HTML list-style-type dash

Question

Is there a way to create a list-style in HTML with a dash (i.e. - or – – or — —) i.e.

<ul>
  <li>abc</li>
</ul>

Outputting:

- abc

It's occurred to me to do this with something like li:before { content: "-" };, though I don't know the cons of that option (and would be much obliged for feedback).

More generically, I wouldn't mind knowing how to use generic characters for list items.

Answer 1

There is an easy fix (text-indent) to keep the indented list effect with the :before pseudo class.

ul {
  margin: 0;
}
ul.dashed {
  list-style-type: none;
}
ul.dashed > li {
  text-indent: -5px;
}
ul.dashed > li:before {
  content: "-";
  text-indent: -5px;
}

Some text
<ul class="dashed">
  <li>First</li>
  <li>Second</li>
  <li>Third</li>
</ul>
<ul>
  <li>First</li>
  <li>Second</li>
  <li>Third</li>
</ul>
Last text

Answer 2

You could use :before and content: bearing in mind that this is not supported in IE 7 or below. If you're OK with that then this is your best solution. See the Can I Use or QuirksMode CSS compatibility tables for full details.

A slightly nastier solution that should work in older browsers is to use an image for the bullet point and just make the image look like a dash. See the W3C list-style-image page for examples.

Answer 3

Here's a version without any position relative or absolute and without text-indent:

ul.dash {
    list-style: none;
    margin-left: 0;
    padding-left: 1em;
}
ul.dash > li:before {
    display: inline-block;
    content: "-";
    width: 1em;
    margin-left: -1em;
}

Enjoy ;)

Answer 4

Use this:

ul
{
    list-style: square inside url('data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBQAKAIABAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAEALAAAAAAFAAoAAAIIjI+ZwKwPUQEAOw==');
}

Answer 5

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
}

ul > li:before {
  content: "–"; /* en dash */
  position: absolute;
  margin-left: -1.1em; 
}

demo fiddle

Answer 6

Let me add my version too, mostly for me to find my own preferred solution again:

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  /*use padding to move list item from left to right*/
  padding-left: 1em;
}

ul li:before {
  content: "–";
  position: absolute;
  /*change margin to move dash around*/
  margin-left: -1em;
}

<!-- 
Just use the following CSS to turn your
common disc lists into a list-style-type: 'dash' 
Give credit and enjoy!
-->
Some text
<ul>
  <li>One</li>
  <li>Very</li>
  <li>Simple Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.</li>
  <li>Approach!</li>
</ul>

https://codepen.io/burningTyger/pen/dNzgrQ

Answer 7

In my case adding this code to CSS

ul {
    list-style-type: '- ';
}

was enough. Simple as it is.

Answer 8

One of the top answers did not work for me, because, after a little bit trial and error, the li:before also needed the css rule display:inline-block.

So this is a fully working answer for me:

ul.dashes{
  list-style: none;
  padding-left: 2em;
  li{
    &:before{
      content: "-";
      text-indent: -2em;
      display: inline-block;
    }
  }
}

Answer 9

ul {
  list-style-type: '-';
}

You can refer to MDN

Answer 10

ul {
margin:0;
list-style-type: none;
}
li:before { content: "- ";}

Answer 11

Here is my fiddle version:

The (modernizr) class .generatedcontent on <html> practically means IE8+ and every other sane browser.

<html class="generatedcontent">
  <ul class="ul-dash hanging">
    <li>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet stack o verflow dot com</li>
    <li>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet stack o verflow dot com</li>
  </ul>

CSS:

.ul-dash {
  margin: 0;
}

.ul-dash {
  margin-left: 0em;
  padding-left: 1.5em;
}

.ul-dash.hanging > li { /* remove '>' for IE6 support */
  padding-left: 1em;
  text-indent: -1em;
}  

.generatedcontent .ul-dash {
  list-style: none;
}
.generatedcontent .ul-dash > li:before {
  content: "–";
  text-indent: 0;
  display: inline-block;
  width: 0;
  position: relative;
  left: -1.5em;
}

Answer 12

HTML

<ul>
  <li>One</li>
  <li>Very</li>
  <li>Simple</li>
  <li>Approach!</li>
</ul>

CSS

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
}

ul li:before {
  content: '-';
  position: absolute;
  margin-left: -20px;
}`

Answer 13

I do not know if there is a better way, but you can create a custom bullet point graphic depicting a dash, and then let the browser know you want to use it in your list with the list-style-type property. An example on that page shows how to use a graphic as a bullet.

I have never tried to use :before in the way you have, although it may work. The downside is that it will not be supported by some older browsers. My gut reaction is that this is still important enough to take into consideration. In the future, this may not be as important.

EDIT: I have done a little testing with the OP's approach. In IE8, I couldn't get the technique to work, so it definitely is not yet cross-browser. Moreover, in Firefox and Chrome, setting list-style-type to none in conjunction appears to be ignored.

Answer 14

My solution is in adding extra span tag with mdash in it:

<ul class="mdash-list">
    <li><span class="mdash-icon">&mdash;</span>ABC</li>
    <li><span class="mdash-icon">&mdash;</span>XYZ</li>
</ul>

and adding to css:

ul.mdash-list 
{
    list-style:none;
}

ul.mdash-list  li
{
    position:relative;
}

ul.mdash-list li .mdash-icon
{
    position:absolute;
    left:-20px;
}

Answer 15

Another way:

li:before {
  content: '\2014\00a0\00a0'; /* em-dash followed by two non-breaking spaces*/
}
li {
  list-style: none;
  text-indent: -1.5em;
  padding-left: 1.5em;    
}

Answer 16

CSS:

li:before {
  content: '— ';
  margin-left: -20px;
}

li {
  margin-left: 20px;
  list-style: none;
}

HTML:

<ul>
  <li>foo</li>
  <li>bar</li>
</ul>

Answer 17

For anyone having this problem today, the solution is simply:

list-style: "- "

Answer 18

Instead of using lu li, used dl (definition list) and dd. <dd> can be defined using standard css style such as {color:blue;font-size:1em;} and use as marker whatever symbol you place after the html tag. It works like ul li, but allows you to use any symbol, you just have to indent it to get the indented list effect you normally get with ul li.

CSS:
dd{text-indent:-10px;}

HTML
<dl>
<dd>- One</dd>
<dd>- Two</dd>
<dd>- Three</dd></dl>

Gives you much cleaner code! That way, you could use any type of character as marker! Indent is of about -10px and it works perfect!

Answer 19

You can just set li::marker like so:

li::marker {
   content: '- ';
}

Answer 20

What worked for me was

<ul>
    <li type= "none">  &ndash; line 1 </li>
    <li type= "none">  &ndash; line 2 </li>
    <li type= "none">  &ndash; line 3 </li>
</ul>