<p>I have a simple list I am using for a horizontal menu:</p>

<pre><code>&lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;h1&gt;Menu&lt;/h1&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;a href="/" class="selected"&gt;Home&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;
      &lt;a href="/Home"&gt;Forum&lt;/a&gt;
    &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
</code></pre>

<p>When I add a background color to the selected class, only the text gets the color, I want it to stretch the entire distance of the section.</p>

<p>Hope this makes sense.</p>

The a element is an inline element, meaning it only applies to the text it encloses. If you want the background color to stretch across horizontally, apply the selected class to a block level element. Applying the class to the li element should work fine.
Alternatively, you could add this to the selected class' CSS:
```
```
display: block;
```
```
Which will make the a element display like a block element.