codemacher

The plugin offers different shortcodes to use the <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/css/css3_multiple_columns.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">CSS3 Multiple Columns</a>. 
For better user experience it includes an integration into the visual editor. You can enter all attributes with the help of dialogs, so you don’t need to write the shortcodes by hand.
The plugin simply wraps the enclosed content into a container and defines according CSS rules. 
The attributes for the shortcodes and examples you can find under “Other Notes”.
All default values can be changed in the settings page. With saving the settings a static CSS file is written and included for better performance.
<h3>Shortcodes</h3>
Here is the list of shortcodes with the corresponding attributes:
<h4>[css_columns]</h4>
This is an enclosing shortcode to distribute content into a CSS3 multiple columns layout. As content you can use any complex markup. A div-Tag with CSS classes and default definitions is used to wrap the content. The default values for the attributes can be changed in the settings page of the plugin.
Possible attributes:
<ul>
<li>gap – Specifies the gap between the columns, e.g. in pixel <code>40px</code>. Possible values can be found on <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-gap.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-gap on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>width – Specifies a suggested, optimal width for the columns. Possible values can be found on <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-width.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-width on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>count – Specifies the number of columns an element should be divided into. Possible values can be found on <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-count.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-count on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>rule_color – Specifies the color of the rule between columns. Possible values can be found on <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-rule-color.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-rule-color on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>rule_style – Specifies the style of the rule between columns. Description for the values can be found on <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-rule-style.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-rule-style on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>rule_width – Specifies the width of the rule between columns. Possible values can be found on <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-rule-width.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-rule-width on w3schools.com</a></li>
</ul>
Example:
<pre><code>[css_columns gap=30px width=120px count=3 rule_color="#000000" rule_style=solid rule_width=medium]
.... here goes the complex content ....
[/css_columns]
</code></pre>
<h4>[css_col_span]</h4>
This is an enclosing shortcode, which only can be used within the [css_columns] shortcode. You can define content, which spans over multiple columns.
Possible attributes:
<ul>
<li>cols – Specifies how many columns an element should span across. Same values like <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_column-span.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">column-span on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>tag – Specifies the tag used for wrapping the spanning content, e.g. <code>span</code>, <code>h2</code>, <code>div</code>, …</li>
</ul>
Example:
<pre><code>[css_col_span cols=2 tag=div]
... here goes the spanning content ....
[/css_col_span]
</code></pre>
<h4>[css_no_break]</h4>
This is an enclosing shortcode, which only can be used within the [css_columns] shortcode. You can define content, which never breaks into different columns. WARNING Feature is not supported by Firefox yet!
Possible attributes:
<ul>
<li>type – Specifies whether a page break is allowed inside a specified element. Same values like <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_print_pagebi.asp" rel="nofollow ugc">page-break-inside on w3schools.com</a></li>
<li>tag – Specifies the tag used for wrapping the non breaking content, e.g. <code>span</code>, <code>h2</code>, <code>div</code>, …</li>
</ul>
Example:
<pre><code>[css_no_break type=avoid tag=div]
... here goes the non-breakable complex content ....
[/css_no_break]
</code></pre>

CM CSS Columns

A shortcode plugin to use the CSS3 Multiple Columns layout feature.

Nick Halsey

This plugin automatically adds CSS3 transitions to your website/blog and the WordPress admin. Links, etc. get animated transitions between their normal and hover states. CSS3 Transitions are supported by the most recent version of every major browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer 10, Firefox, Opera, Safari); browsers without support will continue to render everything as they had before. This plugin adds the transitions (eye candy) to all <code><a></code> (link), <code><li></code> (list item, usually used in navigation menus), <code><img></code> (image), and <code><input></code> (form field and button) tags that have a hover or focus state defined (for example, if links change color when the mouse hovers over them). Other “buttons”, form elements, and WordPress-specific selectors are also targeted. Transitions are between .2 and .3 seconds in duration, so they shouldn’t cross the line between nice and distracting; however, depending on the colors used in your theme, the transitions may not be noticeable.
Also, please note that image sprites simply don’t work well with blanket css3 transitions. If you see wierd animations where images scroll between their normal and hover states, they’re using sprites. Depending on where the sprites are used, there are various ways to prevent the behavior on those elements, while retaining transitions where desired. One method is to add an inline style attribute to those elements: <code>style="transition: none; -webkit-transition: none;"</code>. Adding the css to your theme will override the plugin’s css as long as you target the elements using sprites by class or id.
Please feel free to offer any feature suggestions you might have and I will consider them for future releases.
<h4>CSS3 Transitions UX Theory</h4>
Because of the way our brains process images, in simple terms, instant/sudden changes are generally not as well perceived as more gradual ones. In the physical space, we never see instant changes, like slides changing with no animation in a PowerPoint, but with digital technology this is a very common practice. When websites make use of hover states, for example, if a link changes color when the mouse hovers over it, they exhibit small, but instant visual changes. Adding the css3 transitions makes these changes more gradual, and therefore easier on the eye. For this same reason, operating systems now tend to make use of a lot of animations. There’s a lot of neuroscience behind these concepts, but I’m not well versed in that. Basically, slight animations generally look better than instant changes. Some people will argue that things aren’t as “snappy” or seem slugish with transitions, but if that’s the case, it’s only a matter of adjusting the animation timing function and duration.

CSS3 Transitions

This plugin automatically adds CSS3 transitions to your website/blog and the WordPress admin. Links, etc. get animated transitions between their norma …

CM CSS Columns vs CSS3 Transitions