Select Tags (Drop downs)

The select tag has several attributes, and the closing </select> tag is required.

• name (required) - names the input information
• size - how many items in the list are showing on the screen at once
• multiple - the reader can choose multiple items

The tricky part of the <select> tag is that it needs a second tag to include the elements in the list, the <option> tag.

The option tag has two primary attributes:

• value - if this is not included, the form will send the server whatever follows the option tag (up to the next option tag, or </select> tag) as the value
• selected - if this is not included, the form will display the first element listed as the default selected choice

Here are three types of select lists:

Basic Select List

<select name="1" size="1">
<option>one
<option>two
<option>three
</select>

one two three

Basic Multiple Select List

<select name="2" multiple size="1">
<option>one</option>
<option>two</option>
<option>three</option>
</select>

one two three

Multiple Select with Multiple Showing

<select name="3" multiple size="2">
<option value="1">one</option>
<option value="1">two</option>
<option value="1">three</option>
<option value="1">four</option>
</select>

one two three four

I hope this came in useful!