the PHP code I write... WRITEs the HTML... so I would do the 'select' as follows: <?php $pcontactnumber = isset ( $_POST["pcontactnumber"] ) ? $_POST["pcontactnumber"] : 0 ; echo '<select name="pcontactnumber">'."\n"; echo '<option value="'.$pcontactnumber.'">'.$pcontactnumber.'</option>'."\n"; echo '</select>'."\n"; ?> In this manner (above)... you present only the value that they chose... and do not ALLOW them to change the value, without going BACK to the previous page. ALSO a STYLE COMMENT - to everyone: ADD SPACES to your code. It makes it a LOT easier to read.