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3.4.1 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 1: Unordered HTML list

<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:

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 2: A list with discs

<ul style="list-style-type:disc;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

Example 3: A list with circles

<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

Example 4: A list with square bullets

<ul style="list-style-type:square;">
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>Tea</li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>

Example 5: A list with no bullets

<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 6: A list inside a list

<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 7: A navigation menu

<!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

For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit HTML Tag Reference.

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