prefix

Baseline 2023

Newly available

Since September 2023, this feature works across the latest devices and browser versions. This feature might not work in older devices or browsers.

The @counter-style rule's prefix descriptor specifies content that will be added to the beginning of the counter's marker representation.

When the counter value is negative, the prefix comes before the negative sign and any other <symbol>s added by the negative descriptor.

Syntax

css

/* <symbol> value: string, image, or identifier */
prefix: "»";
prefix: "Page ";
prefix: url(bullet.png);

Values

The prefix descriptor takes as its value a single <symbol>:

<symbol>: Specifies a <symbol> — a <string>, <image>, or <custom-ident> — that is prepended to the marker representation.

Formal definition

Related at-rule	`@counter-style`
Initial value	"" (the empty string)
Computed value	as specified

Formal syntax

prefix = 
  <symbol>  

<symbol> = 
  <string>        |
  <image>         |
  <custom-ident>  

<image> = 
  <url>       |
  <gradient>  

<url> = 
  <url()>  |
  <src()>  

<url()> = 
  url( <string> <url-modifier>* )  |
  <url-token>                      

<src()> = 
  src( <string> <url-modifier>* )

Examples

Adding a prefix to a counter

In this example, each counter number is prefixed by "Book " (with a space) and followed by a colon (:). The colon is added with the suffix descriptor.

HTML

html

<ol class="books">
  <li>Flamer, by Mike Curato</li>
  <li>Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe</li>
  <li>Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins</li>
  <li>The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel, by Margaret Atwood</li>
  <li>Crank, by Ellen Hopkins</li>
</ol>

CSS

css

@counter-style books {
  system: numeric;
  symbols: "0" "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9";
  prefix: "Book ";
  suffix: ": ";
}

.books {
  list-style: books;
  padding-left: 15ch;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Counter Styles Level 3 # counter-style-prefix

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser