I have a very weird requirement, wherein I am required to have no option selected by default in drop down menu in HTML. However,
I cannot use this,
<select>
<option></option>
<option>Option 1</option>
<option>Option 2</option>
<option>Option 3</option>
</select>
Because, for this I will have to do validation to handle the first option. Can anyone help me in achieving this target without actually including the first option as part of the select tag?
Maybe this will be helpful
<select>
<option disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option>
<option>Option 1</option>
<option>Option 2</option>
<option>Option 3</option>
</select>
-- select an option -- Will be displayed by default. But if you choose an option, you will not be able to select it back.
You can also hide it using by adding an empty option
<option style="display:none">
so it won't show up in the list anymore.
Option 2
If you don't want to write CSS and expect the same behaviour of the solution above, just use:
<option hidden disabled selected value> -- select an option -- </option>
You could use Javascript to achieve this. Try the following code:
HTML
<select id="myDropdown">
<option>Option 1</option>
<option>Option 2</option>
<option>Option 3</option>
</select>
JS
document.getElementById("myDropdown").selectedIndex = -1;
or JQuery
$("#myDropdown").prop("selectedIndex", -1);
Today (2015-02-25)
This is valid HTML5 and sends a blank (not a space) to the server:
<option label=" "></option>
Verified validity on http://validator.w3.org/check
Verified behavior with Win7(IE11 IE10 IE9 IE8 FF35 Safari5.1) Ubuntu14.10(Chrome40, FF35) OSX_Yosemite(Safari8, Chrome40) Android(Samsung-Galaxy-S5)
The following also passes validation today, but passes some sort of space character to the server from most browsers (probably not desirable) and a blank on others (Chrome40/Linux passes a blank):
<option> </option>
Previously (2013-08-02)
According to my notes, the non-breaking-space entity inside the option tags shown above produced the following error in 2013:
Error: W3C Markup Validaton Service (Public): The first child option
element of a select element with a required attribute and without a
multiple attribute, and whose size is 1, must have either an empty
value attribute, or must have no text content.
At that time, a regular space was valid XHTML4 and sent a blank (not a space) to the server from every browser:
<option> </option>
Future
It would make my heart glad if the spec was updated to explicitly allow a blank option. Preferably using the briefest syntax. Either of the following would be great:
<option />
<option></option>
Test File
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Test</title>
</head>
<body>
<form action="index.html" method="post">
<select name="sel">
<option label=" "></option>
</select>
</form>
</body>
</html>
<td><b>Field Label:</b><br>
<select style='align:left; width:100%;' id='some_id' name='some_name'>
<option hidden selected>Select one...</option>
<option value='Value1'>OptLabel1</option>
<option value='Value2'>OptLabel2</option>
<option value='Value3'>OptLabel3</option></select>
</td>
Just put "hidden" on option you want to hide on dropdown list.
Solution that works by only using CSS:
A: Inline CSS
<select>
<option style="display:none;"></option>
<option>Option 1</option>
<option>Option 2</option>
<option>Option 3</option>
</select>
B: CSS Style Sheet
If you have a CSS file at hand, you can target the first option using:
select.first-opt-hidden option:first-of-type {
display:none;
}
<select class="first-opt-hidden">
<option></option>
<option>Option 1</option>
<option>Option 2</option>
<option>Option 3</option>
</select>
This should help:
https://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_select_required.asp
<form>
<select required>
<option value="">None</option>
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
Just a small remark:
some Safari browsers do not seem to respect neither the "hidden" attribute nor the style setting "display:none" (tested with Safari 12.1 under MacOS 10.12.6). Without an explicit placeholder text, these browsers simply show an empty first line in the list of options. It may therefore be useful to always provide some explanatory text for this "dummy" entry:
<option hidden disabled selected value>(select an option)</option>
Thanks to the "disabled" attribute, it won't be actively selected anyway.
<select required>
<option value="" disabled selected>None</option>
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="mercedes">Mercedes</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>
You can avoid custom validation in this case.
I understand what you are trying to do.The best and the most successful way is :
<select name='department' required>
<option value="">None</option>
<option value="Teaching">Teaching department</option>
<option value="nonTeaching">Non-teaching department</option>
</select>
I found it really interesting because I just experienced the same thing not so long time ago.
However, I came across to an example on the Internet about the solution regarding this.
Without any further ado, see the code fragment below:
<select>
<option value data-isdefault="true">--Choose one Option--</option>
<option>Option 1</option>
<option>Option 2</option>
<option>Option 3</option>
</select>
With that, it will stay un-submittable but selectable, anytime. More convenience for User Interface and great for User Experience.
Well that's all, I hope it helps. Cheers!
There is no HTML solution. By the HTML 4.01 spec, browser behavior is undefined if none of the option elements has the selected attribute, and what browsers do in practice is that they make the first option pre-selected.
As a workaround, you could replace the select element by a set of input type=radio elements (with the same name attribute). This creates a control of the same kind though with different appearance and user interface. If none of the input type=radio elements has the checked attribute, none of them is initially selected in most modern browsers.
I'm using Laravel 5 framework and #Gambi `s answer worked for me as well but with some changes for my project.
I have the option values in a database table and I use them with a foreach statement. But before the statement I have added an option with #Gambit suggested settings and it worked.
Here my exemple:
#isset($keys)
<select>
<option disabled selected value></option>
#foreach($keys as $key)
<option>{{$key->value)</option>
#endforeach
</select>
#endisset
I hope this helps someone as well. Keep up the good work!
Try this:
<h2>Favorite color</h2>
<select name="color">
<option value=""></option>
<option>Pink</option>
<option>Red</option>
<option>Blue</option>
</select>
The first option in the drop down would be blank.
In order to show please select a value in drop down and hide it after some value is selected . please use the below code.
it will also support required validation.
<select class="form-control" required>
<option disabled selected value style="display:none;">--Please select a value</option>
<option >Data 1</option>
<option >Data 2</option>
<option >Data 3</option>
</select>
If you are using Angular (2+), (or any other framework), you could add some logic. The logic would be: only display an empty option if the user did not select any other yet.
So after the user selected an option, the empty option disappears.
For Angular (9) this would look something like this:
<select>
<option *ngIf="(hasOptionSelected$ | async) === false"></option>
<option *ngFor="let option of (options$ | async)[value]="option.id">{{ option.title }}</option>
</select>
For those who are using <select multiple> (combobox; no dropdown), this worked for me:
<select size=1 disabled multiple>
<option hidden selected></option>
<option>My Option</option>
</select>
If you don't need any empty option at first, try this first line:
<option style="display:none"></option>
just use "..option hidden selected.." as default option
I guess a good idea would be to use the radio buttons, set #1 as default and hide it, give it for example a
name="init" and a value="null" or whatever, up to you!
this way the radio buttons list has a value definitely, but default of null can be used logically!
I think it's not necessary to elaborate further, since the idea can easily be implemented with display: none; or visibility: hidden;
... whereas I think the first one display: none; is the better option:
In react, you can give a dummy value (say -1) with select tag as below and same value can be used with this disabled option of yours. (WORKED FOR ME)
const nonEmpty = selected[identifierField] || false;
<select
onChange={(e) => {
onSelect(
options.find((option) => option[identifierField] === e.target.value)
);
}}
value={nonEmpty || -1}
>
<option disabled value={-1}>Select Option</option>
{options.map((option) => (
<option key={option[identifierField]} value={option[identifierField]}>
{option[displayField]}
</option>
))}
</select>
option style="display:none"
Is bad solution for Tablet: iPad Pro / iOS 15 / Safari
An unnecessary row in the dropdown appears, only for real devices. Doesn`t reproduce on the emulator.
Try this:
<select>
<option value="">
<option>Option 1
<option>Option 2
<option>Option 3
</select>
Validates in HTML5. Works with required attribute in select element. Can be re-selected. Works in Google Chrome 45, Internet Explorer 11, Edge, Firefox 41.
Here is the code I am having issues with:
<select name="webmenu" id="filter_option" style="width: 175px; " onchange="searchTree($(this).val());">
<option value="">--View All--</option>
<option value="Tree">Tree</option>
<option value="Dog Approval">Dog Approval</option>
<option value="Cat">Cat</option>
<option value="Sky">Sky</option>
I have an issue with the dropdown in that when I select this: <option value="">--View All--</option> in chrome the list does not load all default values when this option is selected.
When I go into chrome inspector and look at the line: <option value="">--View All--</option> the option value looks like this: <option>--View All--</option>
Why is it stripping out the value="" part of the code?
without the code ot link to that site I cannot guess what exactly is happening at your side.
but answering the question from the title…
you can only select multiple options if the attribute multiple is present in the tag select. then to make an option tag selected it needs the attribute selected.
so to select all options, all option tags need an attribute selected.
read up: select, multiple, option
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head><title></title></head>
<body>
<select size="5" multiple>
<option selected value="1">1</option>
<option selected value="2">2</option>
<option selected value="3">3</option>
<option selected value="4">4</option>
<option selected value="5">5</option>
</select>
</body></html>
if you can maybe add your problem to the above playground and a solution might be found through that.
