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

hashtagUnordered HTML List

hashtagOrdered HTML List

hashtagHTML Description Lists

hashtagHTML Unordered Lists

hashtagUnordered HTML List

hashtagUnordered HTML List - Choose List Item Marker

hashtagHorizontal List with CSS

hashtagSummary

hashtagOrdered HTML List

hashtagOrdered HTML List - The Type Attribute

hashtagControl List Counting

hashtagNested HTML Lists

hashtagSummary

hashtagHTML Description Lists

hashtagSummary

Unordered HTML List

Ordered HTML List

HTML Description Lists

HTML Unordered Lists

Unordered HTML List

Unordered HTML List - Choose List Item Marker

Horizontal List with CSS

Summary

Ordered HTML List

Ordered HTML List - The Type Attribute

Control List Counting

Nested HTML Lists

Summary

HTML Description Lists

Summary