<?php
// Selecting Data From Database
$sql="select * from tableName order by id desc";
if(mysql_query($sql))
{
$check=mysql_query($sql);
//total number of records set in database
$no=mysql_num_rows($check);
}
?>
<?php
// start loop
for($i=0; $i<$no; $i++)
{
// Here and at the bottom where loop finishes 3 is the value which will split the fetched data into three columns
if($i%3==0){echo"<tr><td>";}else{echo "<td>";
}
?>
<?php
// Display data fetched
print mysql_result($check,0+$i,"name"); 
?>
<?php
if($i%3==0){echo "</td>";}else{echo "</td>";
}
}
echo "</tr>";
?>

<?php
//it tells the data what collumn to go to
$count = 1;
$column = 1;
$result=mysql_query ("select * from tabbeName ORDER by id");
//loop statement
while ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array ($result))
{
// this is the column 1
if ($column == 1)
{
printf("<tr><td width='320px' class='onebrd2cover'><font color='#999999'>$count.</font> <a href='pageName.php?mid=$myrow[catid]'>%s</a></td>",$myrow[catname]);
}
else{
//this  is the column 2
printf("<td width='320px' class='onebrd2'><font color='#999999'>$count.</font> <a href='pageName.php?mid=$myrow[catid]'>%s</a></td></tr>",$myrow[catname]);
}
//increment the count
$count += 1;
// this is a modulus operator it gets the remainder of the equation
$column = $count % 2;
}
?>