Does UL have default margin or padding [duplicate]

Question

This might seem like a dumb question, but I've added an UL to a basic page and the list seems to be off-centered. There's nothing special about the list. No specific css added: just a list. When I load live it's slightly off center.
Is there a default margin or padding on the left side?

<h3>Title Heading</h3>
   <ul id="listItems">
       <li>itemOne</li>
       <li>itemTwo</li>
       <li>itemThree</li>
   </ul>

The main body has all the css code for centering, aligning, float, etc. The 'Title Header' align perfectly. Just list is a little off.

Thank you.

Oh, don't know if this is important, but I added the 'id' cause... wanted to use 'first-of-type' to give 1st item em(bold).

Sanderling

add ul - padding: 0; – Francesfrancesca

The W3C standard says ul should have a 40px left padding, but browsers have their own defaults. – Reflector

Answer 1

The problem is that by default, browsers have custom css - in chrome for example:

ul, menu, dir {
   display: block;
   list-style-type: disc;
   -webkit-margin-before: 1em;
   -webkit-margin-after: 1em;
   -webkit-margin-start: 0px;
   -webkit-margin-end: 0px;
   -webkit-padding-start: 40px;
}

You'll have to use a custom rule for your ul:

element.style {
    margin-left: 0px;
    /* set to 0 if your not using a list-style-type */
    padding-left: 20px;
}

Rider

OK, the padding seems to work. I just feel strange adding padding to a default setting that I have no control over or that I can't recognize in my code. But I guess, whatever works. – Sanderling

Interesting but here in 2024 the default for UL in chrome is display: block; list-style-type: disc; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline-end: 0px; padding-inline-start: 40px; – Homologize

Answer 2

Lists will always align so the text remains in line with the edge of the parent element. This means the bullet points will by default sit outside (to the left) of the element. You can force the alignment to happen to the bullet point, not the text like so:

ul {
  list-style-position: inside; }

Alternatively you can just add your own margin to push the entire list element like so:

ul {
  margin-left: 20px; }

Paganini

Ok, I tried the suggestion two ways. I added the code to css under the selector #itemList. I also added a section around the ul entitled id="bodyList" (I was trying not to mess with my specific code to change f-o-t). Nothing happen. I would use the margin-left, but not sure how it will affect float during resize; additionally there aren't any bullets. – Sanderling

@Sanderling well it looks like your problem there is applying the CSS to #itemList when it's meant to be #listItems – Paganini

Thanks, this worked, but only when I used the following syntax in my Wordpress website: <ul style="list-style-position: inside"> – Hennessy