diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index d92926a6..d3f5c53e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+  - added params vdir, hdir and inner to html_table to allow looping
+    over the data in various directions (messju)
   - allow spaces in literal tags (Paul Lockaby, Monte)
   - speed up compiled templates, hardcode plugin filepaths
     instead of dynamically calculate at runtime. (Monte)
diff --git a/libs/plugins/function.html_table.php b/libs/plugins/function.html_table.php
index f06e435e..fe80565e 100644
--- a/libs/plugins/function.html_table.php
+++ b/libs/plugins/function.html_table.php
@@ -1,96 +1,110 @@
 <?php
 /**
- * Smarty plugin
- * @package Smarty
- * @subpackage plugins
- */
+* Smarty plugin
+* @package Smarty
+* @subpackage plugins
+*/
 
 
 /**
- * Smarty {html_table} function plugin
- *
- * Type:     function<br>
- * Name:     html_table<br>
- * Date:     Feb 17, 2003<br>
- * Purpose:  make an html table from an array of data<br>
- * Input:<br>
- *         - loop = array to loop through
- *         - cols = number of columns
- *         - table_attr = table attributes
- *         - tr_attr = table row attributes (arrays are cycled)
- *         - td_attr = table cell attributes (arrays are cycled)
- *         - trailpad = value to pad trailing cells with
- * 
- * Examples:
- * <pre>
- * {table loop=$data}
- * {table loop=$data cols=4 tr_attr='"bgcolor=red"'}
- * {table loop=$data cols=4 tr_attr=$colors}
- * </pre>
- * @author	 Monte Ohrt <monte@ispi.net>
- * @version  1.0
- * @link http://smarty.php.net/manual/en/language.function.html.table.php {html_table}
- *          (Smarty online manual)
- * @param array
- * @param Smarty
- * @return string
- */
+* Smarty {html_table} function plugin
+*
+* Type:     function<br>
+* Name:     html_table<br>
+* Date:     Feb 17, 2003<br>
+* Purpose:  make an html table from an array of data<br>
+* Input:<br>
+*         - loop = array to loop through
+*         - cols = number of columns
+*         - rows = number of rows
+*         - table_attr = table attributes
+*         - tr_attr = table row attributes (arrays are cycled)
+*         - td_attr = table cell attributes (arrays are cycled)
+*         - trailpad = value to pad trailing cells with
+*         - vdir = vertical direction (default: "down", means top-to-bottom)
+*         - hdir = horizontal direction (default: "right", means left-to-right)
+*         - inner = inner loop (default "cols": print $loop line by line,
+*                   $loop will be printed column by column otherwise)
+*
+*
+* Examples:
+* <pre>
+* {table loop=$data}
+* {table loop=$data cols=4 tr_attr='"bgcolor=red"'}
+* {table loop=$data cols=4 tr_attr=$colors}
+* </pre>
+* @author   Monte Ohrt <monte@ispi.net>
+* @version  1.0
+* @link http://smarty.php.net/manual/en/language.function.html.table.php {html_table}
+*          (Smarty online manual)
+* @param array
+* @param Smarty
+* @return string
+*/
 function smarty_function_html_table($params, &$smarty)
 {
-	$table_attr = 'border="1"';
-	$tr_attr = '';
-	$td_attr = '';
-	$cols = 3;
-	$trailpad = '&nbsp;';
-	
-	extract($params);
+    $table_attr = 'border="1"';
+    $tr_attr = '';
+    $td_attr = '';
+    $cols = 3;
+    $rows = 3;
+    $trailpad = '&nbsp;';
+    $vdir = 'down';
+    $hdir = 'right';
+    $inner = 'cols';
+
+    extract($params);
 
     if (!isset($loop)) {
         $smarty->trigger_error("html_table: missing 'loop' parameter");
         return;
-	}
-	
-	$output = "<table $table_attr>\n";
-	$output .= "<tr " . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('tr', $tr_attr) . ">\n";
+    }
 
-	for($x = 0, $y = count($loop); $x < $y; $x++) {
-		$output .= "<td " . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('td', $td_attr) . ">" . $loop[$x] . "</td>\n";		
-		if((!(($x+1) % $cols)) && $x < $y-1) {
-			// go to next row
-			$output .= "</tr>\n<tr " . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('tr', $tr_attr) . ">\n";
-		}
-		if($x == $y-1) {
-			// last row, pad remaining cells
-			$cells = $cols - $y % $cols;
-			if($cells != $cols) {
-				for($padloop = 0; $padloop < $cells; $padloop++) {
-					$output .= "<td " . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('td', $td_attr) . ">$trailpad</td>\n";
-				}
-			}
-			$output .= "</tr>\n";
-		}
-	}
-			
-	$output .= "</table>\n";
-	
-	return $output;
+    $loop_count = count($loop);
+    if (empty($params['rows'])) {
+        /* no rows specified */
+        $rows = ceil($loop_count/$cols);
+    } elseif (empty($params['cols'])) {
+        if (!empty($params['rows'])) {
+            /* no cols specified, but rows */
+            $cols = ceil($loop_count/$rows);
+        }
+    }
+
+    $output = "<table $table_attr>\n";
+
+    for ($r=0; $r<$rows; $r++) {
+        $output .= "<tr" . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('tr', $tr_attr, $r) . ">\n";
+        $rx =  ($vdir == 'down') ? $r*$cols : ($rows-1-$r)*$cols;
+
+        for ($c=0; $c<$cols; $c++) {
+            $x =  ($hdir == 'right') ? $rx+$c : $rx+$cols-1-$c;
+            if ($inner!='cols') {
+                /* shuffle x to loop over rows*/
+                $x = floor($x/$cols) + ($x%$cols)*$rows;
+            }
+
+            if ($x<$loop_count) {
+                $output .= "<td" . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('td', $td_attr, $c) . ">" . $loop[$x] . "</td>\n";
+            } else {
+                $output .= "<td" . smarty_function_html_table_cycle('td', $td_attr, $c) . ">$trailpad</td>\n";
+            }
+        }
+        $output .= "</tr>\n";
+    }            
+    $output .= "</table>\n";
+    
+    return $output;
 }
 
-function smarty_function_html_table_cycle($name, $var) {
-	static $names = array();
-	
-	if(!is_array($var)) {
-		return $var;
-	}
-	
-	if(!isset($names[$name]) || $names[$name] == count($var)-1) {
-		$names[$name] = 0;
-		return $var[0];
-	}
-	
-	$names[$name]++;
-	return $var[$names[$name]];
-	
+function smarty_function_html_table_cycle($name, $var, $no) {
+    if(!is_array($var)) {
+        $ret = $var;
+    } else {
+        $ret = $var[$no % count($var)];
+    }
+    
+    return ($ret) ? ' '.$ret : '';
 }