| Depr. | Empty | Version |
|---|---|---|
| No | No | HTML 2 |
| IE5.5+ | FF1+ | SA1.3+ | OP9.2+ | CH2+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
Syntax
Description
Each option in a select
element represents an option that the user can choose. The text contained
between the opening <option> and closing
</option> tags is displayed to the user, while the
value attribute contains the
actual data that will be sent when the form is
submitted. The selected
attribute is useful for preselecting a list option at page
load.
Example
This code produces a
simple select list in which the
option elements are highlighted:
<form>
<label for="favoritefood">Favorite food</label>
<select name="favoritefood" id="favoritefood">
<option>Cheese</option>
<option>Egg</option>
<option>Cabbage</option>
⋮
</select>
</form>
Use This For …
The
option element is used to create a single option in a
select list. It would primarily be used for data
capture purposes, but may also be used to create navigation.
select lists are sometimes used for this purpose, with
the destination presented as text content within the opening
<option> and closing </option> tags, and
the address, or URL, specified by the value
attribute.
Compatibility
| Internet Explorer | Firefox | Safari | Opera | Chrome | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
It causes no compatibility issues, and has excellent support across all tested browsers.
