Display Records By Cell, Not Row

I'm trying to modify a copy of recordlist.php to display a new record in the next cell, not on the next row.

I've noticed that within the coding there is a command <?php $recnum++; } /* foreach record */?> at the end of the table row, but when I try to copy this between table cells </td> <?php $recnum++; } /* foreach record */?> <td> the browser displays a syntax error saying incorrect } on line xxx.

Can anyone advise how to display the next record in the next cell across the page rather than on the next row?

As a guide, this is the code I used in the old CDML days together with the Javascript:

<table width="120" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">

<tr>[FMP-Record]

<td width="120" nowrap><img src="[FMP-Image:Photo]" width="97" height="119" alt="photo"><br>

<font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="[FMP-LinkRecID: format=response1.html]">[FMP-Field: Surname],&nbsp; [FMP-Field: Name]</a></font><br><br></td>

<script language="Javascript">

count = count + 1

if (count == howmany)

{count = 0;

document.write("</tr><tr>");}</script>[/FMP-Record]

</tr>

</table>

Thanks.

Maggie