How to use CSS Counter ?

About

css supports counter variable ¹⁾ that can be used in a property value (for instance in a content property to add numbering to:

heading
or list

Example

List

For instance:

We create two counters:
- one for the level 1
- one for the level 2

counter-set is not yet supported by Apple Safari

ol { counter-set: level1 }
ol > ol { counter-set: level2 }

Styling to show the counter value

li { display: block }
ol li::before { content: counter(level1) ". "; counter-increment: level1 }
ol ol li::before { content: counter(level1) "." counter(level2, upper-roman) " "; counter-increment: level2 }

The html

<ol>
    <li> first item </li>
    <li> second item </li>
    <ol> 
        <li> second level, first item </li>
        <li> second level, first item </li>
    </ol>
    <li> third item </li>
    <li> fourth item </li>
</ol>

The result:

Rendered by WebCode

Chapter and section

This example shows a way to number chapters and sections with “Chapter 1”, “1.1”, “1.2”, etc.

The css

body {
    counter-set: chapter 0 section 0; /* scope is on the body */
}
h1::before {
    content: "Chapter " counter(chapter) ". ";
    counter-increment: chapter 1;  /* Add 1 to chapter */
    counter-set: section 0;
}
h2::before {
    content: counter(chapter) "." counter(section) " ";
    counter-increment: section;
}

The html

<h1>Chapter</h1>
<h2>Section</h2>
<h2>Section</h2>
<h2>Section</h2>
<h1>Chapter</h1>
<h2>Section</h2>
<h2>Section</h2>
<h2>Section</h2>

Output:

Rendered by WebCode

Property

counter-set ²⁾ to create if not exist the named counter in the scope (ie the selected node and its descendants) and set a value.
counter-reset to reset the named counter to create and reset the named counter in the scope
counter-increment ³⁾ to increment the named counter (by default +1)

Nested Counter

Nested counter ⁴⁾ are pretty wild if you don't understand their internal.

Counter:

got an added extra internal id by scope (even if named)
their scope/creation is created:
- explicitly with:
  - the counter-set
  - or counter-reset is called.
- implicitly with:
  - the counter-increment if counter-set or counter-reset was not called before

For instance:

We create an item counter, for all children ol of the body element

body > ol { counter-reset: item }

We create / reset a new counter at the third ol descendant

body > ol > ol > ol { counter-reset: item }

Styling to show the counter value

li { display: block }
li::before { content: counter(item) ". "; counter-increment: item }

The html and the explanation in comment or text

<ol> <!-- item0 is created, set to 0 -->
    <li> item0 is incremented to 1 </li>
    <li> item0 is incremented to 2 </li>
    <ol> 
        <li> item0 is incremented to 3 </li>
        <li> item0 is incremented to 4 </li>
        <ol> <!-- item1 is created, set to 0, nested in item0 -->
            <li> item1 is incremented to 1 </li>
            <li> item1 is incremented to 2 </li>
        </ol>
        <li> item1 is incremented to 3  and not item0 ! because their was no call to counter-set or reset</li>
    </ol>
    <li> item0 is incremented to 5 </li>
    <li> item0 is incremented to 6 </li>
</ol>
<ol> <!-- item2 is created, set to 0 -->
    <li> item2 is incremented to 1 </li>
    <li> item2 is incremented to 2 </li>
</ol>

The result:

Rendered by WebCode

¹⁾

counter

²⁾ , ³⁾

https://www.w3.org/TR/css-lists-3/#increment-set

⁴⁾

https://www.w3.org/TR/css-lists-3/#nested-counters