Template:Div col/doc

"Template:Colbegin" redirects here. Not to be confused with Template:Col-begin.

CSS3 multiple-column layout browser support

Property	Internet Explorer	Firefox	Safari	Chrome	Opera
column-width column-count	≥ 10 (2012)	≥ 1.5 (2005)	≥ 3 (2007)	≥ 1 (2008)	≥ 11.1 (2011)
columns	≥ 10 (2012)	≥ 9 (2011)	≥ 3 (2007)	≥ 1 (2008)	≥ 11.1 (2011)
break-before break-after break-inside	≥ 10 (2012)	≥ 65 (2019)	≥ 10 (2016)	≥ 65 (2016)	≥ 15 (2013)

The template {{div col}} (short for division columns) formats a list into columns that wrap at multiple screen resolutions responsively. It automatically breaks the available screen space into equal parts, meaning, for instance, that it is not necessary to guess how many columns to use and then figure out the dividing point(s), e.g., the halfway point to divide the list into two columns, or the one-third and two-thirds points to divide the list into three columns. To prevent a section of a list being broken, the template {{No col break}} can be used.

Usage

Basic usage

{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Parameters

There are six parameters for this template:

|colwidth=

Specifies the minimum width of the columns so that the number of columns is automatically based on screen width (that is, more columns will be shown on wider displays). If no value is supplied, the template uses a default of 30em. The width can be specified in any CSS relative or absolute length unit, for instance, the em (about the width of the capital "M" of the displayed typeface), e.g., colwidth=20em.

|rules=yes

Adds vertical lines ("rules") between the columns if set to yes.

|gap=

Specifies the space between the content of adjacent columns, in any valid CSS width unit, e.g., gap=2em. The default spacing (set by browser) is 1em.

|class=

An HTML class, or multiple space-delimited classes, to apply to the columns.

|style=

CSS styling to apply to the columns.

|small=yes

Sets font size to 90%.

|content=

Content to apply to the columns. This parameter is effectively equivalent to {{columns-list}}, which is a pass-through for this template.

Examples

Colwidth

Fixed width

{{div col|colwidth=10em}} <!-- column width of 10em -->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Variable width

{{div col|colwidth=10vw}} <!-- column width of 10% of the viewable area or container-->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Rules

{{div col|colwidth=10em|rules=yes}} <!-- column width of 10em with rules -->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Gap

{{div col|colwidth=10em|rules=yes|gap=2em}} <!-- column width of 10em with rules and a gap of 2em -->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Small

{{div col|small=yes}} <!-- Small = yes -->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Content

{{div col|colwidth=10em|content= <!-- content parameter doesn't need {{div col end}} -->
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Multiple parameters

{{div col|colwidth=10em|rules=yes|gap=2em|small=yes}}
* a
* b
* c
* d
* e
* f
* g
* h
{{div col end}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h

Text characters without list markup

{{div col|colwidth=10em}} <!--Text characters without list markup -->
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
{{div col end}}

Produces

a b c d e f g h

Lorem ipsum

{{div col}} <!--Lorem ipsum -->
{{lorem ipsum}}
{{div col end}}

Produces

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Limitation

Sub-lists

The underlying CSS system is unable to break sub-lists into columns. Note the uneven formatting below:

{{div col|colwidth=10em|rules=yes|gap=2em|style=column-count:3|content=
* a
* b
* c
** c.d
** c.e
** c.f
* g
* h
}}

Produces:

• a
• b
• c
  • c.d
  • c.e
  • c.f
• g
• h

Turning off the break-inside: avoid-column; rule appears to help.

Chrome-based browsers can separate images from captions

In certain circumstances, Chrome-based browsers can separate images from their captions, placing the caption in the next column. This bug was reported in 2018 as T193163, and it appears to be a bug in Chromium, tracked as issue 40578413.

Tracking categories

• Category:Pages using div col with unknown parameters (0) (for erroneous use of parameter names not documented here)
• Category:Pages using div col with small parameter (3,481)

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Div col in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Div col

Breaks a list into columns. It automatically breaks each column to an equal space, so you do not manually have to find the half way point on two columns. The list is provided by |content= or closed with {{div col end}}.

Template parameters

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Column width	colwidth	Specifies the width of columns, and determines dynamically the number of columns based on screen width; more columns will be shown on wider displays. Default 30em Example 22em	String	optional
Rules	rules	Produces vertical rules between the columns if set to yes. Example yes	String	optional
Gap size	gap	Specifies the space between the content of adjacent columns. Example 2em	String	optional
HTML class	class	Specifies any class or multiple space-delimited classes. Example plainlist nowrap	String	optional
CSS style	style	Specifies any custom styling.	String	optional
Content	content	Specifies the content to divide into columns	Content	optional
Small font	small	Use a smaller font size (90%) Example yes	String	optional

Redirects

Redirects to {{div col}}:

• {{col div}}
• {{colbegin}} (but not {{col begin}} or {{col-begin}})
• {{cols}}
• {{div col start}}
• {{div col begin}}
• {{div-col}}
• {{palmares start}}

Redirects to {{Div col end}}:

• {{col div end}}
• {{colend}} (but not {{Col end}})
• {{div end}}
• {{Divcol-end}}
• {{Divcolend}}
• {{Divend}}
• {{End div col}}
• {{EndDivCol}}
• {{End of solid block}}

See also

• {{refbegin}} and {{refend}} (for columns in manual lists of references)

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{col-float}}	{{col-float-break}}	{{col-float-end}}
	"columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{columns-start}}	{{column}}	{{columns-end}}
Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
	"columns-list"	No	Yes	{{columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.