<dir>
HTML <dir> Tag
The <dir> tag is used to define a list of directory titles. The items inside the list are defined using the <li> tag (as with HTML lists that are defined using <ol> and <ul> tags). The list of directory titles is marked with bullets by default.
The <dir> is a deprecated HTML tag and not supported in HTML5. Use the <ul> tag and CSS list-style property instead (see examples below).
Syntax
Syntax
The <dir> tag comes in pairs. The content is written between the opening (<dir>) and closing (</dir>) tags.
Example of the HTML <dir> tag:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<dir>
<li>HTML Tutorial</li>
<li>CSS Tutorial</li>
<li>PHP Tutorial</li>
</dir>
</body>
</html>
Result
Example of the CSS list-style property:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<head>
<style>
ul{
list-style: disc;
}
</style>
</head>
<ul>
<li>HTML Tutorial</li>
<li>CSS Tutorial</li>
<li>PHP Tutorial</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Attributes
Attributes
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| compact | compact | Specifies that the list should render smaller than normal. |
| Not supported in HTML5. |
The <dir> tag also supports the Global Attributes and the Event Attributes.
How to style <dir> tag? Common properties to alter the visual weight/emphasis/size of text in <dir> tag:
CSS font-style property sets the style of the font. normal | italic | oblique | initial | inherit. CSS font-family property specifies a prioritized list of one or more font family names and/or generic family names for the selected element. CSS font-size property sets the size of the font. CSS font-weight property defines whether the font should be bold or thick. CSS text-transform property controls text case and capitalization. CSS text-decoration property specifies the decoration added to text, and is a shorthand property for text-decoration-line, text-decoration-color, text-decoration-style.
Coloring text in <dir> tag:
CSS color property describes the color of the text content and text decorations. CSS background-color property sets the background color of an element.
Text layout styles for <dir> tag:
CSS text-indent property specifies the indentation of the first line in a text block. CSS text-overflow property specifies how overflowed content that is not displayed should be signalled to the user. CSS white-space property specifies how white-space inside an element is handled. CSS word-break property specifies where the lines should be broken.
Other properties worth looking at for <dir> tag:
CSS text-shadow property adds shadow to text. CSS text-align-last property sets the alignment of the last line of the text. CSS line-height property specifies the height of a line. CSS letter-spacing property defines the spaces between letters/characters in a text. CSS word-spacing property sets the spacing between words.