The QuickColumns stack was primarily made for ThemeFlood theme customers, seeking to get multiple "tabloid style" columns setup. It uses the CSS columns property to split an ordinary block of content into multiple columns. The idea being that content is easier to read and the columns reflow to fit different screen sizes.

Since its release, QuickColumns has been downloaded thousands of times and is frequently praised by the RapidWeaver community for its ease of setup and simple editing interface. It's a solid alternative to heavy and often cumbersome grid systems. The content box within QuickColumns supports styled text and simple HTML markup. Ordinarily no code or complicated configuration is required to use QuickColumns (as its name suggests)!

Sometimes people look at QuickColumns for images, but what they want is actually a masonry grid layout. This is a slightly different layout technique. A dedicated masonry stack can be found here and stacks like ProGallery also include masonry layouts.

Example

Here is a working example of the QuickColumns stack.

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You may also want to try resizing your web browser window, to see how the number of columns and the gaps (spacing) between columns changes on different screen sizes. Normal Stacks border, margin, padding, background, layout and rounded corner settings can be applied to this stack if needed. Additional custom CSS code can be applied using the .quickColumns class selector name, to target the QuickColumns stack.

Setup

To use this stack, start by going through the stack settings and adjusting the breakpoints. Breakpoint refers to the size at which particular settings will take effect. So for example, setting a breakpoint of 800px would ensure those particular settings only take effect on screen sizes of 800px or less. It's always best to start with the highest breakpoint and work your way down towards smaller screens. Up to five breakpoints can be set using this stack, although typically you may only need to use two or three (zero-out any you're not using). Column Gap refers to the space between columns under a particular breakpoint. Column Count refers to the number of columns to be displayed under a particular breakpoint. All standard styled text controls are supported, together with basic HTML code.

Browser support

In summary, QuickColumns works in all modern web browsers! When this stack was first released, it worked with Internet Explorer 9 and above. Older browsers lacking support for CSS columns will simply render the content as a single column. There is never any danger of your content vanishing from display. CSS columns are a progressive enhancement.

Theme compatibility

QuickColumns was designed and developed specifically for use in ThemeFlood RapidWeaver themes. It may work with other themes too, although these won't be officially supported.
 

Contribute

If you find this stack element useful in your personal or commercial web projects; please consider making a small contribution towards ongoing support and updates. There are many different ways you can contribute to the Stacks4Stacks project, and benefits for doing so.