View source for Template:Multicol/doc

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== Usage ==
{{tl|Multicol}} is used to start a multi-column section of a page. Between each block of column text insert <tt>{{tl|Multicol-break}}</tt> and close the last column with <tt>{{tl|Multicol-end}}</tt>. For example:

<pre>
{{Multicol}}
This text appears in the first column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the second column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the third column.
{{Multicol-end}}
</pre>

Provides this format:
{{Multicol}}
This text appears in the first column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the second column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the third column.
{{Multicol-end}}

You can have any number of columns. Each column will be the same width, equally dividing the available horizontal space. Each column has a small right margin (20 pixels), creating a "gutter" that prevents text in one column from touching text in the column to its right. See Wikipedia user [[wikipedia:User:Franl|franl]]'s user page for examples of how this template can be used.

== Parameters ==
This template has two optional parameters: the overall width of the set of columns and the width of the gutter.  The overall width of the set of columns can be an absolute value (e.g., <tt>40em</tt>) or a percentage of the available page width (e.g., <tt>50%</tt>). This parameter defaults to <tt>100%</tt>. For example, to create a multi-column section that is only 50% the width of the page:

<pre>
{{Multicol|50%}}
This text appears in the first column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the second column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the third column.
{{Multicol-end}}
</pre>

Provides this format:
{{Multicol|50%}}
This text appears in the first column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the second column.
{{Multicol-break}}
This text appears in the third column.
{{Multicol-end}}

The multi-column region is always positioned on the left side of the containing block. To change this, place the above Wikitext in a <tt>[[DIV (HTML tag)|DIV]]</tt> block that has the [[wikipedia:Cascading Style Sheet|CSS]] attribute <tt>text-align</tt> set to either <tt>center</tt> or <tt>right</tt>, like this:

<pre>
<div style="text-align:center;">{{center|
{{Multicol|50%}}
...
{{Multicol-end}}
}}</div>
</pre>

== Related templates ==
The templates {{tl|Col-begin}} and friends do something similar to this template and its friends, but this template may be easier to use. Each of the following examples produce the same result (a 3-column table in which all columns have equal width):

<center>
{{Multicol|50%}}
<pre>
{{Multicol}}
Column 1
{{Multicol-break}}
Column 2
{{Multicol-break}}
Column 3
{{Multicol-end}}
</pre>
{{Multicol-break}}
<pre>
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-3}}
Column 1
{{Col-3}}
Column 2
{{Col-3}}
Column 3
{{Col-end}}
</pre>
{{Multicol-end}}
</center>

It's simpler to add more columns to the {{tl|Multicol}} example than to the {{tl|Col-begin}} example, because in the latter case, all occurrences of {{tl|Col-3}} would need to be changed to {{tl|Col-4}}.

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[[Category:Table and column templates]]

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