Listbox, List box, Dropdown, Drop down
| Project: | Webform |
| Version: | 6.x-2.x-dev |
| Component: | User interface |
| Category: | feature request |
| Priority: | normal |
| Assigned: | Unassigned |
| Status: | active |
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In some ways this is about as minor as an "issue" could get. But then it took a long time for scientists to "discover" air even though it was all about them.
My vocabulary did not include the word listbox. I was searching all through Drupal to find a module that would provide a form with dropdown boxes.
Could have found it in an instant if the word that I learned for the feature - "dropdown" had been somewhere in the documentation.
There are apparently some distinctions to be made between listboxes and dropdowns - but not knowing the listbox I couldn't find it.
I hope this makes sense to some reading this. - This is my first "issue" - I was inspired to add it after attending some sessions at the Boston Drupalcon.
Many thanks to all the webform creators and developers.
#1
You know I've always found the word "listbox" to be a little funny myself. It's been the term used since before I started maintaining, probably for 3+ years or so. Not much point in using a term no one knows, but "dropdown" isn't universal (if you make it a multi-value select, it's not a dropdown anymore).
Ideally it'd probably be easiest to actually have 3 components (radios, checkboxes, select), but really they're so similar in code I wouldn't want to split them up. :P
So... if you have suggestions on what we can do to reduce confusion (I know it's there), I'd love to help with any implementation.
#2
Thanks for the quick reply!
Pointing out the difference between a dropdown which only has a single selection and a listbox which can be a multi-value select shows why listbox is a better term. Looking through the documentation as currently posted even the word "listbox" is not there, just the word select. The text in quotes is what I find when looking at the current documentation. My suggestion appears below the quotes.
"Webform Components
Webform components are basically the equivalent of CCK fields. You can add any number of fields to a node that an end-user can fill out. All components are included with the Webform module. These include:
date
email
fieldset
file
grid
hidden
markup
pagebreak
select
textarea
textfield
time"
Perhaps to help people find their way to the wonders of the webform there could be something in documentation such as
Select - when set to single select can behave like a dropdown box or
set to multi-value select option to serve as a listbox function
This is admittedly more verbose, but a few more words could lead a lot more people to the module.
#3
Just want to help promote this page and mention the same thing as opusIV, I was even looking into how to write a drop-down menu before finding this.
If you are looking for a "drop-down" or "drop down" menu choose 'select' for the component type. Then you will be able to select 'listbox' before submitting to achieve your goal.
Thanks for the great Webform module!
#4
I'm switching this over to a feature request.
In the latest development version (anything after 2.1.2) I've created an "Advanced settings" fieldset for component configuration and shoved things like weight, parent, field key, e-mail and mandatory into it, since all these things can be configured from the main Webform component page.
I'd like to suggest we make it so that the "select.inc" file provide not one but three components: select, radio buttons, and checkboxes. All of them will actually lead to the same configuration screen and instead of having options for "listbox" and "multiple" put an option underneath the Advanced Settings for the following set of options:
Widget type:( • ) Radio buttons
( ) Checkboxes
( ) Drop-down select
( ) Multiple select
After all, I think users care much more about the end result element: they want checkboxes or radio buttons before they know if they want one or multiple values.