CSS ordered list - style the number, when li contains multiple lines, maintaining indentation

Question

Variants of this question have been asked and answered, but I can't find an answer to this specific question...

I would like to style the number in each li item in my ol , given that each li may span multiple lines, in a way that maintains the indentation.

For example - here is a simple, un-styled example:

 <div style="width: 200px;"> <ol> <li>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</li> <li>blah</li> <li>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</li> <li>blah</li> </ol> </div> 

This produces the following result - note the proper indentation of multiple lines:

I've tried styling the numbers using li:before :

 ol { counter-reset: li; list-style: none; } li { counter-increment: li; } li:before { margin-right: 10px; content: counter(li) '.'; width: 1.2em; display: inline-block; } 

 <div style="width: 200px;"> <ol> <li>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</li> <li>blah</li> <li>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</li> <li>blah</li> </ol> </div> 

Now, I can easily style the numbers, but the indentation on multiple lines is lost:

So, how can I style the numbers, and maintain proper indentation?

Answer 1

Use this css.

li {
  counter-increment: li;
  padding-left: 30px;
}
li:before {
  margin-right: 10px;
  content: counter(li) '.';
  width: 1.2em;
  display: inline-block;
  margin-left: -30px;
}

Answer 2

You could just make some space on the left side of the element by padding it, remove the :before element from the content flow with position: absolute , and position it in the space created by the padding.

ol {
  counter-reset: li;
  list-style: none;
}
li {
  counter-increment: li;
  /* Anchor all :before elements to their respective li */
  position: relative;
  padding-left: 1em;
}
li:before {
  content: counter(li) '.';
  width: 1.2em;
  display: inline-block;
  position:absolute;
  left: 0;
}

Answer 3

If you don't mind introducing another element, you can just wrap the text in a span.

 li { color: red; } li span { color: black; } 

 <div style="width: 200px;"> <ol> <li><span>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</span></li> <li><span>blah</span></li> </ol> </div> 

Answer 4

You can also update the display: to use the table values.

The table-row value makes the element act like a <tr> and the table-cell makes the element act like a <td> ensuring that the different parts of the list stay aligned.

 ol { counter-reset: li; list-style: none; } li { counter-increment: li; display:table-row; } li:before { margin-right: 10px; content: counter(li) '.'; width: 1.2em; display: table-cell; } 

 <div style="width: 200px;"> <ol> <li>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</li> <li>blah</li> <li>blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah</li> <li>blah</li> </ol> </div>