7 replies to this topic

[BASHERS33]

I know basically nothing about how to get things done with javascript so I am stuck using simple html along with php for dropdowns. Well it's getting annoying. I have tons of dropdowns on a page and they each have 300+ choices right now, And not only that, they are longgggggg because they have each choice in the form of "some name here (category name)" and so some long category names are stretching it out so far it's ugly!

I'm trying to figure out what in the world I can do with dropdowns to make them more ideal than this mess. I thought about cutting off the titles after x characters, but then there may be some choices which look the same and you need to know the remainder of the name.

I also thought of doing a type ahead input box instead of dropdowns, but like I said I know no JS, ajax, etc...

Also isn't there a way you can type a word in the dropdown? Sort of a mix of input box and dropdown? I know even with a traditional dropdown you can type the first letter, but I think I've come across dropdowns where you can continue typing a word out to get to it.

Maybe there is some way I can cut off the names, but when you hover over them in the dropdown list it shows the whole name similar to a tooltip?

I'm so confused where to go from ehre, but this form is ugly. I may have to just deal with it for a while until i think of something else. And each choice has a value also and I don't want to allow typing a word that isn't in the list.

[WingedPanther]

I think it's time for you to learn PHP and/or AJAX. Never let a lack of knowledge stop you. Get the knowledge you need to do what you want, instead of working within the current limits of your knowledge.

I'm currently studying about the C++ Boost library. There's a LOT I don't understand because of limits on my C++ knowledge. I have a choice, push the boundaries on C++, or accept limits with Boost :) I'm sure you can guess what I'll be doing.

[BASHERS33]

I dont know an ideal way to do it even if I knew all languages. (and js is what I have no knowledge of, I know a decent amount of php as far as this goes, but I don't know some simple html which is why I asked about the dropdowns you can type in).

[PythonPower]

I've had long lists before and wanted to shorten them. I made several drop-down menus; each successive drop-down menu narrowing down what the others showed.

For example, say you had to select a car out of a list of 1000. You could go ahead and simply list all the cars alphabetically. Instead, however, you could have a first drop-down menu to select the make of the car. Then a second menu to select the type of car. And another for the number of doors...

Your aim is to eliminate all other possibilities until just a few remain. Then the user can select them from the main list. Combine this with a basic search tool and alphabetical listing and it should work quite well.

If each choice roughly halved the number of remaining items on the main list, then just four filters would reduce your list to around 20 items.

[BASHERS33]

I do something similar to that in one program (through multiple steps though since I don't know JS yet).

But in this case it's different because in some cases there are as many as 65 dropdowns (all with the same data_ and you must make 65 choices. It already looks terrible having that many dropdowns, but if you had to select the category first then that's 130 dropdowns to select from. (plus my lack of JS knowledge, but if I learned it, it would make this easier... then I wouldn't have to have the category in () behind the name in the dropdown thus shortening it lengthwise, but it would add twice as many dropdowns and be more of a headache than it already is also).

The nature of the data is such that I could divide it up into 2-4 parts and you click submit after each part and that would narrow down how many are on each page, although you still would have to select from 130 of them in this case. This form would be rarely used so it's not like every day selecting from tons of dropdowns, but it would sure be annoying regardless.

On some other parts of the form I should maybe break them up into first selecting a category though, although the nature of this is that in some cases you may be making selections from different categories. If it's limited to one category (which it usually would be) you would only have to select the ctaegory once and then the 65 choices.

[hkp]

I'm not sure what approach I suggested was "aggressive and not appropriate" but I haven't made any suggestions that have not, at some point in time, been reported by other users to resolve the problem they were having with Google Suggest. The solution is sometimes different for different users. Sometimes there is no solution at all, and some users report back later, that things straightened up mysteriously.

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Design a website

[BASHERS33]

Who was that to? I didn't see anyone say something was inappropriate.