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HTML Unordered Lists

The HTML <ul> tag defines an unordered (bulleted) list.

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>

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:

ValueDescription
discSets the list item marker to a bullet (default)
circleSets the list item marker to a circle
squareSets the list item marker to a square
noneThe 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: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>

Nested HTML Lists

Lists can be nested (list inside list):

Example

<ul>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea
    <ul>
      <li>Black tea</li>
      <li>Green tea</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

Note: A list item (<li>) can contain a new list, and other HTML elements, like images and links, etc.

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>

Chapter Summary

  • Use the HTML <ul> element to define an unordered list
  • Use the CSS list-style-type property to define the list item marker
  • Use the HTML <li> element to define a list item
  • Lists can be nested
  • List items can contain other HTML elements
  • Use the CSS property float:left to display a list horizontally

HTML List Tags

TagDescription
<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