Contents
The previous list, for example, is an unordered list, created using the UL element.
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:
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.
<!ENTITY % ULStyle "(disc|square|circle)"> <!ELEMENT UL - - (LI)+ -- unordered list --> <!ATTLIST UL %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- type %ULStyle; #IMPLIED -- bullet style -- compact (compact) #IMPLIED -- reduced interitem spacing -- > <!ENTITY % OLStyle "CDATA" -- constrained to: [1|a|A|i|I] --> <!ELEMENT OL - - (LI)+ -- ordered list --> <!ATTLIST OL %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- type %OLStyle; #IMPLIED -- numbering style -- compact (compact) #IMPLIED -- reduced interitem spacing -- start NUMBER #IMPLIED -- starting sequence number -- >
Start tag: required, End tag: required
<!-- The type attribute can be used to change the bullet style
in unordered lists and the numbering style in ordered lists -->
<!ENTITY % LIStyle "CDATA" -- constrained to: "(%ULStyle;|%OLStyle;)" -->
<!ELEMENT LI - O (%block;)+ -- list item -->
<!ATTLIST LI
%attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events --
type %LIStyle; #IMPLIED -- list item style --
value NUMBER #IMPLIED -- reset sequence number --
>
Start tag: required, End tag: optional
Attribute definitions
Attributes defined elsewhere
Ordered and unordered lists are identical 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>
Lists may also be nested:
<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>
Visual browsers usually present nested lists indented with respect to the current level of indentation.
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.
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.
Your user agent displays them as follows (the bullet glyph in the line may or may not vary):
For the OL element, possible values for the type attribute are summarized in the table below:
| 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 lower case 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>
OL.withroman { list-stle-type: lower-roman }
</STYLE>
<BODY>
<OL class="withroman">
<LI> Step one ...
<LI> Step two ...
</OL>
</BODY>
<!-- definition lists - DT for term, DD for its definition --> <!ELEMENT DL - - (DT|DD)+ -- definition list --> <!ATTLIST DL %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- compact (compact) #IMPLIED -- reduced interitem spacing -- >
Start tag: required, End tag: required
<!ELEMENT DT - O (%inline;)* -- definition term --> <!ELEMENT DD - O (%block;)+ -- 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 marked up text (i.e., no block-level elements). The description is given with a DD element and may contain block-level content. Another use for DL is for dialogues, with each DT naming a speaker, and each DD containing his or her words.
Here is an example with multiple descriptions per term.
<DL> <DT>cool <DD class="formal">a fairly low temperature, fairly cold. <DD class="slang">marvelous ... </DL>
Here is another 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>
The rendering of a definition list depends on the user agent. Your
user agent renders this example as follows:
DIR and MENU are deprecated
<!ELEMENT (DIR|MENU) - - (LI)+ -(%blocklevel;) -- directory list, menu list --> <!ATTLIST DIR %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- compact (compact) #IMPLIED > <!ATTLIST MENU %attrs; -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events -- compact (compact) #IMPLIED >
Start tag: required, End tag: required
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.