How to Change Ordered Lists Layout and Styles

Ordered lists (<ol>) typically begin numbering at 1 in XHTML output. However, in certain situations you may need to start at a given index. You can control the starting number using the @outputclass="start-x" attribute (where X is the number you want the list to start with) on the <ol> element. This is especially useful when lists do not have the same parent:

<table frame="all">
  <title>Table with nested order lists</title>
  <tgroup cols="1">
    <tbody>
      <row>
        <entry>
          <ol>
            <li>First Item</li>
            <li>Second Item</li>
          </ol>
        </entry>
      </row>
      <row>
        <entry>
          <ol outputclass="start-3">
            <li>Third Item</li>
            <li>Fourth Item</li>
          </ol>
        </entry>            
      </row>
    </tbody>
  </tgroup>
</table>

Ordered lists (<ol>) are usually numbered in XHTML output using numerals. If you want to change the numbering to alphabetical, follow these steps:

1. Define a custom @outputclass value and set it as an attribute of the ordered list, as in the following example:

   <ol outputclass="number-alpha">
       <li>A</li>
       <li>B</li>
       <li>C</li>
   </ol>

2. Add the following code snippet in a custom CSS file:

   ol.number-alpha{
       list-style-type:lower-alpha;
   }

3. Reference the CSS file in a WebHelp Responsive transformation using an Oxygen Publishing Template or the args.css parameter.