====Column markup====
Column markup is, like aligner markup, a special single-line token which indicates that the subsequent text should be laid out in columns. They consist of a number of ''%%|%%'' marks, indicating the size of the column relative to the other columns - the total width of all columns equals the page width, and this is divided among the columns by their ''%%|%%'' marks. They also have a number of ''%%=%%'' marks surrounding it, indicating the size of the column's margins in CSS "em" units (which are about the width of a capital M).

All text from the token onward, until the next token is encountered, is contained in the specified column. A ''%%|==|%%'' token ends the set of columns and returns the page to normal.

Columns are currently laid out from left to right, in order of appearance.

Any amount of [[harlowe:whitespace|whitespace]] is permitted before or after each token, as long as it is on a single line.

=== Example usage: ===

<code>
|==
This is in the leftmost column, which has a right margin of about 2 letters wide.
    =|||=
This is in the next column, which has margins of 1 letter wide. It is three times as wide as the left column.
 =====||
This is in the right column, which has a right margin of about 5 letters wide. It is twice as wide as the left column.
  |==|
This text is not in columns, but takes up the entire width, as usual.
</code>
You can create nested columns by enclosing the inner set of columns in an unnamed hook, like so:

<code>
|==
This is the outer left column.
==|
This is outer right column.
[
  |==
This is the inner left column, inside the outer right column.
  ==|
This is the inner right column, inside the outer right column.
]
</code>