CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cssdrop-down-menu
Iris
Iris

Reputation: 1341

Change color and appearance of drop down arrow

I want to change the default appearance of the arrow of a dropdown list so that looks the same across browsers. Is there a way to override the default look and feel of the drop down arrow using CSS or otherwise ?

Upvotes: 77

Views: 311261

Answers (10)

Hosein
Hosein

Reputation: 438

Just change background-image property with css.

Upvotes: -1

Sphvn
Sphvn

Reputation: 5343

You can acheive this with CSS but you are not techinically changing the arrow itself.

In this example I am actually hiding the default arrow and displaying my own arrow instead.

.styleSelect select {
  background: transparent;
  width: 168px;
  padding: 5px;
  font-size: 16px;
  line-height: 1;
  border: 0;
  border-radius: 0;
  height: 34px;
  -webkit-appearance: none;
  -moz-appearance: none;
  appearance: none;
  color: #000;
}

.styleSelect {
  width: 140px;
  height: 34px;
  overflow: hidden;
  background: url("images/downArrow.png") no-repeat right #fff;
  border: 2px solid #000;
}
<div class="styleSelect">
  <select class="units">
    <option value="Metres">Metres</option>
    <option value="Feet">Feet</option>
    <option value="Fathoms">Fathoms</option>
  </select>
</div>

Upvotes: 64

Bojan
Bojan

Reputation: 986

Try changing the color of your "border-top" attribute to white

Upvotes: -2

Lambder
Lambder

Reputation: 2993

It can be done by:

select{
  background: url(data:image/svg+xml;base64,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) no-repeat 100% 50%;
}


select{
  background: url(data:image/svg+xml;base64,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) no-repeat 100% 50%;
  
  
    -moz-appearance: none;
    -webkit-appearance: none;
    -webkit-border-radius: 0px;
    appearance: none;
    outline-width: 0;
    
    padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px;
    display: block;
    width: 10em;
    border: none;
    font-size: 1rem;
    
    border-bottom: 1px solid #757575;
  }
<div class="styleSelect">
  <select class="units">
    <option value="Metres">Metres</option>
    <option value="Feet">Feet</option>
    <option value="Fathoms">Fathoms</option>
  </select>
</div>

Upvotes: 20

sb333
sb333

Reputation: 45

We have used YUI, Chosen, and are currently using the jQuery Select2 plugin: https://select2.github.io/

It's pretty robust, the arrow is just the tip of the iceberg.

As soon as stylized selects becomes a requirement, I agree with the others, go with a plugin. Don't kill yourself reinventing the wheel.

Upvotes: 1

Richard
Richard

Reputation: 22016

Not easily done I am afraid. The problem is Css cannot replace the arrow in a select as this is rendered by the browser. But you can build a new control from div and input elements and Javascript to perform the same function as the select.

Try looking at some of the autocomplete plugins for Jquery for example.

Otherwise there is some info on the select element here:

http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/Web-Style-Sheets/Taming-the-Select/

Upvotes: 1

TheTXI
TheTXI

Reputation: 37895

Unless you plan on creating your own drop down list (and not using a standard library drop down list), you are stuck. The DDL control's look is going to be based upon the system you are running and/or the browser that is rendering the output.

Upvotes: -1

Chad Birch
Chad Birch

Reputation: 74558

No, you can't do it by using an actual <select>, but there are techniques that allow you to "replace" them with javascript solutions that look better.

Here's a good article on the topic: <select> Something New

Upvotes: 0

Diodeus - James MacFarlane
Diodeus - James MacFarlane

Reputation: 114367

The <select> element is generated by the application and styling is not part of the CSS/HTML spec.

You would have to fake it with your own DIV and overlay it on top of the existing one, or build your own control emulating the same functionality.

Upvotes: 3

TomHastjarjanto
TomHastjarjanto

Reputation: 5408

No, cross-browser form custimization is very hard if not impossible to get it right for all browsers. If you really care about the appearance of those widgets you should use a javascript implementation.

see http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200409/styling_form_controls/ and http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/examples/button/btn_example07.html

Upvotes: 21

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