CSS Lists


The CSS list properties allow you to:

  • Set different list item markers for ordered lists
  • Set different list item markers for unordered lists
  • Set an image as the list item marker

List

In HTML, there are two types of lists:

  • unordered lists (<ul>) - the list items are marked with bullets
  • ordered lists (<ol>) - the list items are marked with numbers or letters

With CSS, lists can be styled further, and images can be used as the list item marker.


Different List Item Markers

The type of list item marker is specified with the list-style-type property:

Example

ul.a {
    list-style-type: circle;
}

ul.b {
    list-style-type: square;
}

ol.c {
    list-style-type: upper-roman;
}

ol.d {
    list-style-type: lower-alpha;
}

Try it yourself »

Some of the values are for unordered lists, and some for ordered lists.


An Image as The List Item Marker

To specify an image as the list item marker, use the list-style-image property:

Example

ul {
   list-style-image: url('sqpurple.gif');
}

Try it yourself »

The example above does not display equally in all browsers. IE and Opera will display the image-marker a little bit higher than Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

If you want the image-marker to be placed equally in all browsers, a crossbrowser solution is explained below.

Crossbrowser Solution

The following example displays the image-marker equally in all browsers:

Example

ul {
    list-style-type: none;
    padding: 0px;
    margin: 0px;
}

ul li {
    background-image: url(sqpurple.gif);
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 0px center;
    padding-left: 15px;
}

Try it yourself »

Example explained:

  • For <ul>:
    • Set the list-style-type to none to remove the list item marker
    • Set both padding and margin to 0px (for cross-browser compatibility)
  • For all <li> in <ul>:
    • Set the URL of the image, and show it only once (no-repeat)
    • Position the image where you want it (left 0px and vertical value: center)
    • Position the text in the list with padding-left

List - Shorthand property

The list-style property is a shorthand property. It is used to set all the list properties in one declaration:

Example

ul {
    list-style: square inside url("sqpurple.gif");
}

Try it yourself »

When using the shorthand property, the order of the property values are:

  • list-style-type (if a list-style-image is specified, the value of this property will be displayed if the image for some reason cannot be displayed)
  • list-style-position (specifies whether the list-item markers should appear inside or outside the content flow)
  • list-style-image (specifies an image as the list item marker)

If one of the property values above are missing, the default value for the missing property will be inserted, if any.


Examples

More Examples

All the different list-item markers for lists
This example demonstrates all the different list-item markers in CSS.


All CSS List Properties

Property Description
list-style Sets all the properties for a list in one declaration
list-style-image Specifies an image as the list-item marker
list-style-position Specifies if the list-item markers should appear inside or outside the content flow
list-style-type Specifies the type of list-item marker


Color Picker

colorpicker