1. All the lights should be placed in an even row so that one should not be higher than the other. Space should be left between the lights, so that the flames do not merge and appear like a torch. (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, 139)

2.    One who filled  a bowl with oil and put wicks around it, it does not even count as one light, because it resembles a torch. If, however, he placed a lid on the bowl, and the lid has holes for each wick, then each wick counts as a separate light. [The lid should be put into place before the kindling.] (ibid.)