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The <select> element can now be customized with CSS

(developer.chrome.com)
507 points tosh | 1 comments | 31 Mar 25 09:11 UTC | HN request time: 0.436s | source
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wolframhempel ◴[31 Mar 25 15:14 UTC] No.43535984[source]▶
The fact that I'm disproportionally excited about this probably dates me as an early 2000s web developer. But since selects can do things that you simply cannot recreate in HTML, e.g. have options drop downs that extend outside the viewport boundaries, makes this a really helpful feature.

Now, do autocompletes and tag selectors next...

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asddubs ◴[31 Mar 25 15:22 UTC] No.43536090[source]▶
I doubt it'll still be able to do those things. From the article:

>Using base-select loses a number of features and behaviors:

> The <select> doesn't render outside the browser pane.

> It doesn't trigger built-in mobile operating system components.

I have mixed feelings about it. Mobile users, get ready for poorly optimized select elements. On the other hand it reduces the need for javascript for styling forms, which is good

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1. kmeisthax ◴[31 Mar 25 21:01 UTC] No.43539933[source]▶
For the record, there's already a bunch of custom select-a-like replacement elements out there; I'm partial to select2. The main reason for this is that selects don't come with what we used to call "combobox" features; there's no type-ahead completion, and you can't lazy-load options from a larger data source because of that.

My main gripe is the loss of rendering outside the browser pane. To be clear, we already don't have that on mobile at all; if you've ever used an iPad with Stage Manager you'll note how popovers - all of them, including native apps - are neatly conformed to the bounds of the containing window. Pop-over menus are supposed to break the window pane, but they don't, for reasons I don't quite understand but can guess rhyme with the word "security".