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While surfing the web we come across different types of data. Some of them are presented in the form of paragraphs while some information is presented in the form of lists. Lists provide the content more visibility, readability and understandability. It also improves the overall look of the web site. In HTML documents different types of lists can be inserted. There are countless number of designs and styles, which can be applied to a list. Broadly speaking, HTML lists can be classified into three main categories. One is ordered lists (also known as numbered lists), second one is unordered lists (also known as bulleted lists) and the last one is glossary lists (also known as definition lists).

Ordered lists are those in which each list item is numbered in either an ascending order or in descending order. The HTML tags which make up the ordered lists are <OL>……</OL>.

Example code of ordered list:

<OL>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
<LI> E-Book </LI>
<LI> Blogs </LI>
<LI> SEO </LI>
<LI> SMO </LI>
</OL>

The <LI> tag is always used within the <OL> tag. It represents the list items which have to be displayed. It’s not necessary that the numbered lists always put numerical in front of the each list item. You can also use alphabets and roman signs to them. In order to add these you can use the ‘TYPE’ attribute with <OL>. You can also start a list directly from any number or any alphabet by using ‘START’ attribute. Below is a comprehensive example explaining how to create different kinds of ordered lists.

HTML Code:

<OL>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
</OL>

<OL TYPE=”A”>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
</OL>

<OL TYPE=”a” START=”b”>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
</OL>

<OL TYPE=”i”>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
</OL>

<OL TYPE=”I” START=”!!!”>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
</OL>

It is clear that:

1) “1” specifies the standard Arabic numerals to be used in the ordered list.
2) “a” specifies the lowercase alphabets to be used in the ordered list.
3) “A” specifies the uppercase alphabets to be used in the ordered list
4) “i” specifies the lowercase Roman numerals to be used in the ordered list.
5) “I” specifies the uppercase Roman numerals to be used in the ordered list.

So far we have seen that the ordered lists numbers the list items in a flow like 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. or a, b, c….etc. but we can also break the sequence and directly jump to any number or alphabet of our choice. For this purpose we have to use ‘VALUE’ attribute with the <LI> tag. For example:

<OL TYPE=”1” START=”2”>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
<LI VALUE=”10”> Blogs
<LI> SMO
</OL>

Like the ordered lists, the unordered or bulleted lists are also used to present the data in a more meaningful, readable and understandable way. Unlike the ordered lists the unordered ones puts a bullet instead of a number or alphabet in front of every list item. The HTML tags used to create the unordered lists are <UL>…</UL>. Unordered lists can also be used in a variety of styles. By default most of the web browsers use bullets to delineate unordered list items. Some text browsers such as Lynx put an asterisk sign before the unordered list item.

Example code for creating an unordered list:

<UL>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
<LI> E-Book </LI>
<LI> Blogs </LI>
<LI> SEO </LI>
<LI> SMO </LI>
</UL>

The output of the above code will be as follows:

• Content
• Resume
• E-Book
• Blogs
• SEO
• SMO

Instead of simple bullets we can also use other symbols as far as they are supported by the web browser. In order to accomplish this we have to use ‘TYPE’ attribute with the <UL> HTML tag. For example:

<UL TYPE=”SQUARE”>
<LI> Content </LI>
<LI> Resume </LI>
<LI> E-Book </LI>
<LI> Blogs </LI>
<LI> SEO </LI>
<LI> SMO </LI>
</UL>

Using the above HTML code we will get the following output:

• Content
• Resume
• E-Book
• Blogs
• SEO
• SMO

We can also use different types of symbols in the same unordered list and ordered list with the bulleted one. A sub-list under a main list can also be created. This process is popularly known as nesting of lists and such kind of lists are called ‘Nested Lists’. Below is a comprehensive example of a nested list which consists of both the numbered and bulleted styles.

HTML Code:

<HTML>
<OL TYPE=”I” START=”V”>Guess what we will be discussing today?
<OL TYPE=”1”>
<LI> Its all about vegetables </LI>
<OL TYPE=”A”>
<LI> Carrot
<UL>
<LI> Its red in color </LI>
</UL>
<LI> Tomato </LI>
<UL TYPE=”CIRCLE”>
<LI>Its also red in color </LI>
</UL>
<LI> Potato </LI>
<UL TYPE=”SQUARE”>
<LI> It’s the odd one out as it is brown in color </LI>
</UL>
</OL>
</OL>
</OL>
</HTML>

In this way we can try infinite combinations of tags to design our lists. Nested lists can be made more beautiful if non-breaking spaces i.e. < & nbsp > is used. It will increase indents and the sub-lists will be easily presented under the main ones.