I'm not sure what you mean by "I have been trying to use the public option with mult-colum view and have been unable to get anywhere."
What exactly are you trying to do? Where exactly do you get stuck? Are you recieving an error? Having trouble setting up your database? Having trouble getting things to display properly? Having difficulty getting it to show in the cart properly?
If you post a specific question or pose a particular problem, we may be able to help. There are no secret tutorials or samples, so chances are you will have to work through your particular problem without one.