flow 2 columns of text automatically with CSS

Question

I have the code similar to the following:

<p>This is paragraph 1. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 2. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 3. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 4. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 5. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 6. Lorem ipsum ... </p>

I'd like to, without markup if possible, cause this text to flow into two columns (1-3 on the left, 4-6 on the right). The reason for my hesitation to add a column using a <div> is that this text is entered by the client via a WYSIWYG editor, so any elements I inject are likely to be killed later or inexplicably.

Answer 1

Using jQuery

Create a second column and move over the elements you need into it.

<script type="text/javascript">
  $(document).ready(function() {
    var size = $("#data > p").size();
 $(".Column1 > p").each(function(index){
  if (index >= size/2){
   $(this).appendTo("#Column2");
  }
 });
  });
</script>

<div id="data" class="Column1" style="float:left;width:300px;">
<!--   data Start -->
<p>This is paragraph 1. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 2. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 3. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 4. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 5. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<p>This is paragraph 6. Lorem ipsum ... </p>
<!--   data Emd-->
</div>
<div id="Column2" style="float:left;width:300px;"></div>

Update:

Or Since the requirement now is to have them equally sized. I would suggest using the prebuilt jQuery plugins: Columnizer jQuery Plugin

http://jsfiddle.net/dPUmZ/1/