This Is How To Retain A Selected Value In A WordPress Dropdown After Form Submit
One of the most frustrating issues developers face when building WordPress forms is retaining the selected value in a dropdown after the form has been submitted. This can lead to a poor user experience, as the user may get confused when the dropdown resets to the default option.
Fortunately, there's a simple solution to this problem that can be easily implemented in your WordPress code. In this article, we'll walk through the steps to keep the selected dropdown value displayed, even after the form is submitted.
Understanding The Problem
The issue arises because when a form is submitted, the page typically reloads, resetting the values in the dropdown back to the default. This can be particularly annoying if the user has carefully selected an option from a long list.
Let's take a look at an example of a WordPress dropdown that doesn't retain the selected value:
<select name="box1" class="searchbox">
<option value="">All Values</option>
<?php
global $wpdb;
$ddresult = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT Field1 FROM pc_table ORDER BY Field1 ASC");
foreach($ddresult as $ddrow) {
?>
<option value="<?php echo $ddrow->Field1; ?>"><?php echo $ddrow->Field1; ?></option>
<?php
}
?>
</select>
In this example, when the form is submitted, the dropdown will revert back to the default "All Values" option, even if the user had selected a different value.
The Solution: Retaining The Selected Value
To retain the selected value in the dropdown after form submission, we need to check if the form has been submitted and then compare the submitted value to the options in the dropdown. If there's a match, we'll set the selected
attribute on the corresponding option.
Here's the updated code:
<select name="box1" class="searchbox">
<option value="">All Values</option>
<?php
global $wpdb;
$ddresult = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT Field1 FROM pc_table ORDER BY Field1 ASC");
foreach($ddresult as $ddrow) {
$selected = '';
if(isset($_POST['box1'])){
if($ddrow->Field1 == $_POST['box1']){ $selected = 'selected="selected"'; }
}
?>
<option value="<?php echo $ddrow->Field1; ?>" <?php echo $selected; ?>><?php echo $ddrow->Field1; ?></option>
<?php
}
?>
</select>
Here's how it works:
- We start by creating a variable
$selected
and initializing it to an empty string.
- Inside the loop that generates the dropdown options, we check if the form has been submitted by checking the
$_POST
superglobal for the box1
field.
- If the form has been submitted, we compare the current option's
Field1
value to the submitted value in $_POST['box1']
. If they match, we set the $selected
variable to 'selected="selected"'
.
- Finally, we output the
<option>
element with the $selected
value added to the selected
attribute if it's not an empty string.
This code ensures that the selected value in the dropdown is retained after the form is submitted, providing a better user experience for your WordPress visitors.
Handling GET Requests
If your form is using the GET
method instead of POST
, you'll need to modify the code slightly:
<select name="box1" class="searchbox">
<option value="">All Values</option>
<?php
global $wpdb;
$ddresult = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT Field1 FROM pc_table ORDER BY Field1 ASC");
foreach($ddresult as $ddrow) {
$selected = '';
if(isset($_GET['box1'])){
if($ddrow->Field1 == $_GET['box1']){ $selected = 'selected="selected"'; }
}
?>
<option value="<?php echo $ddrow->Field1; ?>" <?php echo $selected; ?>><?php echo $ddrow->Field1; ?></option>
<?php
}
?>
</select>
The only difference is that we're checking the $_GET
superglobal instead of $_POST
to detect the form submission.
Saving and Reintroducing the Submitted Value
If you need to save the submitted value to the database and then reintroduce it in the output at a later time, you can follow these additional steps:
-
Save the Submitted Value to the Database
- When the form is submitted, update the database with the selected value from the dropdown.
- You can do this by using a WordPress custom post type or a custom table, depending on your specific use case.
-
Reintroduce the Saved Value
- When displaying the dropdown on a subsequent page, retrieve the saved value from the database.
- Compare the saved value to the options in the dropdown and set the
selected
attribute accordingly, just as we did in the previous examples.
By implementing these steps, you can not only retain the selected value after form submission but also preserve it in the database for later use.
Conclusion
Retaining the selected value in a WordPress dropdown after form submission is a common issue that can be easily solved with a few lines of code. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can provide a seamless user experience for your WordPress visitors, ensuring that their carefully selected dropdown options are preserved even after form submission.
If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to explore the resources available at Flowpoint.ai, where our team of experts can help you identify and fix technical issues like this one that may be impacting your website's conversion rates.
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