for the value "disc"
for the value "circle"
for the value "square"
Contents
The previous list, for example, is an unordered list, created with the UL element:
<UL> <LI>Unordered information. <LI>Ordered information. <LI>Definitions. </UL>
An ordered list, created using the OL element, should contain information where order should be emphasized, as in a recipe:
Definition lists, created using the DL element, generally consist of a series of term/definition pairs (although definition lists may have other applications). Thus, when advertising a product, one might use a definition list:
defined in HTML as:
<DL> <DT><STRONG>Lower cost</STRONG> <DD>The new version of this product costs significantly less than the previous one! <DT><STRONG>Easier to use</STRONG> <DD>We've changed the product so that it's much easier to use! <DT><STRONG>Safe for kids</STRONG> <DD>You can leave your kids alone in a room with this product and they won't get hurt (not a guarantee). </DL>
Lists may also be nested and different list types may be used together, as in the following example, which is a definition list that contains an unordered list (the ingredients) and an ordered list (the procedure):
The exact presentation of the three list types depends on the user agent. We discourage authors from using lists purely as a means of indenting text. This is a stylistic issue and is properly handled by style sheets.
<!ELEMENT UL - - (LI)+ -- unordered list --> <!ATTLIST UL %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- > <!ELEMENT OL - - (LI)+ -- ordered list --> <!ATTLIST OL %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- >
Start tag: required, End tag: required
Start tag: required, End tag: optional
Attribute definitions
Attributes defined elsewhere
Ordered and unordered lists are rendered in an identical manner except that visual user agents number ordered list items. User agents may present those numbers in a variety of ways. Unordered list items are not numbered.
Both types of lists are made up of sequences of list items defined by the LI element (whose end tag may be omitted).
This example illustrates the basic structure of a list.
<UL> <LI> ... first list item... <LI> ... second list item... ... </UL>
DEPRECATED EXAMPLE:
<UL>
<LI> ... Level one, number one...
<OL>
<LI> ... Level two, number one...
<LI> ... Level two, number two...
<OL start="10">
<LI> ... Level three, number one...
</OL>
<LI> ... Level two, number three...
</OL>
<LI> ... Level one, number two...
</UL>
Details about number order. In ordered lists, it is not possible to continue list numbering automatically from a previous list or to hide numbering of some list items. However, authors can reset the number of a list item by setting its value attribute. Numbering continues from the new value for subsequent list items. For example:
<ol> <li value="30"> makes this list item number 30. <li value="40"> makes this list item number 40. <li> makes this list item number 41. </ol>
<!-- definition lists - DT for term, DD for its definition --> <!ELEMENT DL - - (DT|DD)+ -- definition list --> <!ATTLIST DL %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- >
Start tag: required, End tag: required
<!ELEMENT DT - O (%inline;)* -- definition term --> <!ELEMENT DD - O (%flow;)* -- definition description --> <!ATTLIST (DT|DD) %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- >
Start tag: required, End tag: optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
Definition lists vary only slightly from other types of lists in that list items consist of two parts: a term and a description. The term is given by the DT element and is restricted to inline content. The description is given with a DD element that contains block-level content.
Here is an example:
<DL>
<DT>Dweeb
<DD>young excitable person who may mature
into a <EM>Nerd</EM> or <EM>Geek</EM>
<DT>Cracker
<DD>hacker on the Internet
<DT>Nerd
<DD>male so into the Net that he forgets
his wife's birthday
</DL>
Here is an example with multiple terms and descriptions:
<DL>
<DT>Center
<DT>Centre
<DD> A point equidistant from all points
on the surface of a sphere.
<DD> In some field sports, the player who
holds the middle position on the field, court,
or forward line.
</DL>
Another application of DL, for example, is for marking up dialogues, with each DT naming a speaker, and each DD containing his or her words.
Note. The following is an informative description of the behavior of some current visual user agents when formatting lists. Style sheets allow better control of list formatting (e.g., for numbering, language-dependent conventions, indenting, etc.).
Visual user agents generally indent nested lists with respect to the current level of nesting.
For both OL and UL, the type attribute specifies rendering options for visual user agents.
For the UL element, possible values for the type attribute are disc, square, and circle. The default value depends on the level of nesting of the current list. These values are case-insensitive.
How each value is presented depends on the user agent. User agents should attempt to present a "disc" as a small filled-in circle, a "circle" as a small circle outline, and a "square" as a small square outline.
A graphical user agent might render this as:
for the value "disc"
for the value "circle"
for the value "square"
For the OL element, possible values for the type attribute are summarized in the table below (they are case-sensitive):
| Type | Numbering style | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | arabic numbers | 1, 2, 3, ... |
| a | lower alpha | a, b, c, ... |
| A | upper alpha | A, B, C, ... |
| i | lower roman | i, ii, iii, ... |
| I | upper roman | I, II, III, ... |
Note that the type attribute is deprecated and list styles should be handled through style sheets.
For example, using CSS, one may specify that the style of numbers for list elements in a numbered list should be lowercase roman numerals. In the excerpt below, every OL element belonging to the class "withroman" will have roman numerals in front of its list items.
<STYLE type="text/css">
OL.withroman { list-style-type: lower-roman }
</STYLE>
<BODY>
<OL class="withroman">
<LI> Step one ...
<LI> Step two ...
</OL>
</BODY>
The rendering of a definition list also depends on the user agent. The example:
<DL>
<DT>Dweeb
<DD>young excitable person who may mature
into a <EM>Nerd</EM> or <EM>Geek</EM>
<DT>Cracker
<DD>hacker on the Internet
<DT>Nerd
<DD>male so into the Net that he forgets
his wife's birthday
</DL>
might be rendered as follows:
Dweeb
young excitable person who may mature into a Nerd or Geek
Cracker
hacker on the Internet
Nerd
male so into the Net that he forgets his wife's birthday
DIR and MENU are deprecated.
See the Transitional DTD for the formal definition.
Attributes defined elsewhere
The DIR element was designed to be used for creating multicolumn directory lists. The MENU element was designed to be used for single column menu lists. Both elements have the same structure as UL, just different rendering. In practice, a user agent will render a DIR or MENU list exactly as a UL list.
We strongly recommend using UL instead of these elements.