How do I show a list in two columns?
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I have a long alphabetical list on my blog. I’d like to show it in two columns. How do I do that?
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
The easiest way to do that would be through the following instructions:
http://vip.wordpress.com/documentation/how-to-create-columns-in-posts/
Can you give that a try and let me know if you run into any trouble?
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Thanks for the information, but the CCS steps are way too complicated for my limited technical knowledge. The instructions don’t tell me where or how to do what’s required. The Plugin method looks easier, but I guess I’m not a “VIP”–not even sure what that is. Does it cost more to become a VIP? Or am I one already?
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Hi there,
You’re correct with regards to the plugin method. That’s only available to VIP clients, which does involve a purchase and is more for sites like Time.com. In your case, the CSS way would be the best method. While it looks complicated, I promise it’s easier than it appears, and I’m happy to help you through it!
Can you give the following steps a try?
- Create your new page where you would like your list to live and title it whatever you would like.
- From the Edit Page screen, click into the Text Editor. You can read more about the Text Editor here:
- Copy the following code and paste it where you would like your list to appear:
<div style="width:40%;padding:0 10pt 0 0;float:left;"> Column 1 info here Column 1 info here Column 1 info here </div> <div style="width:40%;padding:0 10pt 0 0;float:right;"> Column 2 info here Column 2 info here Column 2 info here </div>Don’t worry about making any changes. Just copy the code verbatim.
- Replace the text for “Column 1 info here” and “Column 2 info here” with the content you want to be included in the list.
When you preview the post, you should see your content in two columns. Please give that a try and let me know where you get stuck!
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I certainly appreciate your your time and patience. But your instructions do raise lots of questions. It’s the Hymn Index page accessed by the centre tab on http://wordwisehymns.com/ that I’m concerned about. It currently contains a list of over 600 hymns of the church, and continues to grow.
If I understand you correctly, I could make another page, called (maybe) Hymn Index2 temporarily, and type in the codes there. Then, I’d transfer the list from the old to the new page. After that I could cancel the old page, and remove the “2” from the new heading.
But, from the way you describe it, you’re thinking of the list being static. It isn’t. I added 27 more titles today–all at various spots, following alphabetical order. What I need is what are called “balanced newspaper columns,” which will automatically adjust and be equalized no matter where I enter a title.
And what happens to the many comments at the bottom of the old page? Some of them I wouldn’t mind losing, but others I’d like to stay on the page.
Sorry to be a bother, but I’d rather stick with a very long single column than complicate my work later on (i.e. if I have to keep adjusting what goes where, every time I add an item). Thanks again for your help.
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Hi!
Please see my answers below:
If I understand you correctly, I could make another page, called (maybe) Hymn Index2 temporarily, and type in the codes there. Then, I’d transfer the list from the old to the new page. After that I could cancel the old page, and remove the “2” from the new heading.
That’s definitely one way to go about it. The benefit there is that you get to see how the layout would look with the added columns before moving it to your “Live” page. However, if you would like, you could add the columns directly to the current Hymn Index page. We could always revert it back to the original form if it doesn’t work out the way you would like it to!
But, from the way you describe it, you’re thinking of the list being static. It isn’t. I added 27 more titles today–all at various spots, following alphabetical order. What I need is what are called “balanced newspaper columns,” which will automatically adjust and be equalized no matter where I enter a title.
I completely understand. Unfortunately, that’s not a feature of the editor right now. If you wanted to add titles to the different columns, you could still do that. However, the columns would not automatically balance out. You would need to manually go in and rearrange the columns to be equal lengths.
And what happens to the many comments at the bottom of the old page? Some of them I wouldn’t mind losing, but others I’d like to stay on the page.
This would affect the comment section at all provided we applied the changes directly to the current Hymns Index page.
Sorry to be a bother, but I’d rather stick with a very long single column than complicate my work later on (i.e. if I have to keep adjusting what goes where, every time I add an item). Thanks again for your help.
I definitely understand! How about this? I could create a test page on your blog and save it as a draft. I would copy the contents of your Hymns Index page currently to demonstrate what the page would look like. Then, we could go over how to add and remove hymns from each column. If you like the way it looks, I could help you move that format to the “live” version. If not, we can delete the test page. This way, you can test it out and see if it accomplishes what you’re looking for!
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Nope, sorry, but that just won’t cut it. I don’t want to have to rebalance columns every time I add an item. My readers (over 400,000 and counting) will just have to scroll down through the one-column alphabet. Thanks again for trying. I appreciate your patience and your efforts.
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I understand. I’m sorry we don’t have a better solution at the current moment! Please let me know if you need anything else.
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