JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1/themes/smoothness/jquery-ui.css">
<div id="tabs">
    <ul>
        <li><a href="#tabs-1">tab 1</a></li>
        <li><a href="#tabs-2">tab 2</a></li>
        <li><a href="#tabs-3">tab 3</a></li>
    </ul>
    <div id="tabs-1">
        <div class="column" id="1"> 
                 
            <div class="widget" id="w_1"> 
                <div class="widget-header">Feeds</div> 
                <div class="widget-content">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit</div>
            </div> 
                    
            <div class="widget" id="w_2"> 
                <div class="widget-header">News</div> 
                <div class="widget-content">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit</div>
            </div> 
                 
        </div> 
                 
        <div class="column" id="2"> 
                 
            <div class="widget" id="w_3"> 
                <div class="widget-header">Shopping</div> 
                <div class="widget-content">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit</div>
            </div> 
                 
        </div> 
                 
        <div class="column" id="3"> 
                 
            <div class="widget" id="w_4"> 
                <div class="widget-header">Links</div> 
                <div class="widget-content">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit</div>
            </div> 
                    
            <div class="widget" id="w_5"> 
                <div class="widget-header">Images</div> 
                <div class="widget-content">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit</div>
            </div> 
                 
        </div> 
    </div>
    <div id="tabs-2">
        tab 2 content goes here
    </div>
    <div id="tabs-3">
        tab 3 content goes here
    </div>
</div>

JavaScript

$("#tabs").tabs();

$(".column").sortable({
    connectWith: '.column',
    update: function(event, ui) {
        alert($(this).closest("div").attr("id"));
        alert($(this).sortable('serialize', {
            key: 'item'
        }));
    }
});

$(".column").disableSelection();