Tailwind CSS Multi-Column Plugin

This plugin adds utilities to use all multi-column properties with Tailwind CSS up to version 3. For v4 and up, see below.

Installation

Add this plugin to your project:

# Install using pnpm
pnpm install --save-dev tailwindcss-multi-column

# Install using npm
npm install --save-dev tailwindcss-multi-column

# Install using yarn
yarn add -D tailwindcss-multi-column

Usage

By default the plugin uses the borderColor and borderWidth properties from your theme to generate the columnRuleColor and columnRuleWidth classes. You can change that to whatever, just keep in mind if you have a default key in both objects (also columnRuleStyle), .column-rule will set both the column-rule-color and column-rule-width of the element.

This means you won't be able to use @apply with those classes. Let me know if that's an issue for you and we can sort it out.

// tailwind.config.js
{
  theme: { // defaults to these values
    columnCount: [ 1, 2, 3 ],
    columnGap: { // will fallback to 'gap' || 'gridGap' values
      // sm: '1rem',
      // md: '1.5rem',
      // lg: '2rem',
    },
    columnWidth: {
      // sm: '120px',
      // md: '240px',
      // lg: '360px',
    },
    columnRuleColor: false, // will fallback to `borderColor` values
    columnRuleWidth: false, // will fallback to `borderWidth` values
    columnRuleStyle: [
      'none', 'hidden', 'dotted', 'dashed', 'solid',
      'double', 'groove', 'ridge', 'inset', 'outset',
    ],
    columnFill: [ 'auto', 'balance', 'balance-all' ],
    columnSpan: [ 'none', 'all' ],
  },

  variants: { // all the following default to ['responsive']
    columnCount: ['responsive'],
    columnGap: ['responsive'],
    columnWidth: ['responsive'],
    columnRuleColor: ['responsive'],
    columnRuleWidth: ['responsive'],
    columnRuleStyle: ['responsive'],
    columnFill: ['responsive'],
    columnSpan: ['responsive'],
  },

  plugins: [
    require('tailwindcss-multi-column')(), // no options to configure
  ],
}

.col-count-1 { column-count: 1; }
.col-count-2 { column-count: 2; }
.col-count-3 { column-count: 3; }

.col-gap-sm { column-gap: 1rem; }
.col-gap-md { column-gap: 1.5rem; }
.col-gap-lg { column-gap: 2rem; }

.col-w-sm { column-width: 120px; }
.col-w-md { column-width: 240px; }
.col-w-lg { column-width: 360px; }

.col-rule-red { column-rule-color: red; }
.col-rule-lime { column-rule-color: lime; }
.col-rule-blue { column-rule-color: blue; }

.col-rule { column-rule-width: 1px; }
.col-rule-sm { column-rule-width: 2px; }
.col-rule-md { column-rule-width: 4px; }

.col-rule-none { column-rule-style: none; }
.col-rule-hidden { column-rule-style: hidden; }
.col-rule-dotted { column-rule-style: dotted; }
.col-rule-dashed { column-rule-style: dashed; }
.col-rule-solid { column-rule-style: solid; }
.col-rule-double { column-rule-style: double; }
.col-rule-groove { column-rule-style: groove; }
.col-rule-ridge { column-rule-style: ridge; }
.col-rule-inset { column-rule-style: inset; }
.col-rule-outset { column-rule-style: outset; }

.col-fill-auto { column-fill: auto; }
.col-fill-balance { column-fill: balance; }
.col-fill-balance-all { column-fill: balance-all; }

.col-span-none { column-span: none; }
.col-span-all { column-span: all; }

Tailwind 4

Since version 4, Tailwind underwent a significant overhaul and adding custom utilities is much easier than before thanks to it's css-first configuration system and automatic value detection. Here's what this plugin could be replaced with:

@import "tailwindcss";

:root{
  --tw-column-rule-style: solid;
}

@theme {
  --column-rule-style-solid: solid;
  --column-rule-style-dashed: dashed;
  --column-rule-style-dotted: dotted;
  --column-rule-style-double: double;
  --column-rule-style-none: none;
  --column-fill-auto: auto;
  --column-fill-balance: balance;
  --column-fill-all: all;
  --column-count-span-none: none;
  --column-count-span-all: all;
}
@utility col-count-*{
  column-count: --value(integer);
}
@utility col-gap-*{
  column-gap: --spacing(--value(integer));
}
@utility col-w-*{
  column-width: --spacing(--value(integer));
}
@utility col-rule-*{
  column-rule-style: var(--tw-column-rule-style);
  column-rule-color: --value(--color);
  column-rule-width: calc(--value(integer) * 1px);
  column-rule-style: --value(--column-rule-style-*);
}
@utility col-fill-*{
  column-fill: --value(--column-fill-*);
}

/* Specific name with "col-count" prefix to avoid collision with grid-column utilities */
@utility col-span-*{
  column-span: --value(--column-count-span-*);
}

Credits

This plugin was inspired by @LoganDark and @codytooker discussion here: tailwindlabs/tailwindcss#540