diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html
index abb40724..d65d4a54 100644
--- a/docs/index.html
+++ b/docs/index.html
@@ -5542,6 +5542,28 @@ var wo = $('#mytable').data('tablesorter').widgetOptions;
 
 		<tbody>
 
+			<tr id="function-fixcolumnwidth">
+				<td><a href="#" class="permalink">fixColumnWidth</a></td>
+				<td>This function adds a <code>colgroup</code> element to the table when <a href="#widthfixed"><code>widthFixed</code></a> is <code>true</code>.
+					<div class="collapsible"><br>
+						A new <code>colgroup</code> with <code>col</code> elements is only added if:
+						<ul>
+							<li><a href="#widthfixed"><code>widthFixed</code></a> is <code>true</code>.</li>
+							<li>A predefined <code>colgroup</code> element does not already exist in the table *.</li>
+						</ul>
+						* <span class="label label-info">Note</span> If a <code>colgroup</code> was added by the plugin, calling this function additional times will refresh the set widths<br>
+						<br>
+						Also, the <code>col</code> elements within the <code>colgroup</code> are set with a percentage width to dynamically maintain the fixed column width ratios.<br>
+						<br>
+						Use it as follows:
+						<pre class="prettyprint lang-js">$.tablesorter.fixColumnWidth( table );</pre>
+						<ul>
+							<li><code>table</code> - table DOM element (or jQuery object) of table.</li>
+						</ul>
+					</div>
+				</td>
+			</tr>
+
 			<tr id="function-processtbody">
 				<td><a href="#" class="permalink">processTbody</a></td>
 				<td>
diff --git a/js/jquery.tablesorter.js b/js/jquery.tablesorter.js
index 8f51e444..00a1279f 100644
--- a/js/jquery.tablesorter.js
+++ b/js/jquery.tablesorter.js
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@
 				table      : 'tablesorter',
 				cssHasChild: 'tablesorter-hasChildRow',
 				childRow   : 'tablesorter-childRow',
+				colgroup   : 'tablesorter-colgroup',
 				header     : 'tablesorter-header',
 				headerRow  : 'tablesorter-headerRow',
 				headerIn   : 'tablesorter-header-inner',
@@ -590,21 +591,6 @@
 				});
 			}
 
-			// automatically add col group, and column sizes if set
-			function fixColumnWidth(table) {
-				var colgroup, overallWidth,
-					c = table.config;
-				if (c.widthFixed && c.$table.children('colgroup').length === 0) {
-					colgroup = $('<colgroup>');
-					overallWidth = $(table).width();
-					// only add col for visible columns - fixes #371
-					$(table.tBodies).not('.' + c.cssInfoBlock).find("tr:first").children(":visible").each(function() {
-						colgroup.append($('<col>').css('width', parseInt(($(this).width()/overallWidth)*1000, 10)/10 + '%'));
-					});
-					c.$table.prepend(colgroup);
-				}
-			}
-
 			function updateHeaderSortCount(table, list) {
 				var s, t, o, col, primary,
 					c = table.config,
@@ -1127,7 +1113,7 @@
 				buildHeaders(table);
 				// fixate columns if the users supplies the fixedWidth option
 				// do this after theme has been applied
-				fixColumnWidth(table);
+				ts.fixColumnWidth(table);
 				// try to auto detect column type, and store in tables config
 				buildParserCache(table);
 				// start total row count at zero
@@ -1183,6 +1169,28 @@
 				if (typeof c.initialized === 'function') { c.initialized(table); }
 			};
 
+			// automatically add a colgroup with col elements set to a percentage width
+			ts.fixColumnWidth = function(table) {
+				table = $(table)[0];
+				var overallWidth, percent,
+					c = table.config,
+					colgroup = c.$table.children('colgroup');
+				// remove plugin-added colgroup, in case we need to refresh the widths
+				if (colgroup.length && colgroup.hasClass(ts.css.colgroup)) {
+					colgroup.remove();
+				}
+				if (c.widthFixed && c.$table.children('colgroup').length === 0) {
+					colgroup = $('<colgroup class="' + ts.css.colgroup + '">');
+					overallWidth = c.$table.width();
+					// only add col for visible columns - fixes #371
+					$(table.tBodies).not('.' + c.cssInfoBlock).find('tr:first').children(':visible').each(function() {
+						percent = parseInt( ( $(this).width() / overallWidth ) * 1000, 10 ) / 10 + '%';
+						colgroup.append( $('<col>').css('width', percent) );
+					});
+					c.$table.prepend(colgroup);
+				}
+			};
+
 			ts.getColumnData = function(table, obj, indx, getCell, $headers){
 				if (typeof obj === 'undefined' || obj === null) { return; }
 				table = $(table)[0];