Definition List

Definition lists consist of terms as list markers, which are associated with details in the list entries.

The definition list is an essential tool to structure textual content on a small scale. There is only one syntax, but Perplex offers many styling options.

Syntax

First Term
: Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and 
Consonantia, there live the blind texts.
: Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and
Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

Second Term or
Second Term Alternative
: Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and
Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

Every list item begins with one or more terms. The lines after them contain the description(s) starting with a colon followed by a space. An empty line between the list items is mandatory.

Layout

The layout has to consider the length and number of all the components. The standard version is working with every combination of terms and descriptions the additional options are not. The tight style suits single terms with details, which do usually not exceed one line on larger screens. The loose style is intended for terms with extensive details.

Standard

The standard layout resembles the default style of common browsers:

First Term

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

Second Term or

Second Term Alternative

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

This style looks especially well for long terms in a literature list:

Horkheimer, Max und Theodor W. Adorno

Dialektik der Aufklärung: Philosophische Fragmente. 18. Aufl. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verl., 2009.

Wiener, Norbert

Kybernetik: Regelung und Nachrichtenübertragung im Lebewesen und in der Maschine. Econ classics. Düsseldorf: ECON-Verl., 1992.

Tight

For a list with short single terms and only one short definition, a tighter style is more suitable. We apply it with the attribute {.dl-tight}:

First

Far far away, behind the word mountains…

Second

There live the blind texts.

Loose

Short single terms with long descriptions will look better with a loose style, that is applied by the attribute {.dl-loose}

First Term

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts.

Second Term

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts.