Using a Glyphicon as an LI bullet point (Bootstrap 3)

Question

How can I change the bullet points in an HTML list and use the glyphicons that come with Bootstrap 3?

So that:

<ul>
    <li>...</li>
    <li>...</li>
</ul>

Displays as:

 [icon]  Facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, numquam eius modi
         omnis dolor repellendus. Non numquam eius modi numam dolor omnis 
         tempora incidunt ut labore.

 [icon]  Facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, numquam eius modi
         omnis dolor repellendus. Non numquam eius modi numam dolor omnis 
         tempora incidunt ut labore.

I would prefer not to have to inject extra HTML such as this...

<ul>
    <li><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right"></i> ...</li>
    <li><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right"></i> ...</li>
</ul>

Answer 1

This isn't too difficult with a little CSS, and is much better than using an image for the bullet since you can scale it and colour it and it will keep sharp at all resolutions.

1. Find the character code of the glyphicon by opening the Bootstrap docs and inspecting the character you want to use.

   

2. Use that character code in the following CSS

   li {
       display: block;
   }
   
   li:before {
       /*Using a Bootstrap glyphicon as the bullet point*/
       content: "\e080";
       font-family: 'Glyphicons Halflings';
       font-size: 9px;
       float: left;
       margin-top: 4px;
       margin-left: -17px;
       color: #CCCCCC;
   }
   

   You may like to tweak the colour and margins to suit your font size and taste.

View Demo & Code

Answer 2

If anyone is coming here looking to do this with Font Awesome Icons (like I was) view here: https://fontawesome.com/how-to-use/on-the-web/styling/icons-in-a-list

<ul class="fa-ul">
  <li><i class="fa-li fa fa-check-square"></i>List icons</li>
  <li><i class="fa-li fa fa-check-square"></i>can be used</li>
  <li><i class="fa-li fa fa-spinner fa-spin"></i>as bullets</li>
  <li><i class="fa-li fa fa-square"></i>in lists</li>
</ul>

The fa-ul and fa-li classes easily replace default bullets in unordered lists.

Answer 3

I'm using a simplyfied version (just using position relative) based on @SimonEast answer:

li:before {
    content: "\e080";
    font-family: 'Glyphicons Halflings';
    font-size: 9px;
    position: relative;
    margin-right: 10px;
    top: 3px;
    color: #ccc;
}

Answer 4

If you want happen to be using LESS it can be achieved like so:

li {
    .glyphicon-ok();

    &:before {            
        .glyphicon();            
        margin-left:-25px;
       float:left;
    }
}

Answer 5

If you want to have a different icon for each list-item, I suggest adding icons in HTML instead of using a pseudo element to keep your CSS down. It can be done quite simply as follows:

<ul>
  <li><span><i class="mdi mdi-lightbulb-outline"></i></span>An electric light with a wire filament heated to such a high temperature that it glows with visible light</li>
  <li><span><i class="mdi mdi-clipboard-check-outline"></i></span>A thin, rigid board with a clip at the top for holding paper in place.</li>
  <li><span><i class="mdi mdi-finance"></i></span>A graphical representation of data, in which the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart.</li>
  <li><span><i class="mdi mdi-server"></i></span>A system that responds to requests across a computer network worldwide to provide, or help to provide, a network or data service.</li>
</ul>

-

ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin-left: 2.5em;
  padding-left: 0;
}
ul>li {
  position: relative;
}
span {
  left: -2em;
  position: absolute;
  text-align: center;
  width: 2em;
  line-height: inherit;
}

In this case I used Material Design Icons

VIEW DEMO

Answer 6

Using Font Awesome 5, the markup is a bit more complex than the previouis answer. Per the FA documentation, the markup should be:

<ul class="fa-ul">
  <li><span class="fa-li" ><i class="fas fa-check-square"></i></span>List icons can</li>
  <li><span class="fa-li"><i class="fas fa-check-square"></i></span>be used to</li>
  <li><span class="fa-li"><i class="fas fa-spinner fa-pulse"></i></span>replace bullets</li>
  <li><span class="fa-li"><i class="far fa-square"></i></span>in lists</li>
</ul>