value attribute on <select> tag not selecting default option

Question

Perhaps i'm misunderstanding here, but given the following html:

<select value="2">
    <option value="1">Something</option>
    <option value="2">Something else</option>
</select>

I would expect "Something else" to be the default selected option. However, it does not seem to be. Why is this, and what should I be doing differently?

Answer 1

You use selected attribute on an option element to specify default option.

<select>
    <option value="1">Something</option>
    <option value="2" selected="selected">Something else</option> // this is default
</select>

select elements do not have a value attribute.