How to create a 1.1, 1.2 1.3 ... HTML list?

Question

Hi!

I want to create HTML nested lists that has the following format:

1  
   1.1  
   1.2  
   1.3  
   1.4   
2
   2.1

I tried a solution that I found on the internet:

OL { counter-reset: item }
LI { display: block }
LI:before { content: counters(item, ".") " "; counter-increment: item }

But it didnt work for me. Any help please??

If the counter solution is too complicated, is there a way to fake the nested list effect, by writing them manually but being sure that the formatting looks like a real list

Answer 1

Works perfectly for me, in FF 3.6.6, so:

1. Which browser is it not working in?
2. What does your markup look like (i.e. are you nesting the lists correctly)?

Answer 2

This should work. It is a bad way to do this but if you MUST support IE6 not much choice.

      <ol>
        <li><span>1</span> Item
          <ol>
            <li><span>1.1</span> Item</li>
            <li><span>1.2</span> Item</li>
            <li><span>1.3</span> Item</li>
            <li><span>1.4</span> Item</li>
          </ol>
        </li>            
        <li><span>2</span> Item
          <ol>
            <li><span>2.1</span> Item</li>
          </ol>            
        </li>
      </ol>

with css

ol {list-style:none;}

After your comment I've redone it a bit.

  <ol>
    <li><span>1</span> Item
      <ol>
        <li><span>1.1</span> <p>ItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem</p></li>
        <li><span>1.2</span> <p>ItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem</p></li>
        <li><span>1.3</span> <p>ItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem ItemItemItemItemItemItemItemItem</p></li>
        <li><span>1.4</span> <p>Item</p></li>
      </ol>
    </li>            
    <li><span>2</span> Item
      <ol>
        <li><span>2.1</span> Item</li>
      </ol>            
    </li>
  </ol>

And the css would be

ol {list-style:none;} ol li span { display: block; float: left; width: 30px; } ol li { clear:both; width: 400px;

} ol li p { float: left; width: 370px; margin: 0;

}

You may have to adjust the widths.

Answer 3

The before element doesn't work in IE6, but it's the correct way of doing it. I'd recommend using IE7.js, a javascript library that makes IE6 behave like IE7 where javascript and CSS are concerned. Another way could be using a javascript hack that runs only if the browser is IE6 and traverses de DOM modifying the list items...

In For A Beautiful Web you can find more information regarding IE6-compatible websites.