How to Create Nested Bullets on Medium, Substack, Markdown and HTML

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One of my articles needed nested bullets. I use Markdown to draft my articles so I had to work out how to create nested bullets in Markdown. My articles are converted to other formats or pasted to other platforms, so I also needed to develop nested bullets in Medium, Substack and HTML.

Substack

Substack has nested bullets built into its editor, but the method takes a bit of finding:

1. Type a dash and a space to create a primary bullet.
2. Add the first item on the list.
3. Type Return/Enter to create the second primary bullet.
4. Type Delete/Backspace to remove this primary bullet.
5. Type a dash and a space to create a sub-bullet.
6. Type the first nested item.

The following is an example of how this process works:

Continue using this process for the other bullets.

Result

Medium

Medium doesn't have nested bullets built into its editor, but there is a fix:

1. Type a dash and a space to create a primary bullet.
2. Add the first item on the list.
3. Press 'Shift' and 'Newline/Enter' together.
4. Type a dash and a space.
5. Type the first nested item.

In effect, you are typing the following:

- Red - Orange - Crimson - Yellow - Gold - Mustard - Blue - Navy - Sky - Green - Lime - Leaf

Result

HTML

HTML has always had the ability to create nested lists. It is done by nesting 'Unordered Lists' inside the primary 'Unordered List':

<ul> <li>Red</li> <ul> <li>Orange</li> <li>Crimson</li> </ul> <li>Yellow</li> <ul> <li>Gold</li> <li>Mustard</li> </ul> <li>Blue</li> <ul> <li>Navy</li> <li>Sky</li> </ul> <li>Green</li> <ul> <li>Lime</li> <li>Leaf</li> </ul> </ul>

Result

Markdown

Like HTML, Markdown has a built-in ability to create a 'Nested List'. It is done by:

1. Type a dash and a space to create a primary bullet.
2. Add the first item on the list.
3. Press 'Shift' and 'Newline/Enter' together.
4. Type a dash and a space.
5. Type the first nested item.

- Red - Orange - Crimson - Yellow - Gold - Mustard - Blue - Navy - Sky - Green - Lime - Leaf

Result