I'd like to create a multi column list like this: https://jsfiddle.net/37dfwf4u/
No problem when using a different list for each column:
<ul>
<li>item1</li>
<li>item2</li>
<li>item3</li>
<li>item4</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>item5</li>
<li>item6</li>
<li>item7</li>
<li>item8</li>
</ul>
ul {
display:inline-block;
}
However, can this be done by a continuous list and pure CSS so that the CSS arranges the columns automatically? E.g. by use of flex layout which I'm not yet familiar with?
Yes, you can create a multi column list as described if you make the ul
a flex container, change the flex-direction
to column
, allow it to wrap by applying flex-wrap: wrap
and additionally force it to wrap by limiting its height
:
ul {
height: 100px;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
flex-wrap: wrap;
}
<ul>
<li>item 1</li>
<li>item 2</li>
<li>item 3</li>
<li>item 4</li>
<li>item 5</li>
<li>item 6</li>
<li>item 7</li>
<li>item 8</li>
<li>item 9</li>
<li>item 10</li>
<li>item 11</li>
<li>item 12</li>
<li>item 13</li>
<li>item 14</li>
<li>item 15</li>
<li>item 16</li>
<li>item 17</li>
<li>item 18 </li>
<li>item 19</li>
<li>item 20</li>
<li>item 21</li>
</ul>
Here's another possibility, added half a year later after the comment by @Andrew Koper:
You can also use the colummn-count
parameter, which doesn't require a fixed height (and also not flex), but defines a fixed number of columns. So in the example below, even just two list items would be broken into two columns of one list item each:
ul {
column-count: 2;
}
<ul>
<li>item 1</li>
<li>item 2</li>
<li>item 3</li>
<li>item 4</li>
<li>item 5</li>
<li>item 6</li>
<li>item 7</li>
<li>item 8</li>
<li>item 9</li>
<li>item 10</li>
<li>item 11</li>
<li>item 12</li>
<li>item 13</li>
<li>item 14</li>
<li>item 15</li>
<li>item 16</li>
<li>item 17</li>
<li>item 18 </li>
<li>item 19</li>
<li>item 20</li>
<li>item 21</li>
</ul>