Break Up WordPress Archive List into Multiple Columns - wordpress

Question

I want to break up this archive list into multiple columns (three columns)...I don't want to use CSS3 for this. I can easily do this with wp_list_categories, but that method doesn't work with wp_get_archives.
Ideally, I'd like to implement a counter to add in tags at an approximate 1/3 count...then I can use CSS for the rest.
CUSTOM ARCHIVE FUNCTION:
function wp_custom_archive($args = '') {
global $wpdb, $wp_locale;
$defaults = array(
'limit' => '',
'format' => 'html', 'before' => '',
'after' => '', 'show_post_count' => false,
'echo' => 1
);
$r = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
extract( $r, EXTR_SKIP );
if ( '' != $limit ) {
$limit = absint($limit);
$limit = ' LIMIT '.$limit;
}
// over-ride general date format ? 0 = no: use the date format set in Options, 1 = yes: over-ride
$archive_date_format_over_ride = 0;
// options for daily archive (only if you over-ride the general date format)
$archive_day_date_format = 'Y/m/d';
// options for weekly archive (only if you over-ride the general date format)
$archive_week_start_date_format = 'Y/m/d';
$archive_week_end_date_format = 'Y/m/d';
if ( !$archive_date_format_over_ride ) {
$archive_day_date_format = get_option('date_format');
$archive_week_start_date_format = get_option('date_format');
$archive_week_end_date_format = get_option('date_format');
}
//filters
$where = apply_filters('customarchives_where', "WHERE post_type = 'post' AND post_status = 'publish'", $r );
$join = apply_filters('customarchives_join', "", $r);
$output = '<ul>';
$query = "SELECT YEAR(post_date) AS `year`, MONTH(post_date) AS `month`, count(ID) as posts FROM $wpdb->posts $join $where GROUP BY YEAR(post_date), MONTH(post_date) ORDER BY post_date DESC $limit";
$key = md5($query);
$cache = wp_cache_get( 'wp_custom_archive' , 'general');
if ( !isset( $cache[ $key ] ) ) {
$arcresults = $wpdb->get_results($query);
$cache[ $key ] = $arcresults;
wp_cache_set( 'wp_custom_archive', $cache, 'general' );
} else {
$arcresults = $cache[ $key ];
}
if ( $arcresults ) {
$afterafter = $after;
foreach ( (array) $arcresults as $arcresult ) {
$url = get_month_link( $arcresult->year, $arcresult->month );
/* translators: 1: month name, 2: 4-digit year */
$text = sprintf(__('%s'), $wp_locale->get_month($arcresult->month));
$year_text = sprintf('<li>%d</li>', $arcresult->year);
if ( $show_post_count )
$after = ' ('.$arcresult->posts.')' . $afterafter;
$output .= ( $arcresult->year != $temp_year ) ? $year_text : '';
$output .= get_archives_link($url, $text, $format, $before, $after);
$temp_year = $arcresult->year;
}
}
$output .= '</ul>';
if ( $echo )
echo $output;
else
return $output;
}
CURRENT HTML OUTPUT (shortened):
<ul>
<li>2012</li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/09/' title='September'>September</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/08/' title='August'>August</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/07/' title='July'>July</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/06/' title='June'>June</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/05/' title='May'>May</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/04/' title='April'>April</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/03/' title='March'>March</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/02/' title='February'>February</a></li>
<li><a href='http://alittlesewing.com.s118336.gridserver.com/2012/01/' title='January'>January</a></li>
</ul>

Answer 1

If I understand correctly, you would have to do something like this
$output = '<ul class="col1">';
if ( $arcresults ) {
$numarticles = count($arcresults);
$column1 = round($numarticles/3);
$column2 = round($column1*2);
$counter = 0;
$afterafter = $after;
foreach ( (array) $arcresults as $arcresult ) {
if($counter == $column1) {
$output .= "</ul><ul class='col2'>";
} elseif($counter == $column2) {
$output .= "</ul><ul class='col3'>";
}
$url = get_month_link( $arcresult->year, $arcresult->month );
/* translators: 1: month name, 2: 4-digit year */
$text = sprintf(__('%s'), $wp_locale->get_month($arcresult->month));
$year_text = sprintf('<li>%d</li>', $arcresult->year);
if ( $show_post_count )
$after = ' ('.$arcresult->posts.')' . $afterafter;
$output .= ( $arcresult->year != $temp_year ) ? $year_text : '';
$output .= get_archives_link($url, $text, $format, $before, $after);
$temp_year = $arcresult->year;
$counter ++;
}
$output .= '</ul>';
}
This way, when the counter gets to a third of the way, it will add another list, so at the end you will have 3 lists.
Hope this helps.