diff --git a/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.test.js b/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.test.js
index 59381ee9b4..919152c316 100644
--- a/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.test.js
+++ b/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.test.js
@@ -4,11 +4,9 @@ import { DropdownController } from './DropdownController';
 describe('DropdownController', () => {
   let application;
 
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    application?.stop();
-
+  beforeEach(async () => {
     document.body.innerHTML = `
-<div data-controller="w-dropdown">
+<div data-controller="w-dropdown" data-action="custom:show->w-dropdown#show custom:hide->w-dropdown#hide">
   <button type="button" data-w-dropdown-target="toggle" aria-label="Actions"></button>
   <div data-w-dropdown-target="content">
     <a href="/">Option</a>
@@ -17,25 +15,74 @@ describe('DropdownController', () => {
 
     application = Application.start();
     application.register('w-dropdown', DropdownController);
+
+    await Promise.resolve(requestAnimationFrame);
+
+    // set all animation durations to 0 so that tests can ignore animation delays
+    // Tippy relies on transitionend which is not yet supported in JSDom
+    // https://github.com/jsdom/jsdom/issues/1781
+
+    document
+      .querySelectorAll('[data-controller="w-dropdown"]')
+      .forEach((element) => {
+        application
+          .getControllerForElementAndIdentifier(element, 'w-dropdown')
+          .tippy.setProps({ duration: 0 }); // tippy will merge props with whatever has already been set
+      });
   });
 
-  it('initialises Tippy.js on connect', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.restoreAllMocks();
+    application?.stop();
+  });
+
+  it('initialises Tippy.js on connect and shows content in a dropdown', () => {
     const toggle = document.querySelector('[data-w-dropdown-target="toggle"]');
     const content = document.querySelector(
       '[data-w-dropdown-target="content"]',
     );
     expect(toggle.getAttribute('aria-expanded')).toBe('false');
     expect(content).toBe(null);
+
+    toggle.dispatchEvent(new Event('click'));
+
+    const expandedContent = document.querySelectorAll('[role="tooltip"]');
+    expect(expandedContent).toHaveLength(1);
+
+    expect(expandedContent[0].innerHTML).toContain('<a href="/">Option</a>');
   });
 
-  it('triggers custom event on activation', () => {
+  it('triggers custom event on activation', async () => {
     const toggle = document.querySelector('[data-w-dropdown-target="toggle"]');
-    const mock = jest.fn();
-    document.addEventListener('w-dropdown:shown', mock);
+
+    const mock = new Promise((resolve) => {
+      document.addEventListener('w-dropdown:shown', (event) => {
+        resolve(event);
+      });
+    });
+
     toggle.dispatchEvent(new Event('click'));
-    // Leave time for animation to complete.
-    setTimeout(() => {
-      expect(mock).toHaveBeenCalled();
-    }, 500);
+
+    const event = await mock;
+
+    expect(event).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ type: 'w-dropdown:shown', target: document }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should support methods to show and hide the dropdown', async () => {
+    expect(document.querySelectorAll('[role="tooltip"]')).toHaveLength(0);
+
+    const dropdownElement = document.querySelector(
+      '[data-controller="w-dropdown"]',
+    );
+
+    dropdownElement.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('custom:show'));
+
+    expect(document.querySelectorAll('[role="tooltip"]')).toHaveLength(1);
+
+    dropdownElement.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('custom:hide'));
+
+    expect(document.querySelectorAll('[role="tooltip"]')).toHaveLength(0);
   });
 });
diff --git a/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.ts b/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.ts
index b321c92cd8..379e1281e0 100644
--- a/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.ts
+++ b/client/src/controllers/DropdownController.ts
@@ -25,13 +25,32 @@ export class DropdownController extends Controller<HTMLElement> {
   declare readonly toggleTarget: HTMLButtonElement;
   declare readonly contentTarget: HTMLDivElement;
   declare readonly hideOnClickValue: boolean;
+  declare readonly hasContentTarget: boolean;
+  tippy?: Instance<Props>;
 
   connect() {
+    this.tippy = tippy(this.toggleTarget, this.options);
+  }
+
+  hide() {
+    this.tippy?.hide();
+  }
+
+  show() {
+    this.tippy?.show();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Default Tippy Options
+   */
+  get options(): Partial<Props> {
     // If the dropdown toggle uses an ARIA label, use this as a hover tooltip.
     const hoverTooltip = this.toggleTarget.getAttribute('aria-label');
     let hoverTooltipInstance: Instance;
 
-    this.contentTarget.hidden = false;
+    if (this.hasContentTarget) {
+      this.contentTarget.hidden = false;
+    }
 
     if (hoverTooltip) {
       hoverTooltipInstance = tippy(this.toggleTarget, {
@@ -51,11 +70,17 @@ export class DropdownController extends Controller<HTMLElement> {
       plugins.push(hideTooltipOnClickInside);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Default Tippy Options
-     */
-    const tippyOptions: Partial<Props> = {
-      content: this.contentTarget as Content,
+    const onShown = () => {
+      this.dispatch('shown', {
+        // work around for target type bug https://github.com/hotwired/stimulus/issues/642
+        target: ((key = 'document') => window[key])(),
+      });
+    };
+
+    return {
+      ...(this.hasContentTarget
+        ? { content: this.contentTarget as Content }
+        : {}),
       trigger: 'click',
       interactive: true,
       theme: 'dropdown',
@@ -67,7 +92,7 @@ export class DropdownController extends Controller<HTMLElement> {
         }
       },
       onShown() {
-        document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('w-dropdown:shown'));
+        onShown();
       },
       onHide() {
         if (hoverTooltipInstance) {
@@ -75,7 +100,5 @@ export class DropdownController extends Controller<HTMLElement> {
         }
       },
     };
-
-    tippy(this.toggleTarget, tippyOptions);
   }
 }