Perhaps i'm misunderstanding here, but given the following html:
<select value="2">
<option value="1">Something</option>
<option value="2">Something else</option>
</select>
I would expect "Something else" to be the default selected option. However, it does not seem to be. Why is this, and what should I be doing differently?
You use selected attribute on an option element to specify default option.
<select>
<option value="1">Something</option>
<option value="2" selected="selected">Something else</option> // this is default
</select>
select elements do not have a value attribute.
The only way to have a default option is to have selected in the option tag.
<SELECT>
<OPTION>Something
<OPTION SELECTED>Something Else
React JS
Some coding implementations such as ReactJS allow you to use a value attribute with the <select> tag so this would be perfectly valid code:
<select value="2">
<option value="1">Something</option>
<option value="2">Something else</option>
</select>
So if you are seeing code examples like this it is likely because it is in React or other similar library/framework.
Of course, with this approach, typically you would want to specify the value in state, so that it is updateable.
HTML with Attribute Minimization:
However, if you are using purely HTML you must use the selected attribute in your <option> tag as follows:
<select>
<option value="1">Something</option>
<option value="2" selected>Something else</option>
</select>
HTML with Full Attribute Specification:
The above uses attribute minimization, but you can also specify the full form if you want:
<select>
<option value="1">Something</option>
<option value="2" selected="selected">Something else</option>
</select>
The <select> element does not have a value attribute so that is ignored. So, you have a single selection <select> and none of its <option> elements have the selected attribute, that means that the first <option> is taken as the default selection.
I know this post is quite old but in case anyone else is struggling with this you can implement the functionality you are looking for using jquery.
The full code using php would be something like this
PHP
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']== "POST") {
$thing = $_POST['things'];
} else {
$thing ="";
}
HTML
<select name='things' value="<?php echo $thing; ?>">
<option value="1">Something</option>
<option value="2">Something else</option>
</select>
JQUERY
$(function() {
$("select[value]").each(function() {
$(this).val(this.getAttribute("value"));
});
}); //end document ready
This will allow the select options chosen by the user to remain selected
after the page has re-loaded via post instead of returning
to the default values.
You have to use select attribute. in below code, a swift option will be selected by default
<select name="myCar" id="car">
<option value="ind">Indica</option>
<option value="swf" selected>Swift</option>
</select>
I have a form with a select list of various office locations, i have it set so it should have the office initially selected BUT it does not seem to Work in IE!!! (no surprise)
here is what i am using to preselect:
<option selected value="Office 1">Office 1</option>
here is the site: http://www.nwtaxpreparation.com/offices/122andpowell.html
let me know if you have any solutions!
HTML 4 uses:
<option value="foo" selected>Bar</option>
XHTML REQUIRES:
<option value="foo" selected="selected">Bar</option>
To say that "there is no such thing as selected="whatever" is false!
I recently had the same problem with selected options tags. I had a series of select boxes like this:
<select>
<option value="dr">Day rate</option>
<option selected="selected" value="sv">Social value</option>
</select>
<select>
<option value="dr">Day rate</option>
<option selected="selected" value="sv">Social value</option>
</select>
I couldn't work out why the correct items wouldn't select. I later discovered that it was because there was no name attribute on the select item. Firefox seems to need this to work properly, even in version 15.
<select name="type">
<option value="dr">Day rate</option>
<option selected="selected" value="sv">Social value</option>
</select>
I changed it to the above and selected="selected" works fine now.
Is it possible to have a selectbox that has a default option such as: "Select One" but have the term "Select One" not present in the actual list itself?
<select name="test" id="test">
<option value="" selected="selected">Select A Entry</option>
<optgroup label="A Label">
<option value="one">Option 1</option>
<option value="two">Option 2</option>
<option value="three">Option 3</option>
</optgroup>
</select>
I would go so far as to say no. Personally I would leave it in this list but write a javascript function to validate user input on form submission.
You could use this little bit of Javascript to do the trick:
<select name="test" id="test" onclick="this.remove(0);this.onclick=''">
As they click the list to select an option, it removes the first option ("Select an Entry" from the list, then clears the event handler so it only does this the first time.