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Column wrapping for multicol

Category
CSS
Type
New or changed feature
Status
In developer trial (Behind a flag) (Chrome 145)
Intent stage
None

Summary

Add support for the `column-wrap` and `column-height` CSS properties, from multicol Level 2. https://drafts.csswg.org/css-multicol-2/#cwr https://drafts.csswg.org/css-multicol-2/#ch This allows for vertical column layout, or even 2D column layout. Columns can have an explicit constrained height, apart from being derived from the content-box height of the multicol container, and wrap to a new row of columns when all columns have been filled for one row, rather than creating overflowing columns in the inline direction.

Motivation

The primary motivation for introducing the new CSS properties `column-height` and `column-wrap` into the Multi-column Layout module is to gain greater control over the height of columns and enable the creation of content "rows" when the content overflows. Currently, the CSS Multi-column Layout module (multicol) is designed primarily for a single, continuous stream of content that flows down one column and then continues at the top of the next column, similar to a newspaper layout. This behavior is confined to a single "row" of columns.

Standards & signals

Explainers: https://github.com/mstensho/column-wrap

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