HTML Lists

HTML lists allow web developers to group a set of related items in lists.

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:

<ul>
  <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:

<ol>
  <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:

<dl>
  <dt>Coffee</dt>
  <dd>- black hot drink</dd>
  <dt>Milk</dt>
  <dd>- white cold drink</dd>
</dl>

HTML Unordered Lists

The HTML <ul> tag defines an unordered (bulleted) list.

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:

<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. It can have one of the following values:

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

<ul style="list-style-type:disc;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

<ul style="list-style-type:square;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

<ul style="list-style-type:none;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

<!-- Nested HTML Lists -->

<ul>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea
    <ul>
      <li>Black tea</li>
      <li>Green tea</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

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:

<!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>

Summary

Use the HTML <ul> element to define an unordered list
Use the CSS list-style-type property to define the list item marker
Use the HTML <li> element to define a list item
Lists can be nested
List items can contain other HTML elements
Use the CSS property float:left to display a list horizontally

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:

<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>

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

<ol start="50">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ol>

Nested HTML Lists

Lists can be nested (list inside list):

<ol>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea
    <ol>
      <li>Black tea</li>
      <li>Green tea</li>
    </ol>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ol>

Summary

Use the HTML <ol> element to define an ordered list
Use the HTML type attribute to define the numbering type
Use the HTML <li> element to define a list item
Lists can be nested
List items can contain other HTML elements

HTML 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:

<dl>
  <dt>Coffee</dt>
  <dd>- black hot drink</dd>
  <dt>Milk</dt>
  <dd>- white cold drink</dd>
</dl>

Summary

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

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Last updated 3 years ago