HTML Lists
HTML List Example
An Unordered List:
- Item
- Item
- Item
- Item
An Ordered List:
- First item
- Second item
- Third item
- Fourth item
Unordered HTML List
An unordered list starts with the <ul> tag. Each list item starts with the
<li> tag.
The list items will be marked with bullets (small black circles) by default:
Example
<ul>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Unordered HTML List - Choose List Item Marker
The CSS list-style-type property is used to define the style of the
list item marker:
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| disc | Sets the list item marker to a bullet (default) |
| circle | Sets the list item marker to a circle |
| square | Sets the list item marker to a square |
| none | The list items will not be marked |
Example - Disc
<ul style="list-style-type:disc">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Example - Circle
<ul style="list-style-type:circle">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Example - Square
<ul style="list-style-type:square">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Example - None
<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Ordered HTML List
An ordered list starts with the <ol> tag. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.
The list items will be marked with numbers by default:
Example
<ol>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Ordered HTML List - The Type Attribute
The type attribute of the <ol> tag, defines the type of the
list item marker:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| type="1" | The list items will be numbered with numbers (default) |
| type="A" | The list items will be numbered with uppercase letters |
| type="a" | The list items will be numbered with lowercase letters |
| type="I" | The list items will be numbered with uppercase roman numbers |
| type="i" | The list items will be numbered with lowercase roman numbers |
Numbers:
<ol type="1">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Uppercase Letters:
<ol type="A">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Lowercase Letters:
<ol type="a">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Uppercase Roman Numbers:
<ol type="I">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Lowercase Roman Numbers:
<ol type="i">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
HTML Description Lists
HTML also supports description lists.
A description list is a list of terms, with a description of each term.
The <dl> tag defines the description list, the <dt> tag defines the term (name), and the <dd>
tag describes each term:
Example
<dl>
<dt>Coffee</dt>
<dd>- black hot drink</dd>
<dt>Milk</dt>
<dd>- white cold drink</dd>
</dl>
Nested HTML Lists
List can be nested (lists inside lists):
Example
<ul>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea
<ul>
<li>Black tea</li>
<li>Green tea</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Note: List items can contain new list, and other HTML elements, like images and links, etc.
Control List Counting
By default, an ordered list will start counting from 1. If you want to start counting from a specified number, you can use the start attribute:
Example
<ol start="50">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Horizontal List with CSS
HTML lists can be styled in many different ways with CSS.
One popular way is to style a list horizontally, to create a navigation menu:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
ul {
list-style-type: none;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #333333;
}
li {
float: left;
}
li a {
display: block;
color: white;
text-align: center;
padding: 16px;
text-decoration: none;
}
li a:hover {
background-color: #111111;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li><a href="#home">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#news">News</a></li>
<li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
<li><a href="#about">About</a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Chapter Summary
- Use the HTML
<ul>element to define an unordered list - Use the CSS
list-style-typeproperty to define the list item marker - Use the HTML
<ol>element to define an ordered list - Use the HTML
typeattribute to define the numbering type - Use the HTML
<li>element to define a list item - Use the HTML
<dl>element to define a description list - Use the HTML
<dt>element to define the description term - Use the HTML
<dd>element to describe the term in a description list - Lists can be nested inside lists
- List items can contain other HTML elements
- Use the CSS property
float:leftordisplay:inlineto display a list horizontally