Mainly for the benefit of new users, I think it would be a good idea if we had a simple way of putting text into multiple columns.
For example, instead of something like [[<]], using [[col=2]] and [[/col]] would do something like this:
What user types:
[[col=2]]
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi luctus tempus lectus sit amet convallis. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam turpis neque, porta in vestibulum sed, tincidunt a enim. In in tellus in arcu varius tristique. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Etiam auctor imperdiet velit, quis aliquet nunc tincidunt quis. Donec condimentum eros et mauris rutrum laoreet. Fusce vestibulum felis nec tortor facilisis vel dignissim enim suscipit. Mauris id leo quam, non aliquam felis. Sed vestibulum cursus nisl, non accumsan lacus aliquet et. Integer pretium quam vel nunc dictum et adipiscing massa lacinia. Fusce orci eros, dictum sit amet elementum at, elementum non sem. Fusce et nisi arcu, eget tempor risus. Maecenas commodo arcu sed felis pellentesque at venenatis sapien ultrices. Quisque nec nibh eget sapien condimentum congue. Mauris adipiscing faucibus augue id mollis. Proin leo justo, adipiscing ut fermentum a, dapibus a dolor. Donec dignissim mi at diam ultrices ullamcorper.
Donec nec nisl vel lorem sodales interdum. Pellentesque malesuada sollicitudin eros, vitae adipiscing neque fringilla sodales. Phasellus vestibulum posuere erat, nec fringilla lectus iaculis ut. Suspendisse tempor lorem sem. Praesent id urna mi, vel suscipit nunc. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Vestibulum ac ante eu lectus vehicula vestibulum. Proin eros erat, tristique in egestas a, lobortis a arcu. Curabitur tempus mauris vel est vulputate dictum. Vivamus quis sem eros. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nunc at elit at nunc imperdiet pulvinar. Pellentesque tempus dui posuere diam tristique sed volutpat nulla gravida. Aliquam mattis enim id turpis aliquet quis aliquam arcu mattis. Fusce ultricies rutrum ultrices. Morbi massa magna, porttitor ac molestie non, faucibus vel diam. Praesent sagittis arcu id est varius faucibus fermentum massa porta.
[[/col]]
Resulting in something like this:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi luctus tempus lectus sit amet convallis. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam turpis neque, porta in vestibulum sed, tincidunt a enim. In in tellus in arcu varius tristique. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Etiam auctor imperdiet velit, quis aliquet nunc tincidunt quis. Donec condimentum eros et mauris rutrum laoreet. Fusce vestibulum felis nec tortor facilisis vel dignissim enim suscipit. Mauris id leo quam, non aliquam felis. Sed vestibulum cursus nisl, non accumsan lacus aliquet et. Integer pretium quam vel nunc dictum et adipiscing massa lacinia. Fusce orci eros, dictum sit amet elementum at, elementum non sem. Fusce et nisi arcu, eget tempor risus. Maecenas commodo arcu sed felis pellentesque at venenatis sapien ultrices. Quisque nec nibh eget sapien condimentum congue. Mauris adipiscing faucibus augue id mollis. Proin leo justo, adipiscing ut fermentum a, dapibus a dolor. Donec dignissim mi at diam ultrices ullamcorper.
Donec nec nisl vel lorem sodales interdum. Pellentesque malesuada sollicitudin eros, vitae adipiscing neque fringilla sodales. Phasellus vestibulum posuere erat, nec fringilla lectus iaculis ut. Suspendisse tempor lorem sem. Praesent id urna mi, vel suscipit nunc. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Vestibulum ac ante eu lectus vehicula vestibulum. Proin eros erat, tristique in egestas a, lobortis a arcu. Curabitur tempus mauris vel est vulputate dictum. Vivamus quis sem eros. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nunc at elit at nunc imperdiet pulvinar. Pellentesque tempus dui posuere diam tristique sed volutpat nulla gravida. Aliquam mattis enim id turpis aliquet quis aliquam arcu mattis. Fusce ultricies rutrum ultrices. Morbi massa magna, porttitor ac molestie non, faucibus vel diam. Praesent sagittis arcu id est varius faucibus fermentum massa porta.
This could work with several more columns (e.g. 3, 4, even 5 columns). And the Wikidot parser would take care of the layout (using classes so that it can still be modified using CSS).
For new users, a simple official syntax like this would be much easier to use than trying to use packages created by the community.
Other wiki farms have been making it easy for users to create columns of text for a while now, using their more sophisticated page editors and sleek GUI to attract users and show them a bunch of cool tools. I think it's time we offer not just complexity for those that need it, but simplicity as well.
CSS3 has specifications for this. You're right, it would be nice if this was simpler for users. You can use something like the sample code below in your css and most modern browsers will display the text in multiple columns. This sounds like it might be a candidate for a much simpler version of the package I made.
If Wikidot can support this as you propose, there should be support for the other parameters (in addition to column-count) like column-gap, column-width and column-rule. I would propose something along the lines of:
[[col count="3" width="150px" gap="20px" rule="1px solid #000000"]]
…
…
…
[[/col]].
That would allow tweaking the parameters on the fly rather than having to mess with the CSS. Then again, your syntax is much simpler and easier to remember. I'd be happy with either implementation.
This would be a great addition to make multi-column newsletter layouts easier to do.
I put up a demo page here.
Community Admin
Though it is in my opinion a very good idea, it can be done by the way Ed proposed or - even easier - by using CSI applet. Unfortunately rejecting.
But doesn't Ed's proposal here only work in CSS3-compliant browsers? Today, I think only sites like Bryce's http://css3.wikidot.com can get away with using CSS3 so exclusively because of this.
I will admit that I haven't used the CSS applet that I linked to yet - partly because I use columns of text so rarely.
Quoted directly from Ed:
CSIs aren't a solution we should be giving to new users, it'd just scare them off :S
I mostly don't need this for myself therefore I don't mind that it's been rejected. But I feel that new users are missing out as a result.
~ Leiger - Wikidot Community Admin - Volunteer
Wikidot: Official Documentation | Wikidot Discord server | NEW: Wikiroo, backup tool (in development)
It's true that CSS3 isn't supported by all browsers, but I think most modern browsers in their more current versions support many CSS3 properties by using browser-specific prefixes like -moz or -webkit. [edit: I just checked and of course IE doesn't support this at all! Grrr…] What I liked most about your proposal is it prompted me to look at what could be done via CSS to create multiple columns that flow evenly. It takes a lot more planning and work to create columns by floating multiple div blocks together. I think there are benefits to both methods depending on the desired result you're looking for.
Until CSS3 is officially released and fully supported, we are probably limited to some kind of javascript or php-type solution to create multiple columns in the same way that the CSS3 syntax works.
Community Admin
Sorry - double post. Something funky is going on when editing an existing post. After saving my edits, the editor window stays open. I thought I must have hit preview instead of save, resulting in a second copy being posted.
This is repeatable with Firefox 3.6.3
I can't get it to fail using IE8.
Could someone try to confirm this before I post a bug report?
Community Admin