HTML Unordered Lists

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

HTML Lists are used to determine lists of data. All lists may contain at least one or more list elements. There are three different types of HTML lists:

Ordered List or Numbered List (ol)
Unordered List or Bulleted List (ul)
Description List or Definition List (dl)

In this article, you will learn-

1 Unordered HTML List
2 Unordered HTML List – Choose List Item Marker
3 Nested HTML Lists
4 Horizontal List with CSS
5 Chapter Summary

Unordered HTML List

An unordered list begins with the <ul> tag. Each list item begins with the <li> tag.

The list items will be set apart 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 accompanying values:

Value	Description
disc	Sets the list item marker to a bullet (default)
circle	Sets the list item marker to a circle
square	Sets the list item marker to a square
none	The 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:circle;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

Example – Square

<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 another list, and other HTML elements, similar to pictures and links, and so forth

Horizontal List with CSS

HTML lists can be styled from multiple points of view 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

Tag Description

<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

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