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14.2 CSS Multiple Columns

The CSS multi-column layout allows easy definition of multiple columns of text - just like in newspapers:

Daily Ping

Daily Ping

I have learned a few things about Cascading Style Sheets that I did not know existed. For instance, I did not know multiple images may be used as background images

I also learned how to make basic animations using CSS. This will be a great asset to know how to do. I can imagine what I may do with animated banners using a mixture of text and images.

I also learned to make inline unordered lists. This will be great for creating navigation bars. Another advanced navigation option is horizontal links as blocks stacked, one on top of the other.

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CSS Multi-column Properties

In this chapter you will learn about the following multi-column properties:

Browser Support

The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the property.

Property Chrome Windows Edge Firefox Safari Opera
column-count 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0
column-gap 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0
column-rule 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0
column-rule-color 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0
column-rule-style 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0
column-rule-width 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0
column-span 50.0 10.0 71.0 9.0 37.0
column-width 50.0 10.0 52.0 9.0 37.0

CSS Create Multiple Columns

The column-count property specifies the number of columns an element should be divided into. The following example will divide the text in the <div> element into 3 columns:

Example 1: Create three columns
div {
  column-count: 3;
}

CSS Specify the Gap Between Columns

The column-gap property specifies the gap between the columns. The following example specifies a 40 pixels gap between the columns:

Example 2: Specify the gap between columns
div {
  column-gap: 40px;
}

CSS Column Rules

The column-rule-style property specifies the style of the rule between columns:

Exanple 3: Specify the style of the rule between columns
div {
  column-rule-style: solid;
}

The column-rule-width property specifies the width of the rule between columns:

Example 4: Specify the width of the rule between columns
div {
  column-rule-width: 1px;
}

The column-rule-color property specifies the color of the rule between columns:

Example 5: Specify the color of the rule between columns
div {
  column-rule-color: lightblue;
}

The column-rule property is a shorthand property for setting all the column-rule-* properties above. The following example sets the width, style, and color of the rule between columns:

Example 6: Specify the style, width and color of the rule between columns
div {
  column-rule: 1px solid lightblue;
}

Specify How Many Columns an Element Should Span

The column-span property specifies how many columns an element should span across. The following example specifies that the <h2> element should span across all columns:

Example 7: Using the column-span property
h2 {
  column-span: all;
}

Specify The Column Width

The column-width property specifies a suggested, optimal width for the columns. The following example specifies that the suggested, optimal width for the columns should be 100px:

Example 8: Specify the column width
div {
  column-width: 100px;
}

CSS Multi-columns Properties

The following table lists all the multi-columns properties:

Property Description
column-count Specifies the number of columns an element should be divided into
column-fill Specifies how to fill columns
column-gap Specifies the gap between the columns
column-rule A shorthand property for setting all the column-rule-* properties
column-rule-color Specifies the color of the rule between columns
column-rule-style Specifies the style of the rule between columns
column-rule-width Specifies the width of the rule between columns
column-span Specifies how many columns an element should span across
column-width Specifies a suggested, optimal width for the columns
columns A shorthand property for setting column-width and column-count