HTML lists allow web developers to group a set of related items in lists. HTML offers web authors three ways for specifying lists of information. All lists must contain one or more list elements. Lists may contain −
- <ul> − An unordered list. This will list items using plain bullets.
- <ol> − An ordered list. This will use different schemes of numbers to list your items.
- <dl> − A definition list. This arranges your items in the same way as they are arranged in a dictionary.
Example
An unordered HTML list:
- Item
- Item
- Item
- Item
An ordered HTML 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>
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>
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>
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 |
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>
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>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:
Example:
<ol start="50"> <li>Coffee</li> <li>Tea</li> <li>Milk</li> </ol>
Nested HTML Lists
Lists can be nested (list inside list):
Example:
<ol>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea
<ol>
<li>Black tea</li>
<li>Green tea</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>HTML Other Lists
HTML also supports description lists.
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:
Example
<dl> <dt>Coffee</dt> <dd>- black hot drink</dd> <dt>Milk</dt> <dd>- white cold drink</dd> </dl>
HTML List Tags
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <ul> | Defines an unordered list |
| <ol> | Defines an ordered list |
| <li> | Defines a list item |
| <dl> | Defines a description list |
| <dt> | Defines a term in a description list |
| <dd> | Describes the term in a description list |
