# A problem with the List function? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 6, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-list-function/267905 "2004-10-06T19:56:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-list-function/267905/1 "2004-10-06T19:56:16Z")
I don’t use the List function often. Both times I’ve used it, my first item vanished. Let me see if I’m doing right: [ul] [li]Second, I type in the first item, and click OK.[/li][li]Third, I type in the second item, click OK.[/li][li]Fourth, I type in the third item. Click OK.[/li][li]Fifth, I click OK with the prompt box empty, and the list comes up in the message box.[/li][/ul] Yup, it happened again. The first item was, "First, I click on the “list with bullets” icon. When the list came up, it was gone. What did I do wrong? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-list-function/267905/2 "2004-10-06T20:04:20Z")
I think that, if you use the bullet-list icon in the reply form, you need to click on it once with either a blank field, 1, or A, depending on whether you want a bulleted, numbered, or alphabetically “numbered” list, **prior** to typing your first item. I’ve found it to be much simpler to simply manually code the list: [ul][li]Type [list] (without the spaces) – or list=1 or list=A inside the brackets if you want numbering[/li][li]Type [\*] without the spaces, hit return, and repeat as needed to create your list[/li][li]Acknowledge the wisdom of **OpalCat** , of course :)[/li][li]Type the close-code [/list] (again without the spaces)[/ul][/li] I created the above list explaining how to do it manually, manually, without recourse to the little list-making dialog boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-list-function/267905/3 "2004-10-06T20:05:39Z")
The second step in that list should, of course, include typing in the **substantive content** of the list after the bracketed asterisk for each entry in the list! :o ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-list-function/267905/4 "2004-10-06T20:13:38Z")
Okay, I’ll try the first method: [ul] [li]First item.[/li][li]Second item.[/li][li]Roman numeral III.[/li][/ul] Hey, that worked! Thank you, **Polycarp.** Oh, and Og bless Opal. I got 3 items, but bless her anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-problem-with-the-list-function/267905/5 "2004-10-06T20:36:58Z")
My pleasure, **AskNott**! Just out of curiosity… > [@Polycarp](#): > > …depending on whether you want a bulleted, numbered, or alphabetically “numbered” list… Is there a term to describe lists of the form A. the first item, B. the second item, C. the third item…? “Alphabetically ‘numbered’” was the best I could come up with on short notice, but there’s got to be proper terminology for it. (“Outline format” is of course hierarchical, where main entries I and II have subsets A and B, which in turn may have infrasubsets 1 and 2…, so that’s not it.)