Lists

Lists should form the backbone of your web content. EdWeb offers a variety of available list styles.

On this page

Bulleted lists

Numbered lists

Definition lists

Different list styles should be used for different purposes.

Bulleted lists

Use bulleted lists wherever you can on your site.  You can also have one level of nested bullets.

• Reading vertically is easier than reading horizontally.
  • This is especially true for mobile devices.
• Key words can be pushed to the front more easily, making your content easier to scan.
• Writing focused content can be easier, as lists allow you to group your ideas.

Numbered and alpha lists

You should only use numbered lists when the order of the items in the list is important, such as in step-by-step instructions or a table of contents.

If you need to order a list, you can do so using letters, numbers or roman numerals, all available in upper or lower case.

You can also have one level of nested bullets. These can use a different numbering style, but can't use a plain bullet.

Numbering example

When creating a new website:

1. Discuss and agree your site objectives between all your stakeholders, including:
   1. Your head of department
   2. Planned site editors
   3. Any other relevant stakeholders
2. Plan and agree your content in Word form.
   1. An Excel spreadsheet can be useful for structure planning.
   2. Check the EdWeb demo site for guidance and inspiration.
   3. Balsamiq mockups may help with previewing how thing will look.
3. Source relevant images.
   1. Always make sure you have permission to use them.
4. Log onto the CMS and upload your content.

Definition lists

Style options

Four styles are available - horizontal or vertical data alignment, each with or without a border.

Horizontal style

This list shows the horizontal style.

Vertical style

The list at the top of this page shows the vertical style.

Borders

This list shows a definition list without a border. The list at the top of this page shows a bordered list.

Using links with lists

Links should not be included directly in bulleted or numbered lists. Save these for a separate element at the end of the paragraph, to avoid distracting your users.

 Links - read more on this site

Making lists work for you

Our video on chunking content, part of our Effective Digital Content training, gives more information on why lists work so well, and how we know that.

Chunking your content - watch the video on Media Hopper

The University Web Style Guide gives information on how to use grammar and punctuation with lists.

Editorial guidelines - Web Style Guide (UWP site)

Practical guidance

You can find to how to use lists on the EdWeb Support wiki.

Adding list elements: bulleted, numbered and definition lists - EdWeb Support wiki [EASE login required]