The CSS display property is a crucial element in creating visually appealing and organized web pages. It allows developers to control how elements are displayed on a webpage, whether they are block level or inline. In this article, we'll be focusing on the inline display property and its interaction with the list-style-image property on <li> tags.
First, let's define what the CSS display: inline property does. When applied to an element, it changes its display behavior to inline, meaning that it will be displayed on the same line as other elements, instead of taking up the entire width of the page. This is particularly useful when we want to display elements side by side, such as images and text.
Now, let's take a look at the list-style-image property. This property allows us to customize the bullet points or markers of a list by using an image instead of the default bullet point. This adds a unique and visually appealing touch to our lists.
But what happens when we combine the display: inline property with the list-style-image property on <li> tags? Let's find out.
To begin, let's create a simple unordered list with three items, each with different images as bullet points:
<ul>
<li><img src="bullet1.png" alt="bullet point 1"> Item 1</li>
<li><img src="bullet2.png" alt="bullet point 2"> Item 2</li>
<li><img src="bullet3.png" alt="bullet point 3"> Item 3</li>
</ul>
By default, the <li> tags have a display property of list-item, which means they will take up the entire width of the page and display as a block element. However, we want our list items to be displayed inline, so let's add the CSS property display: inline to our <li> tags.
li {
display: inline;
}
Now, when we refresh our page, we can see that the list items are displayed side by side, as expected. However, the list-style-image property seems to have no effect. This is because the list-style-image property only works on block level elements. Since we have changed the display property of our <li> tags to inline, the images will not be displayed.
To solve this issue, we can use the display: inline-block property. This property combines the features of both inline and block level elements, allowing us to display the <li> tags inline while still being able to use the list-style-image property.
li {
display: inline-block;
}
Now, when we refresh our page, we can see that the list items are still displayed inline, but the images are now visible as well. This gives our list a unique and visually appealing look.
In conclusion, the CSS display: inline property is a powerful tool for controlling the layout of our web pages. When combined with the list-style-image property on <li> tags, it allows us to create attractive and organized lists. So next time you want to add some style to your lists, remember to use the display: inline property.
