default "selected" option in firefox not working

[nathanpacker]

Hey, I'm trying to use a simple select menu, and I would like to set one of the values to be the default, and it works great in IE, but not in firefox. Here is a sample:

<select name="test">
<option value="Test 1">Test 1</option>
<option value="Test 2">Test 2</option>
<option value="Test 3" selected>Test 3</option>
</select>

Notice that I am trying to get "Test 3" to show up as the default option. It works fine in IE, but how do I get it to work in Firefox too?

[MattEvans]

are you using an HTML or XHTML doctype?

in HTML doctypes it's ok to set boolean attributes without values, in XHTML doctypes it is not.

in XHTML you have got to use:

selected="selected", or selected="yes", or selected="true"

[nathanpacker]

are you using an HTML or XHTML doctype?

in HTML doctypes it's ok to set boolean attributes without values, in XHTML doctypes it is not.

in XHTML you have got to use:

selected="selected", or selected="yes", or selected="true"

Lol, well, I don't know enough to stay XHTML valid, but if I know it I will, so thanks for the info.

[MattEvans]

does it work in Firefox if you use one of those atttribute values instead of just 'selected'?

it's not so much a question of staying valid, as being compatible.

an absolutely 'correct' XML parser should reject that line of code and output a warning/error message instead of an expected output. But, Firefox only ever truely parses a page as X(HT)ML if you serve the Content-Type:application/xhtml+xml* header.

* not sure if that's the correct type, it's not an easy one to remember.

[nathanpacker]

does it work in Firefox if you use one of those atttribute values instead of just 'selected'?

it's not so much a question of staying valid, as being compatible.

an absolutely 'correct' XML parser should reject that line of code and output a warning/error message instead of an expected output. But, Firefox only ever truely parses a page as X(HT)ML if you serve the Content-Type:application/xhtml+xml* header.

* not sure if that's the correct type, it's not an easy one to remember.

Well, to be honest, after I read your reply, I went back to go change it, and I decided to look at the page one more time, and it was working! I have no idea why. So I didn't change it. Maybe I'll change it just to please our curiosity now...

[nathanpacker]

Ok, I just tried it again. And I realized when I said it was working before, it was because I was simply refreshing the page, but apparently Firefox retains all the information, so it didn't matter what had "selected" in the script, it was just selecting the one that was previously selected.

So I closed the window, opened a new one, and realized it wasn't working with just "selected" in the script. When i changed it to selected="yes", it worked.
Thanks.

[kevindougans]

Thanks a lot, would have spent hours trying to get it working if it wasn't for this thread.

The outcome: Firefox retains the last value you had a form field at when hitting refresh so to debug/test add "?1" or something similar to the URL to restart from afresh. Ctrl+Refresh doens't even work.

Next of all, 'SELECTED="yes"' worked in the end for me.

Thanks again!

[trudge]

From what I know, Shift-Refresh will force most Mozilla browsers to grab a new copy of a page from the server rather than cache.

[kevindougans]

yes you are correct, i edited content on the page and the content change but for whatever reason it doesn't refresh the form fields from the options you had last selected. i guess some would find this feature cool so they don't have to keep refilling forms out.

[MidiMagic]

Whether or not to clear fields is a setting.

[emsee]

Ok, I just tried it again. And I realized when I said it was working before, it was because I was simply refreshing the page, but apparently Firefox retains all the information, so it didn't matter what had "selected" in the script, it was just selecting the one that was previously selected.

So I closed the window, opened a new one, and realized it wasn't working with just "selected" in the script. When i changed it to selected="yes", it worked.
Thanks.

do it like this: <option selected=true blsa sldfsmdkask></option>
this will work, in ff2.0 and ie7 (thats what i have)

[T2DMan]

I have the same problem of firefox remembering the previous setting. And yes, I see where that is able to be disabled in the firefox options.

selected="yes" is not valid xhtml, should be selected="selected"

The autocomplete="off" does not even work :(

I am using the autocomplete in the <form > to try and disable for a drop down menu.

Any other ideas?

[MidiMagic]

The quotes must be there in XHTML. It must be in the selected="selected" form, not the selected=selected form.

[T2DMan]

Found out that there was some javascript being used to override the settings. Bugfixing someone elses code, sometimes things are a little hidden.

Now working perfectly.

[xandrani]

do it like this: <option selected=true blsa sldfsmdkask></option>
this will work, in ff2.0 and ie7 (thats what i have)

You need to make sure that "Firefox Preferences -> Privacy -> remember search and form history" is unchecked.

I know this post is very old, BUT people do google for things like this, so it's good if there's a solution even if it's years later for the actual people. I wish some people on forums would understand this obvious fact!!!!!! Instead of moaning about lates posts!

[homez]

I just tried setting ocassional name attribute for select element in my PHP (based on current time, or you can also use random numbers). After refreshing such a page in FF, if you have done some changes to selections, they become ignored, the form gets totally reloaded.

P.S. Maybe you could just change something else in page text to make it totally reloaded, i didn't check it yet.