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Numbering Start

The number the first item of a numbered list counts from.

Where to find it
Labelled Numbering Start in the "Selected Component" section of the Modify drawer.
Offered by
The List component. Other components do not have this setting.
Per device
Yes — you can set one value for every screen, or separate values for phone, tablet, and desktop.

In plain English

A numbered list counts from 1, and this setting is for the times it should not. Set it to 5 and the items read 5, 6, 7 — the list keeps counting on its own from wherever you started it.

The usual reason is a list split in two. Steps 1 to 4 sit above a screenshot, steps 5 to 8 continue below it: two list components, with the second one's Numbering Start set to 5, read as one continuous set of instructions.

Whole numbers only, and only a numbered list reads it. On a bulleted list the setting is ignored, because there is nothing to count.

When you would use it

  • Continuing a numbered list after an image, a quote, or anything else that interrupts it.
  • Picking up a numbering scheme the surrounding document already established.

How to change it

  1. Click the list on the canvas.
  2. In the Modify drawer, open "Selected Component", then "Numbering Start".
  3. Type a whole number, or clear the field to count from 1.
  4. Uncheck "Same value for all resolutions" to differ per device.
One value, or one per device? Every input in this setting sits under a “Same value for all resolutions” checkbox. Leave it checked for a single value everywhere, or uncheck it to give phones, tablets, and desktops their own. How per-device values work.

Watch out for

  • Nothing keeps the two halves of a split list in sync. Add a step to the first list and the second one's start needs updating by hand.
  • This changes where counting begins, not the scheme. Letters and numerals come from Marker Style; a start of 3 with upper-roman begins at III.
  • It applies with Reversed Numbering too, where it becomes the number counted down from.

Related settings

For developers

The technical reference for what this setting produces: MDN: the ordered list element. You do not need any of it to use the setting — it is there for whoever is building the components or debugging the published page.

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