four Twitter bootstrap classes: "success", "error", "warning", "info"
          :class => lambda { cycle('success', 'error', 'warning', 'info')},

          # Specifies the id using a Proc for each data row as "user-ID_OF_USER_RECORD"
          :id => lambda { |user| "user-#{user.id}" }
        } do |table| %>

    <%# Method 1 for creating a link: Create edit link dynamically by specifying the link_scope globally above as :admin and the link_action as :edit %>
    <% table.column :data => "Modify", :link_action => :edit %>

    <%# Method 2 for creating a link: Create an show link by providing a link_url Proc %>
    <% table.column :data => "Show", :link_url => lambda { |user| admin_user_path(user) } %>

    <%# Method 3 for creating a link: Rely on RESTful routes to generate the link %>
    <% table.column :data => "Show 2.0", :link => true %>

    <%# Outputs the email column of the user; override the default generated header for the column with "Email Address" %>
    <% table.column :email, :header => "Email Address" %>

    <%# Outputs the first name column of the user with the :downcase method applied to it %>
    <% table.column :first_name, :formatter => :downcase %>

    <%# Outputs the last name column of the user using formatter Proc to dynamically specify what is output in the data cell %>
    <% table.column :last_name, :formatter => Proc.new { |last_name| last_name.upcase } %>

    <%# Outputs the created at column of the user applying the strftime method with the argument "%m/%d/%y %I:%M %p" to it %>
    <% table.column :created_at, :formatter => [:strftime, "%m/%d/%y %I:%M %p"] %>

    <%# 
      Outputs the updated_at column of the user
      Overrides the default generated header for the column with the dynamic result of calling it's Proc
      Overrides the default sort-ability by specifying this column as non-sortable
      Overrides the default header html with orange background color
      Dynamically specifies the data for the column with a Proc
        (Note also that the arguments to the Proc are optional and the data record can be accessed via "table.current_row" [or "table.current_record])")
    %>
    <% table.column :updated_at,
                    :header => Proc.new {
                      content_tag(:span, :class => "badge badge-success") do
                        "Last Updated"
                      end
                    },
                    :sortable => false,
                    :header_column_html => { :style => "background-color:orange" },
                    :data => Proc.new { time_ago_in_words table.current_row.updated_at } %>

    <%# 
      The data for the column can also be provided via a block
      Overrides the default generated header for the column with "Full Name" (will itself be overridden below)
      Overrides the default sort field with "last_name" then "first_name"
    %>
    <% table.column :full_name, :header => "Full Name", :order => "last_name, first_name" do |user| %>
      <%= "#{user.first_name} #{user.last_name}" %>
    <% end %>

    <%# Overrides the content for the header of the full_name column %>
    <% table.header :full_name do |column, options| %>
      <%= table.header_sort_link(column, options) do %>
        <span class="label label-important">FULL NAME</span>
      <% end %>
    <% end %>

    <%# 
      Method 3 (again) for creating a link: Rely on RESTful routes to generate the link, with a "delete" method 
      Applies a confirmation to the link
      Specifies the data to display in the column as "Delete"
    %>
    <% table.column :data => "Delete", :link_method => :delete, :link_confirm => "Are you sure?" %>

    <%# Adds a footer that spans all the columns of the table and shows pagination links for the table %>
    <% table.footer do %>
      <div class="pull-right">
        <%= will_paginate @users %>
      </div>
    <% end %>
  <% end %>