start (HTML attribute)
| Depr. | Version |
|---|---|
| Yes | HTML 2 |
| IE5.5+ | FF1+ | SA1.3+ | OP9.2+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Full | Full | Full |
Syntax
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.
start attribute lets you set the
starting number for an ol
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.
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>
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
| Internet Explorer | Firefox | Safari | Opera | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 9.2 | 9.5 |
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
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
"...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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