- How Can I Set the Default Value for an HTML Element?
- How to Specify Default Value for HTML Element?
- Style “content” div
- Style “p” Element
- Style “select” Element
- Style “h1” Element
- Conclusion
- About the author
- Sharqa Hameed
- Select Default Value in HTML
- Use the selected=»selected» to Select Default Value for an HTML Element
- Use the to Select Default Value for an HTML Element
- How to set default value for html select in Javascript?
- Method 1: Using the selected attribute
- Method 2: Using the defaultSelected property
- Method 3: Using the value property
- Setting the default value on page load
- Handling select elements with multiple options
- Conclusion
How Can I Set the Default Value for an HTML Element?
In web development, while making a form, we need different components, such as input fields, buttons, radio buttons, checklists, and many more. The drop-down menu is one such component that is added in a form to select an option from a list of menus. This can be made on a web page using an HTML element consisting of several options specified within the HTML element.
This study will demonstrate the method to set a default value for an HTML element.
How to Specify Default Value for HTML Element?
Sometimes, the “selected” attribute must be added for setting a default option. Within the drop-down list, the option with the selected attribute will be shown by default.
The syntax below displays how to make an option a default value:
Check out the example below for the demonstration!
Example: Setting Default Value for HTML Element
In HTML, first, add a div element with the class name “content”. Inside this element:
- Add a heading element .
- Then, add the
element with some content. The element within the
element is utilized to make the text bold.
- Include the HTML “ ” element with the attributes name and id.
- As we have discussed above, the select element contains the available options within the drop-down menu. These options are specified with the HTML “ ” element.
So, look at the below-given code snippet where the second option is specified with the attribute “selected” to define it as the default value:
In this case, “Technical Author” will be selected and displayed as the default option:
Let’s head over to the CSS section, where we will use different CSS styling properties to style the HTML elements.
Style “content” div
.content {
width: 370px;
height: 280px;
border: 1px solid #874C62;
margin: auto;
background-color: rgb ( 34 , 32 , 32 ) ;
padding: 18px;
border-radius: 6px;
}
The “.content” is utilized to access the HTML div element with the class content. The explanation of the above-mentioned CSS properties is listed below:
- “width” property adjusts the element’s width.
- “height” property determines the element’s height.
- “border” property specifies the border around the element. The value specifies the border width, border style, and border color.
- “margin” property specifies the amount of space around the element.
- “background-color” specifies the element’s background color.
- “padding” is utilized to increase space around the element’s content.
- “border-radius” is the property that makes the element’s corners round.
Style “p” Element
The
element of the div content is styled with the following properties:
- “font-size” sets the element’s font size.
- “color” property adjusts the element’s font color.
Style “select” Element
The select element is applied with the following properties:
- “outline” property specifies a border or outline around the element, mainly when it is selected.
- The “padding”, “border-radius”, and “font-size” properties perform functions as stated above.
Style “h1” Element
The element is decorated with the following properties:
- “text-align” property adjusts the element’s text alignment.
- “font-size” and “color” properties styled the element in a way as stated above.
The below GIF displays the final result of the code:
This is how you can set the default value for an HTML element.
Conclusion
The HTML element comprises several menus that are selectable. These menus are specified within the HTML element. To set the default value for an HTML element, it is required to specify the attribute “selected” for that option. This study has described the HTML element and the method to set its default value with a practical example.
About the author
Sharqa Hameed
I am a Linux enthusiast, I love to read Every Linux blog on the internet. I hold masters degree in computer science and am passionate about learning and teaching.
Select Default Value in HTML
- Use the selected=»selected» to Select Default Value for an HTML Element
- Use the to Select Default Value for an HTML Element
This article will discuss two methods to select the default value for an HTML element.
Use the selected=»selected» to Select Default Value for an HTML Element
We can use the selected=»selected» option to select default value in an HTML code. We write the selected attribute in the tag. We can set the selected attribute’s value to selected to select the specific option by default when the web page is first loaded. It is called the boolean attribute in HTML. The pre-selected option will be displayed first in the drop-down list. This attribute can be used only on the element. It supports the web browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc.
For example, inside the HTML body, create a tag followed by five options inside it. Write the numbers from 1-5 for the value attribute for each option. Write the text from One to Five between the tag for each option. Next, write the selected attribute with the value selected just after opening the tag in that particular value you want to select as the default value (option 3 in the example below). Finally, close the tag.
