Grouping checkboxes css in multiple column layout

Question

I have the following html

<fieldset class="group"> 
<legend>Select standard pizza toppings</legend> 
<ul class="checkbox"> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb1" value="pepperoni" /><label for="cb1">Pepperoni</label></li> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb2" value="sausage" /><label for="cb2">Sausage</label></li> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb3" value="mushrooms" /><label for="cb3">Mushrooms</label></li> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb4" value="onions" /><label for="cb4">Onions</label></li> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb5" value="gpeppers" /><label for="cb5">Green Peppers</label></li> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb6" value="xcheese" /><label for="cb6">Extra Cheese</label></li> 
  <li><input type="checkbox" id="cb7" value="pineapple" /><label for="cb7">Pineapple</label></li> 
</ul> 
</fieldset> 

and css:

fieldset.group  { 
  margin: 0; 
  padding: 0; 
  margin-bottom: 1.25em; 
  padding: .125em; 
} 

fieldset.group legend { 
  margin: 0; 
  padding: 0; 
  font-weight: bold; 
  margin-left: 20px; 
  font-size: 100%; 
  color: black; 
} 


ul.checkbox  { 
  margin: 0; 
  padding: 0; 
  margin-left: 20px; 
  list-style: none; 
} 

ul.checkbox li input { 
  margin-right: .25em; 
} 

ul.checkbox li { 
  border: 1px transparent solid; 
} 

ul.checkbox li label { 
  margin-left: ; 
} 
ul.checkbox li:hover, 
ul.checkbox li.focus  { 
  background-color: lightyellow; 
  border: 1px gray solid; 
  width: 12em; 
} 

So far it looks like this. I wanted such that there's only 3 rows in the grouping. So that peperoni, sausage, mushrooms belongs to the first column, and then the next column next to it is gpeppes, xcheese, etc, etc. What should I modify in my css to have this effect instead of laying all the checkboxes in a single column? In other words I want it to take advantage of the empty space to the right of it..

Answer 1

You can add to your li a property to make it inline elements, an additional set a width to keep two columns:

ul.checkbox li { 
  border: 1px transparent solid; 
  display:inline-block;
  width:12em;
}

The demo http://jsfiddle.net/pynhA/2/