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by Ian Lloyd

start (HTML attribute)

Browser support full matrix
IE5.5+ FF1+ Saf1.3+ Op9.2+
Full Full Full Full
Spec
Depr. Version
Yes HTML 2
start="number"

Example

This example shows the start attribute applied to the maintenance steps shown earlier, using a lowercase roman character sequence with a start position of 4:

<ol type="i" start="4">
  <li>Remove the outer casing by pushing the plastic rivets 
      through.</li>
  <li>Disconnect the main power harness from the inner unit 
      (unclip).</li>
  <li>Remove connection to the glow plug.</li>
  <li>Extract unit, keeping upright at all times.</li>

</ol>

Description

The start attribute lets the web page author define the start point in the numbering sequence, rather than using the default of "1" (or "a", "A", "i", or "I", depending on the type attribute’s value), as demonstrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The start attribute lets you set the starting number for an ol example of ordered list styled with i, ii, iii etc, with a start value of 4

This attribute is now deprecated; however, the fact that it is presentational in nature is a matter of heated debate. The fact that a list continues on from a previous list, for instance, could certainly fall under the heading of semantically meaningful information, worthy of including in the HTML code of the page. Because of this, rumor has it that start will make a reappearance as a fully-endorsed attribute in HTML 5.

Value

The start attribute’s value is always expressed as a number, regardless of which type attribute is set. In the examples below, the start points would be "iv", "D", and "4", respectively:

<ol type="i" start="4">
<ol type="A" start="4">
<ol type="1" start="4">

Compatibility

IE5.5Full
6.0Full
7.0Full
Firefox1.0Full
1.5Full
2.0Full
Safari1.3Full
2.0Full
3.0Full
Opera9.2Full

Good support is provided for the start attribute, but given that it’s a deprecated attribute, you should avoid using it if you can.

User-contributed notes

ID:
#1
Date:
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:50:50 GMT
Contributed by:
Lapalazala

"...it’s a deprecated attribute and its effects can be achieved using CSS..."

What would a good way to mark-up a list that has to start at a value other than 1 be? (a way that actually works in current browsers including IE6)

In my opinion both list-style and the start value are content, not presentation. Currently, I need to mark-up legal texts that are legally required to display correctly without CSS and validate as HTML 4 strict or XHTML 1 strict.
The fact that the 'start' and 'type' attributes are deprecated makes these requirements mutually exclusive, unless some ugly workarounds are used that do validate, but are much less semantically correct.

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