How to style the number on a html list?

Question

Is it possible to style or increase the size of the numbers only on a ordered list?

I am planning on turning a ordered list ol into something like wikihow steps using CSS only.

Here is a example to play with: http://jsfiddle.net/ejRzy/1/

Answer 1

It can be done using CSS3 but not 100% cross browser (namely IE7). using the pseudo :before element and counter-reset and counter-increment you can hide the list-style and create your own.

here is an article outlining how: Styling ordered list numbers

and here is a demo built from that article.

Also in case of the dreaded link rot - here is the main CSS code required (this can be applied to any ordered list)

ol {
    counter-reset:li; /* Initiate a counter */
    margin-left:0; /* Remove the default left margin */
    padding-left:0; /* Remove the default left padding */
}
ol > li {
    position:relative; /* Create a positioning context */
    margin:0 0 6px 2em; /* Give each list item a left margin to make room for the numbers */
    padding:4px 8px; /* Add some spacing around the content */
    list-style:none; /* Disable the normal item numbering */
    border-top:2px solid #666;
    background:#f6f6f6;
}
ol > li:before {
    content:counter(li); /* Use the counter as content */
    counter-increment:li; /* Increment the counter by 1 */
    /* Position and style the number */
    position:absolute;
    top:-2px;
    left:-2em;
    -moz-box-sizing:border-box;
    -webkit-box-sizing:border-box;
    box-sizing:border-box;
    width:2em;
    /* Some space between the number and the content in browsers that support
       generated content but not positioning it (Camino 2 is one example) */
    margin-right:8px;
    padding:4px;
    border-top:2px solid #666;
    color:#fff;
    background:#666;
    font-weight:bold;
    font-family:"Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif;
    text-align:center;
}
li ol,
li ul {margin-top:6px;}
ol ol li:last-child {margin-bottom:0;}​

This code will produce a custom ordered list; albeit not the style you asked for. I will leave the customization work upto you :) cheers

Answer 2

kind of.... style your ordered list with the font size you want for the numbers, then wrap all your list items in spans, and give them a different style.

http://jsfiddle.net/keith_nicholas/MEHXj/