diff --git a/doc/src/_ext/table_from_list.py b/doc/src/_ext/table_from_list.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..44c85fc378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/src/_ext/table_from_list.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+from docutils import nodes
+from sphinx.util.docutils import SphinxDirective
+from docutils.nodes import Element, Node
+from typing import Any, Dict, List
+from sphinx import addnodes
+from sphinx.util import logging
+
+class TableFromList(SphinxDirective):
+    has_content = True
+    required_arguments = 0
+    optional_arguments = 0
+    final_argument_whitespace = False
+    option_spec = {
+        'columns': int,
+    }
+
+    def run(self) -> List[Node]:
+        ncolumns = self.options.get('columns', 2)
+        node = addnodes.compact_paragraph()
+        node.document = self.state.document
+        self.state.nested_parse(self.content, self.content_offset, node)
+        if len(node.children) != 1 or not isinstance(node.children[0],
+                                                     nodes.bullet_list):
+            reporter = self.state.document.reporter
+            return [reporter.warning('.. table_from_list content is not a list', line=self.lineno)]
+        fulllist = node.children[0]
+        table = nodes.table()
+        tgroup = nodes.tgroup(cols=ncolumns)
+        table += tgroup
+
+        for i in range(ncolumns):
+            tgroup += nodes.colspec(colwidth=1)
+
+        tbody = nodes.tbody()
+        tgroup += tbody
+        current_row = nodes.row()
+
+        for idx, cell in enumerate(fulllist.children):
+            if len(current_row.children) == ncolumns:
+                tbody += current_row
+                current_row = nodes.row()
+            entry = nodes.entry()
+            current_row += entry
+            if len(cell.children) > 0:
+                entry += cell.children[0]
+
+        tbody += current_row
+        return [table]
+
+def setup(app):
+    app.add_directive("table_from_list", TableFromList)
+    return {
+        'version': '0.1',
+        'parallel_read_safe': True,
+        'parallel_write_safe': True,
+    }
diff --git a/doc/utils/sphinx-config/conf.py b/doc/utils/sphinx-config/conf.py
index 70a96e1614..0b6dfcca2d 100644
--- a/doc/utils/sphinx-config/conf.py
+++ b/doc/utils/sphinx-config/conf.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import os
 # add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
 # documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute, like shown here.
 #sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('.'))
+sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../../src/_ext'))
 
 # -- General configuration ------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -30,7 +31,9 @@ import os
 # extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom
 # ones.
 extensions = [
-    'sphinx.ext.mathjax', 'sphinx.ext.imgmath'
+    'sphinx.ext.mathjax',
+    'sphinx.ext.imgmath',
+    'table_from_list',
 ]
 # 2017-12-07: commented out, since this package is broken with Sphinx 16.x
 #             yet we can no longer use Sphinx 15.x, since that breaks with