HTML multicol tag

Posted in HTML Tutorial

Updated on Oct 30, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 68 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

In the early days of web development, the <multicol> tag was introduced to allow content to be displayed in multiple columns, similar to newspaper layouts.

This guide will explore the purpose, usage, and alternatives to the now-deprecated <multicol> tag.

🤔 What is <multicol> Tag?

The <multicol> tag was designed to split content into multiple columns, enhancing the visual layout of text-heavy web pages. However, it has since been deprecated and is no longer recommended for use in modern web development.

🚫 Deprecated Status:

The <multicol> tag is deprecated, meaning it is no longer supported by modern browsers and should not be used in new projects. The deprecation reflects a shift towards using CSS for creating multi-column layouts, providing more flexibility and control.

💡 Syntax

The syntax for the <multicol> tag is straightforward, but due to its deprecated status, it should be avoided:

index.html

Copied

<multicol cols="3">
  Your content here...
</multicol>

🧰 Attributes

The <multicol> tag supported a few attributes, primarily to define the number of columns:

cols: Specifies the number of columns for the content.

index.html

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<multicol cols="2">
  This content will be split into two columns.
</multicol>

📚 Common Use Cases

Before its deprecation, the <multicol> tag was used to:

Create newspaper-style layouts.
Organize lengthy text into readable sections.

🖥️ Browser Support

Due to its deprecated status, support for the <multicol> tag is inconsistent across modern browsers:

Google Chrome: Not supported.
Mozilla Firefox: Not supported.
Microsoft Edge: Not supported.
Safari: Not supported.
Opera: Not supported.
Internet Explorer: Partial support (some versions may have limitations).

Using this tag in contemporary web development is not advised, as it may not render correctly across different browsers.

🏆 Best Practices

Given the deprecation of the <multicol> tag, follow these best practices:

Avoid using deprecated tags: Refrain from using <multicol> in any new projects.
Use CSS for multi-column layouts: CSS provides robust tools for creating responsive, multi-column designs.

🔄 Alternatives

Modern web development favors CSS for creating multi-column layouts. The CSS column-count property offers a flexible and powerful alternative to the deprecated <multicol> tag.

Example using CSS:

index.html

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<style>
  .multicol-container {
    column-count: 3;
  }
</style>

<div class="multicol-container">
  Your content here...
</div>

🎉 Conclusion

While the <multicol> tag played a role in the early web development era, it has since been deprecated in favor of more versatile and powerful CSS properties.

Modern developers should leverage CSS to create multi-column layouts, ensuring compatibility and flexibility across all browsers and devices.