//JQuery plugin to populate select box $.fn.populate = function (dataArray) { var $selectbox = $(this); // check if element is of type select if ($selectbox.is("select")) { $.each(dataArray, function (i, data) { $selectbox.append('<option value="' + data + '">' + data + '</option>'); }); } }; $(document).ready(function () { var dataArray = ["one", "two", "three", "four", "five"]; $('#myselect').populate(dataArray); });
<select id="myselect"></select>