Title: Another problem with dropdowns
Last modified: September 20, 2022

---

# Another problem with dropdowns

 *  Resolved [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * (@bilmel)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/)
 * I updated the dropdown fields in the way you previously recommended, and all 
   of the fields returned in the records. However, now every time I edit a record,
   the dropdown is blank, and if I save the record, the blank choice is saved in
   the database.
 * I tried downloading the entire database to a CSV, repairing the fields that were
   blank, deleting the entire database, and then uploading the CSV again, but it
   didn’t address the problem.
 * As another oddity, if I edit the field in question, selecting a valid dropdown,
   that gets saved into the record without any problem, and subsequent access to
   the record shows the field as edited.
 * Just as a reminder, I changed the fields to look like this: Alaweo Pl::0, Alaweo
   St::1, Aulena Pl::2, Ehupua Pl::3, Ehupua St::4. Previously, they were “backwards”
   0:: Alaweo Pl, etc.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Roland Barker](https://wordpress.org/support/users/xnau/)
 * (@xnau)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16035531)
 * It is normal to offer a “blank” option, if you don’t want that to be shown, you
   can configure that in your options with “null_select::false”
 * Take a look at the documentation here: [Null Select](https://xnau.com/work/wordpress-plugins/participants-database/participants-database-documentation/the-manage-database-fields-page/#nothing-selected)
 *  Thread Starter [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * (@bilmel)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16035585)
 * I wasn’t clear; when you select a record for editing, with either the front or
   backend, instead of displaying the value already present in the drop down, it
   displays a blank field, and if you subsequently save the record, the blank selection
   overwrites the original value. Once you actually select the correct dropdown 
   value and save it, it works normally.
 * Mahalo
 *  Plugin Author [Roland Barker](https://wordpress.org/support/users/xnau/)
 * (@xnau)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16035592)
 * This means that the value in the record does not match one of the defined options
   for the dropdown.
 * I suggest you open the database using phpMyAdmin, find the “wp_participants_database”
   table, then look at the column for your dropdown field. You will see all the 
   stored values for that field in all the records. You can either correct the values
   in the database, or change the “options” setting for the dropdown so it matches
   what’s in the database.
 * This is common problem when the options configuration of a selector field is 
   changed after data has been saved previously.
 *  Thread Starter [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * (@bilmel)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16036071)
 * I just looked at the database via phpmyadmin, and in each record the dropdown
   value appears to have the string, for example “Alaweo St” that belongs in the
   record.
 * Likewise, the database fields table has all of the strings for each dropdown,
   with the same index values that were entered into the database fields portion
   of the plugin, ie Alaweo St::1
 * The change I made previously to the database fields, at your suggestion, was 
   from 1::Alaweo St to Alaweo St::1, etc for each field.
 * If the value was stored in the record, and then mapped to the field name in the
   database field, I’d understand the confusion, but since the record contains the
   string corresponding to the chosen dropdown, I don’t understand why it displays
   correctly when viewing the record, but does not in the dropdown when editing 
   the record.
 * I can set you up with access to the database if you need it.
 * Mahalo.
 *  Thread Starter [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * (@bilmel)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16036077)
 * I just re-read the documentation, and perhaps I shouldn’t have a “::1” listed
   in the database fields, since that seems to be the method for creating Option
   Labels, while what I want is just the specific fields offered by the dropdown.
 *  Thread Starter [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * (@bilmel)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16036090)
 * I tried removing the ::1 from the fields, and it didn’t make a difference with
   this problem.
 *  Plugin Author [Roland Barker](https://wordpress.org/support/users/xnau/)
 * (@xnau)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16036294)
 * Every time you change the “options” you will need to make sure that the stored
   data matches the options you have in there. If you go back to a plain list of
   options (not using the “::” any more) that’s fine, but you need to make sure 
   that the values in the database _exactly_ match the values in the option setting.
 *  Thread Starter [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * (@bilmel)
 * [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16036321)
 * I removed all of the :: followed by number fields, and found a couple of places
   where the data describing the dropdown field was either incomplete, unused, or
   shown as lower case while the database text field was upper case. After doing
   this, I found one record that displayed “0” for its value, and changed it to 
   a valid status.
 * Now everything seems to be working!

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

The topic ‘Another problem with dropdowns’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/participants-database/assets/icon-256x256.jpg?rev=1389807)
 * [Participants Database](https://wordpress.org/plugins/participants-database/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/participants-database/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/participants-database/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/participants-database/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/participants-database/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/participants-database/reviews/)

 * 8 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [bilmel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bilmel/)
 * Last activity: [3 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/another-problem-with-dropdowns/#post-16036321)
 * Status: resolved