The example below uses the select=selected method to select the default value in a drop-down list. We created a drop-down list that lets us select values from One to Five . When the page reloads, the option Three loads by default because we have used the selected attribute to specify the element as default.
body> select> option value="1">Oneoption> option value="2">Twooption> option selected="selected" value="3">Threeoption> option value="4">Fouroption> option value="5">Fiveoption> select> body>
Use the to Select Default Value for an HTML Element
We can use the option to select a default value in HTML. This process is also somewhat similar to the first one. It is also a boolean attribute. The element is mostly used to collect input from the user. The tag, which we write inside the element, defines the available items contained in the drop-down list. We can write the selected option in the particular tag to specify the option as a default selected option.
For example, inside the HTML body, create a tag followed by the tag as in the method above. In the next line, specify values from 1-5 to the option tag and close the option tag. Repeat this process five times. Then, write just after the second tag to select it as your default value. Finally, close the tag.
The example below uses the option to select the default value. When the page loads, we can see the option 2 is loaded by default in the drop-down list because we used the in the case of the second element.
body> select> option> 1 option> option selected> 2 option> option> 3 option> option> 4 option> option> 5 option> select> body>
How to set default value for html select in Javascript?
Here are a few ways you can set the default value for an HTML select element using JavaScript.
Note: These examples assume you have an HTML select element with an id attribute, and that you have a reference to that element in your JavaScript code.
Method 1: Using the selected attribute
One way to set the default value for an HTML select element is to use the selected attribute on one of the option elements inside the select element.
!-- This HTML code defines a select element with three options --> select id="mySelect"> option value="option1">Option 1/option> option value="option2">Option 2/option> option value="option3" selected>Option 3/option> /select>
In this example, the default value for the select element will be «Option 3», because the option element with a value of «option3» has the selected attribute.
Method 2: Using the defaultSelected property
Another way to set the default value for an HTML select element is to use the defaultSelected property in JavaScript.
!-- This HTML code defines a select element with three options --> select id="mySelect"> option value="option1">Option 1/option> option value="option2">Option 2/option> option value="option3">Option 3/option> /select> script> // Get a reference to the select element var select = document.getElementById("mySelect"); // Set the default selected option using the defaultSelected property select.options[2].defaultSelected = true; /script>
In this example, we first get a reference to the select element using the document.getElementById method. Then, we use the options property of the select element to access the options inside the select element. Finally, we use the defaultSelected property to set the default selected option to the third option (which has an index of 2).
Method 3: Using the value property
A third way to set the default value for an HTML select element is to use the value property in JavaScript.
!-- This HTML code defines a select element with three options --> select id="mySelect"> option value="option1">Option 1/option> option value="option2">Option 2/option> option value="option3">Option 3/option> /select> script> // Get a reference to the select element var select = document.getElementById("mySelect"); // Set the default selected option using the value property select.value = "option2"; /script>
In this example, we again get a reference to the select element using the document.getElementById method. Then, we use the value property to set the default selected option to the option with a value of «option2».
Here are a few more things you might want to know about setting the default value for an HTML select element using JavaScript.
Setting the default value on page load
In the examples above, we set the default value for the select element after the page has already loaded. If you want to set the default value as soon as the page loads, you can wrap your code in a window.onload event handler.
!-- This HTML code defines a select element with three options --> select id="mySelect"> option value="option1">Option 1/option> option value="option2">Option 2/option> option value="option3">Option 3/option> /select> script> // Set the default selected option when the page loads window.onload = function() // Get a reference to the select element var select = document.getElementById("mySelect"); // Set the default selected option using the value property select.value = "option2"; > /script>
In this example, we use the window.onload event handler to execute our code as soon as the page finishes loading. This is useful if you want to set the default value as soon as the page loads, rather than waiting for the user to interact with the page.
Handling select elements with multiple options
By default, an HTML select element allows the user to select only one option. If you want to allow the user to select multiple options, you can use the multiple attribute on the select element.
!-- This HTML code defines a select element with three options, and allows the user to select multiple options --> select id="mySelect" multiple> option value="option1">Option 1/option> option value="option2">Option 2/option> option value="option3">Option 3/option> /select> script> // Set the default selected options when the page loads window.onload = function() // Get a reference to the select element var select = document.getElementById("mySelect"); // Set the default selected options using the selected property select.options[0].selected = true; select.options[2].selected = true; > /script>
In this example, we use the multiple attribute to allow the user to select multiple options. Then, we use the selected property to set the default selected options to the first and third options (which have indices of 0 and 2, respectively).
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are several ways you can set the default value for an HTML select element using JavaScript:
- Using the selected attribute on one of the option elements inside the select element
- Using the defaultSelected property in JavaScript
- Using the value property in JavaScript
To set the default value as soon as the page loads, you can wrap your code in a window.onload event handler. If you want to allow the user to select multiple options, you can use the multiple attribute on the select element, and use the selected property to set the default selected options.
I hope these examples and explanations have been helpful, and that you now have a better understanding of how to set the default value for an HTML select element using JavaScript. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!