When & How to Use Lists
There are three basic kinds of lists you can create in HTML:
- unordered (bulleted)
- ordered (numbered or lettered)
- definition
Unordered Lists
An unordered list like the one above should be used with items whose order does not matter -- a list of parallel choices, for example:
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Directories
Contribute users: if you don't like bullets, make them invisible:
- Select all the list items with your mouse.
- Right-click on the selected items, then select Style > nobull.
Dreamweaver users: if you don't like bullets, select the entire <ul> using the tag selector, right-click and select Set Class > nobulletlist.
Ordered Lists
Ordered lists are useful when you want to give a list of steps or instructions, or when you need to refer to items in the list elsewhere in the document by number or letter:
- Go to the corner.
- Turn right.
- Walk fifty feet.
- Buy a soda from the vending machine, and wait.
In Contribute, you can set the style an ordered list uses by selecting the list with your mouse, then right-clicking and selecting List > Properties. Set the style to arabic or roman numerals, large or small letters, as you prefer.
Definition Lists
When you have a series of annotated items (links to bibliographical resources, for example), you may want to use a definition list format, like this one:
- Literature Resource Center
- Provides one search access to Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, the Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature.
- MLA International Bibliography
- Indexes 4000 journals and series in literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore, 1963-