A clean CSS3 3-column layout, where to start? - html

Question

I'm currently updating a pretty old website (last update was around 2001), and have agreed to use HTML5 and CSS3.
For the general design, I'm working on a very clean white and gray tones style, with many paddings and margins. My problem resides in the home page: I'd like to have a 3-column centered layout. But where to start? I've tried some floating, but in vain.
Am I doing this right ?
HTML:
<div class="colwrapper">
<div class="ltcol"></div>
<div class="ctcol"></div>
<div class="rtcol"></div>
</div>
CSS:
.colwrapper { width:1020px; }
.ltcol, .ctcol, .rtcol { width:300px; margin:0 10px; padding:10px; }
.ltcol { float:left; }
.ctcol { margin-left:340px; }
.rtcol { float:right; }

Answer 1

your css should be like this:
.ltcol, .ctcol { float:left; }
.rtcol { float:right; }
The purpose of the CSS float property is, generally speaking, to push a block-level element to the left or right, taking it out of the flow in relation to other block elements. This allows naturally-flowing content to wrap around the floated element. This concept is similar to what you see every day in print literature, where photos and other graphic elements are aligned to one side while other content (usually text) flows naturally around the left- or right-aligned element.
For More details you must have to read this intresting article.
See This Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/akhurshid/YRWLV/

Answer 2

Your HTML is very clean - this is a great step forward.
You need to add a float: left to all the columns. To ensure the float is cancelled after your columns, it is best to add a clear div after the floated columns.
HTML:
<div class="colwrapper">
<div class="ltcol">Column 1</div>
<div class="ctcol">Column 2</div>
<div class="rtcol">Column 3</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
CSS:
.colwrapper { width:1020px; }
.ltcol, .ctcol, .rtcol { width:300px; margin:0 10px; padding:10px; background-color: #efefef }
.ltcol { float:left; }
.ctcol { float:left; }
.rtcol { float:left; }
.clear { clear: left; }
​

Answer 3

So you add css3 tag for this questio so I suggest you to make this with css3 column layout:
More info
for example
HTML
<div class="colwrapper">
<div>text</div>
</div>
CSS
.colwrapper div
{
-moz-column-count:3; /* Firefox */
-webkit-column-count:3; /* Safari and Chrome */
column-count:3;
}
It does not work on IE.

Answer 4

Use one of these tried and tested implementations instead of rolling out your own. In addition to the fact that you'll be getting tested and working code, you'll add responsiveness to your site with almost zero effort.
http://cssgrid.net/
http://960.gs/
http://framelessgrid.com/
http://goldengridsystem.com/
and lots more if you google..

Answer 5

could also use Flexbox property for this now as well so you don't need to worry about floats or clearfix's.
main{
/* .colwrapper{ */
display: flex;
flex-flow: row;
justify-content: center;
}
main > section{
/* .ltcol,.ctcol,.rtcol{ */
display:flex;
flex-flow:column;
align-items:center;
padding:10px; padding:.625rem;
}
main > section:nth-child(2){
/* .ctcol{ */
margin:0 20px; margin:0 1.25rem;
}
http://caniuse.com/flexbox shows the support for it isn't quite as far along as you would probably like, however, there are ways to improve support by mixing old versions of the syntax with the new http://css-tricks.com/using-flexbox/ has a great write up on it from Chris Coyier if you want to play with this for a next project (this post is fairly old). You can also get more details at http://html5please.com/#flexbox
Also, if you're using HTML5 I'd probably go with sections over divs for a more semantic structure, so a comparison would look something like this:
<main>
<section></section><!-- or <nav></nav> -->
<section></section><!-- or <article></article> -->
<section></section><!-- or <aside></aside> -->
</main>
instead of...
<div class="colwrapper">
<div class="ltcol"></div>
<div class="ctcol"></div>
<div class="rtcol"></div>
</div>

Answer 6

Just try putting the rtcol div beofre le ltcol div.
<div class="colwrapper">
<div class="rtcol">X</div>
<div class="ltcol">X</div>
<div class="ctcol">X</div>
</div>​
http://jsfiddle.net/EDjpy/