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CSS - Lists

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Lists are very helpful in conveying a set of either numbered or bullet points. This chapter teaches you how to control list type, position, style, etc., using CSS.

We have the following five CSS properties, which can be used to control lists −

  • The list-style-type allows you to control the shape or appearance of the marker.

  • The list-style-position specifies whether a long point that wraps to a second line should align with the first line or start underneath the start of the marker.

  • The list-style-image specifies an image for the marker rather than a bullet point or number.

  • The list-style serves as shorthand for the preceding properties.

  • The marker-offset specifies the distance between a marker and the text in the list.

Now, we will see how to use these properties with examples.

The list-style-type Property

The list-style-type property allows you to control the shape or style of bullet point (also known as a marker) in the case of unordered lists and the style of numbering characters in ordered lists.

Here are the values which can be used for an unordered list −

Sr.No. Value & Description
1

none

NA
2

disc (default)

A filled-in circle
3

circle

An empty circle
4

square

A filled-in square

Here are the values, which can be used for an ordered list −

Value Description Example
decimal Number 1,2,3,4,5
decimal-leading-zero 0 before the number 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
lower-alpha Lowercase alphanumeric characters a, b, c, d, e
upper-alpha Uppercase alphanumeric characters A, B, C, D, E
lower-roman Lowercase Roman numerals i, ii, iii, iv, v
upper-roman Uppercase Roman numerals I, II, III, IV, V
lower-greek The marker is lower-greek alpha, beta, gamma
lower-latin The marker is lower-latin a, b, c, d, e
upper-latin The marker is upper-latin A, B, C, D, E
hebrew The marker is traditional Hebrew numbering  
armenian The marker is traditional Armenian numbering  
georgian The marker is traditional Georgian numbering  
cjk-ideographic The marker is plain ideographic numbers  
hiragana The marker is hiragana a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki
katakana The marker is katakana A, I, U, E, O, KA, KI
hiragana-iroha The marker is hiragana-iroha i, ro, ha, ni, ho, he, to
katakana-iroha The marker is katakana-iroha I, RO, HA, NI, HO, HE, TO

Here is an example −

Live Demo 
<html>
   <head>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <ul style = "list-style-type:circle;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ul style = "list-style-type:square;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ol style = "list-style-type:decimal;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
      
      <ol style = "list-style-type:lower-alpha;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
      
      <ol style = "list-style-type:lower-roman;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
   </body>
</html>

It will produce the following result −

The list-style-position Property

The list-style-position property indicates whether the marker should appear inside or outside of the box containing the bullet points. It can have one the two values −

Sr.No. Value & Description
1

none

NA
2

inside

If the text goes onto a second line, the text will wrap underneath the marker. It will also appear indented to where the text would have started if the list had a value of outside.
3

outside

If the text goes onto a second line, the text will be aligned with the start of the first line (to the right of the bullet).

Here is an example −

Live Demo 
<html>
   <head>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <ul style = "list-style-type:circle; list-stlye-position:outside;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ul style = "list-style-type:square;list-style-position:inside;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ol style = "list-style-type:decimal;list-stlye-position:outside;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
      
      <ol style = "list-style-type:lower-alpha;list-style-position:inside;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
   </body>
</html>

It will produce the following result −

The list-style-image Property

The list-style-image allows you to specify an image so that you can use your own bullet style. The syntax is similar to the background-image property with the letters url starting the value of the property followed by the URL in brackets. If it does not find the given image then default bullets are used.

Here is an example −

Live Demo 
<html>
   <head>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <ul>
         <li style = "list-style-image: url(/images/bullet.gif);">Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ol>
         <li style = "list-style-image: url(/images/bullet.gif);">Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
   </body>
</html>

It will produce the following result −

The list-style Property

The list-style allows you to specify all the list properties into a single expression. These properties can appear in any order.

Here is an example −

Live Demo 
<html>
   <head>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <ul style = "list-style: inside square;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ol style = "list-style: outside upper-alpha;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
   </body>
</html>

It will produce the following result −

The marker-offset Property

The marker-offset property allows you to specify the distance between the marker and the text relating to that marker. Its value should be a length as shown in the following example −

Unfortunately, this property is not supported in IE 6 or Netscape 7.

Here is an example −

Live Demo 
<html>
   <head>
   </head>

   <body>
      <ul style = "list-style: inside square; marker-offset:2em;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ul>
      
      <ol style = "list-style: outside upper-alpha; marker-offset:2cm;">
         <li>Maths</li>
         <li>Social Science</li>
         <li>Physics</li>
      </ol>
   </body>
</html>

It will produce the following result −

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