Hi,

We are setting up a new page of classmates who have indicated (through a survey and/or by contacting us directly) that they will attend next year's reunion. The list is already at 75 and it will change frequently as more classmates respond. I'd like to list their names alphabetically into 2 columns that can be easily edited without losing the formatting. In past experience editing a 2 table column is awkward and it doesn't wrap. Have tried creating columns in a word doc table, but after pasting onto the page, it turns into one column. Do you have any suggestions for making a simple 2 column alpha wrap?

Thanks!
Donna

Hi Donna- We've done the same thing by using an Excel Spreadsheet. Hope that helps.
John

The trick is to have the first column wrap into the second column when the data changes, the way the Classmate Profiles list grows and shifts. I'd love to know how. I use a two-column table and have to manually adjust the lengths. Self-wrapping would be so nice!

See your profiles page which is a 2 column table.

Insert the name into the appropriate column (press shift+enter so it won't create an empty line. If it makes that column too long, copy/paste the start or end of that column into the other column. Do the shift+Enter thing again and delete the entry from the other column.

Pretty easy to maintain. If you copy it from the profile page you can actually get a link to their profile active too.

That can be done exactly the same way CC does it - via a script. Fairly easy, but not sure it's worth to show how since what I described is very easy to do and way more flexible.

You just add the name in a linear list. Script knows how many there are automagically, splits it in two, puts 1/2 on one side and the remainder on the other. However -no links- etc.

Mary Smith - SPHSAA President & Alumni Records wrote:

Mary you essentially did that already in your Military page. Were you thinking of that page or something else?

Either way, still works the same way. You can copy/paste/delete more than one item at a time.

Demonstrates that you can control the details any way you like.

And yes, a script could also do that with a bit more detail, but again the links etc would be a lot more work to add since you'd need to supply the id, etc.

Yes, I know how to do it manually (like on our Military list) and copying from the Profiles list makes live links to their profile. But there are so many times I'd like an easy way to wrap into two columns instead of doing this work-around that I have to edit the lengths when I make changes. If that means a script, I can't do that. Oh, well. No special CC edit widget tool here, I guess. That would be on my wish-list, that our edit space have more Word-like capabilities, like 2-column with wrapping not using a regular table.

A 'widget' is scripting It can be done. But not in the editor itself, that's a can of worms that I doubt CC wants to stir. It's not a pretty system.

It would have to be generalized though to go beyond just 2 columns. This gets into publishing territory which can and has been done since html is sort of a derivative of the publishing field (markup language - which is also what Word has internally).

Would you be wiling to give up all the links you now have? That's a pretty specialized area, which is why what you did is a good method. There's a LOT of hidden code there that also has to be shifted.

The Military thing works fine as-is, which is pretty fancy with its links & icons. The Life Members list (restricted) under Alumni Association is more like what I was thinking, plain vanilla. And others like it, in the future. But that's OK. A table is good enough, and like you say, it can be any number of columns.

Thanks for your response Jack. You are way more adept than I, but I'll give it a try. Spacing was an issue so will use your suggestions. This 2015 list will change significantly by 2016, so I'm hoping the inevitable edits will go smoothly.

Thanks again, Donna

Hi Jack,

I need your help again. I've created an alpha list of attendees and copied half into a 2 col. table. When I try to copy the other half, or just type in a name, the cursor for the second column starts about 1/3 of the way down. Nothing I've tried seems to move it, or remove it. Have looked at the code and don't see extra spaces. Ideas?

Donna

I had that problem when the names in the columns were each in individual cells rather than all in one. If that's how you're doing it, add some blank rows at the bottom to even them up and it will force the short columm's cells up. Just remember to remove them when you insert more name cells to that column.

I'm only using one cell to make later additions easier. Adding more spaces doesn't change column 2. This is so frustrating!

Made it work by by adding/deleting spaces in each column. As more names are added to the first column, spaces are added to the second. If this seems awkward, it is! But it is done and I know how to keep it straight. Thanks all for your help.

Donna

OK, that was a tough one! I've had a double column on my Military page where the tops didn't line up. Just now figured it out! In mine, the difference was not a full line but more like half a line space, just a little below the other. I highlighted the first name of the lower column and noted that the "FORMAT" said "Normal" while the format of the slightly higher column was not set to anything, just said "Format". When I made that one match to also be "Normal" they lined up! So check that all the settings for the cell properties and the fonts, etc. at the top of the edit window are all identical.