Challenges with Styling and Editing Tables in InDesign

As @BobLevine mentioned, the tables features haven't had major updates in 19-odd years. In fact, most of the long-document features have been in long-term hibernation--with no indication they will ever be improved. 

Word table and cell STYLES are a nice feature IF one knows how to use them. For really long documents or documents with lots of graphics/graphs, one really needs a program like InDesign. While not a easy to use or possibly even as powerful as Word's, InDesign's table and cell styles do make life a lot easier once one gets the hang of them. 

Hi @Swandive stream:

Adding rows and columns feels pretty straightforward to me—and quite similar to Word—can you share a little detail about where you are struggling?

As for formatting, tables vary widely in how they are formatted. Can you share a screenshot of where you are trying to go? Some formats are easy to do in InDesign, others, not so much. But maybe you are looking for the equivalent of the Table Layout ribbon with all of the one-click presets? There is nothing like that in InDesign—we do need to set up our table styles ourselves. That said, if you create a table style that takes advantage of InDesign's nested cell and table styles, you can format additional tables with just one click. When I teach tables, I encourage my students to design tables that can be formatted automatically with styles, and minimal manual overrides. That's admittedly tough when you are new to tables and don't quite understand the possibilities (and limitations). 

~Barb

@Swandive stream

What exactly is not working for you?

The table features have received virtually no attention since CS2 or so when Adobe bought Table and Cell Styles plugin from Teacup Software and integrated into InDesign.

So, yeah...could use a lotta love like so many other version one features that never got looked at again.