Compact selection box, vast information

My dilemma is having restricted space for a dropdown containing a considerable amount of text.

Is it feasible to keep the dropdown width small while expanding the list popup size?

Update: My browser of choice is Internet Explorer.

Answer №1

Achieving different sizes for select options is definitely possible without any extra effort in modern browsers. Simply specify the width of the select element, and the options will adjust accordingly.

<select id="menu">
    <option>short</option>
    <option>a quite long option that is wider than the select</option>
    <option>another option</option>
</select>
#menu {
    width: 100px;
}

For a live demo, check out this jsFiddle link.

This sizing technique works seamlessly on Firefox, Chrome, and IE10:

However, it's important to note that IE9 does not support this functionality:

Answer №2

It seems that IE is to blame in this situation. While other browsers adjust the width of your options as needed and keep the select box at its defined size, IE8 and below cut it off to match the parent select box's width.

A solution can be found using jQuery, with detailed documentation provided here: Dropdownlist width in IE

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