| Depr. | Version |
|---|---|
| Yes | HTML 2 |
| IE5.5+ | FF1+ | SA1.3+ | OP9.2+ | CH2+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 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, it
start will make a reappearance as a fully-endorsed
attribute in HTML 5.
The alternative to using this attribute
should be to use CSS counters, but there is such poor support for increment counters via CSS that
realistically you have no other choice but to use the
start attribute.
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 | Chrome | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
Every browser listed supports this attribute.
