Ordered lists are, uh, numbered lists. Lists in which the items are numbered.... No big surprises here. Every numbered list should begin with <ol> and end with </ol> ("ol" stands for "ordered list"), and each list item should be set off by an <li> tag. There's no need to number and renumber list items if you switch the order around; the browser will do it for you.
A simple numbered list will go something like this:
<p>Three things I know to be true:
<ol>
<li> A cucumber and marmalade sandwich tastes
better than it sounds.
<li> A mountain bike never belongs in the
back seat of my mom's sedan.
<li> A head of lettuce isn't a good commuting
snack.
</ol>
In a browser it will look like this:
Three things I know to be true:
- A cucumber and marmalade sandwich tastes better than it sounds.
- A mountain bike never belongs in the back seat of my mom's sedan.
- A head of lettuce isn't a good commuting snack.
All that's fine, you say, but you don't want numbers - as a matter of fact, you can't stand numbers. Well, there are options for people like you. Netscape has created list tags that use letters or Roman numerals instead. These extensions aren't support
ed by all browsers, though, so some of your readers may see plain ol' numbers.
Here's how the lists break down:
<li type=1> makes numbers (1, 2, 3)
<li type=A> makes uppercase letters (A, B, C)
<li type=a> makes lowercase letters (a, b, c)
<li type=I> makes uppercase Roman numerals (I, II, III)
<li type=i> makes lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii)
If you really wanted to, you could combine these tags to create something that looks like an outline:
<ol>
<li type=I>Never give bell peppers on the first date
<ol>
<li type=A>Intention could be misinterpreted
<ol>
<li type=1>Widely known as lusty vegetable
<li type=1>Viewed by some as symbol of warfare
</ol></ol></ol>
And it should look like this:
- Never give bell peppers on the first date
- Intention could be misinterpreted
- Widely known as lusty vegetable
- Viewed by some as symbol of warfare