Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Unordered list presentation

By default, user agents insert a bullet before each list item in an unordered list. Leaving an unordered list unstyled (that is, applying no style sheet properties to it) is a reliable shortcut to having your information appear as an indented bulleted list.

But that sells the usefulness of the unordered list element short. By applying style properties, an unordered list may be presented however you like. You can change the shape of the bullets with the list-style-type property (this property replaces the deprecated type attribute that is discouraged from use). The list-style-image property allows you to use your own image as a bullet. Style properties for lists are discussed in Chapter 23.

And that’s just the beginning. You can set lists to display horizontally, too. You can even use unordered list markup as the structure underlying a rich graphical navigation toolbar with rollover effects, all accomplished with Cascading Style Sheets. These techniques are outlined in Chapter 24.