Template:Col-begin

This template is used on approximately 218,000 pages. To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandboxor/testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This template creates a table rather than actual columns. This means that it may display poorly on mobile devices or narrow screens and is sub-optimal in terms of accessibility. Approximately 2/3 of English Wikipedia readers are using mobile devices and may have trouble reading the content that is wrapped in this template. Please consider using one of the CSS-based column templates (listed at the end of this page) instead, or not using columns at all if there are any issues that affect page layout.

The {{col-begin}}, {{col-break}} and {{col-end}} templates control columns of text on a page:

• {{col-begin}}: starts a table (followed by {{col-break}} for 1st column)
• {{col-break}}: triggers the start of each column
• {{col-end}}: ends the multi-column table.

The widths of columns can be specified by using various additional codes. See below for examples.

• 1 Usage
• 2 Examples
• 3 See also
  • 3.1 Column-generating template families
• 4 TemplateData

{{col-begin|width=70%}}: start table with specific width.
{{col-break|width=66%}}: start column-1 as 66% wide.
This is text in column-1.
{{col-break|width=33%}}: start column-2 as 33% wide.
This is text in column-2.
{{col-end}}

The table will have two columns, with column 1 twice (2×) the width of column 2.

A border of 2px (1px width on each side) corresponds to a 5%. Therefore, with a 2px border, the width needs to be 95% for the table to fit within the screen. Since it's possible that some tables might not have a border, correction on the individual page could be made after substitution. Another way to create a two column table is like this:

{{col-begin|width=95%}}
|-
| 
Left column
|
Right column
|}

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
Column 1 here
{{Col-2}}
Column 2 here
{{Col-end}}

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-3}}
Column 1 here
{{Col-3}}
Column 2 here
{{Col-3}}
Column 3 here
{{Col-end}}

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
Column 1 here
{{Col-break}}
Column 2 here
{{Col-break}}
Column 3 here
{{Col-break}}
Column 4 here
{{Col-break}}
Column 5 here
{{Col-break}}
Column 6 here
{{Col-end}}

Here are some example codes that you can use to make columns of text in your Wikipedia article. You can change the width of your columns by changing the code words that go between the text of your columns. Good luck!

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Production by year
|-
! 1980
| 50,000
|-
! 1990
| 75,000
|-
! 2000
| 90,000
|}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Profit by year
|-
! 1980
| $6,000
|-
! 1990
| $7,500
|-
! 2000
| $8,200
|}
{{col-end}}

gives:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Production by year
|-
! 1980
| 50,000
|-
! 1990
| 75,000
|-
! 2000
| 90,000
|}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Profit by year
|-
! 1980
| $6,000
|-
! 1990
| $7,500
|-
! 2000
| $8,200
|}
{{col-end}}

gives:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=80%}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Production by year
|-
! 1980
| 50,000
|-
! 1990
| 75,000
|-
! 2000
| 90,000
|}
{{col-break|width=20%}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Profit by year
|-
! 1980
| $6,000
|-
! 1990
| $7,500
|-
! 2000
| $8,200
|}
{{col-end}}

gives:

{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Production by year
|-
! 1980
| 50,000
|-
! 1990
| 75,000
|-
! 2000
| 90,000
|}
{{col-break|gap=2em}}
{| class="wikitable" style="width:18em"
|+ Profit by year
|-
! 1980
| $6,000
|-
! 1990
| $7,500
|-
! 2000
| $8,200
|}
{{col-end}}

• Help:Columns

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

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