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Questions tagged [drop-down-list]

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91 votes
13 answers
24k views

Should a dropdown list be closed when mouse leaves?

Should a dropdown list be automatically closed when you leave current object and navigate to another, or should it remain opened until you open next dropdown list? Dropdown closed when mouse leaves ...
rpavl's user avatar
  • 1,721
63 votes
8 answers
28k views

When should I use a select box instead of radio buttons?

I know that a select box takes up less space and is good for lots of options. But should there be any deeper influences to my choice than space? Are there any studies that show users preferring one or ...
Gordon Gustafson's user avatar
43 votes
4 answers
153k views

Is there a design pattern for dropdown lists in iOS?

I've searched quite a bit for this but surprisingly could not find any comprehensive answer. XCode doesn't provide any simple way to add dropdown lists to iOS interfaces. Stackoverflow just showed ...
sabziwalla's user avatar
26 votes
1 answer
664 views

How to handle "consistency" when the meaning of the word isn't…consistent?

We are currently beta testing a new top bar design on meta for the Stack Exchange network. There is an ongoing discussion about "consistency" and the top bar behavior when one clicks on an element. ...
Jeremy T's user avatar
  • 2,335
25 votes
7 answers
9k views

Hierarchical multi-state tree check box selection

I'm searching for a good/alternative solution to handle multi-state selections in a check box tree. A normal check box tree is mostly doable, because it has three different states. It might not be ...
Timo's user avatar
  • 478
20 votes
4 answers
7k views

Should I use a dropdown with only one item if in future this control might have more options?

We have a drop down selection that will only have 1 option. In the future this drop down may expand for some and not for others. Would it be better to develop it now as a drop down knowing that this ...
billbdesign's user avatar
18 votes
8 answers
4k views

What do you put in a country list for countries with more than one common name?

I'm from England, which means in drop-down lists I have to search for United Kingdom, then England, then Great Britain... it's generally the UK, but it does vary from site to site. What is the best ...
ZoFreX's user avatar
  • 283
15 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is it okay to use a dropdown chevron in a checkbox?

We have a feature where the user can select some checkboxes. They are all selected by default. We are planning some UI/UX changes that will allow the user to cherry-pick, between these selections, a ...
Lucas Bustamante's user avatar
15 votes
5 answers
61k views

What is the maximum recommended number of items to put in a drop down list?

I am introducing searchable drop down lists to filter grid data. The number of items in a list could range from anything like ten to a ten thousand. The larger the number of items, the more awkward ...
Phil Helix's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
3k views

Where did combo box/drop-down lists come from?

Where did the design of combo box or drop-down lists come from? Radio buttons can be used similarly, and also have a real-world analogy without computers (those fill-circle-with-HB-pencil papers). A ...
Alvin Wong's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
2k views

Pros & Cons? - Single dropdown VS double dropdown VS multi level dropdown

I’m working on an application with some complex dropdowns which have selectable main categories and sub categories. Some dropdown lists could have up to 40 options - which is quite intimidating to new ...
JustinRob's user avatar
  • 2,574
12 votes
3 answers
23k views

Patterns for keyboard accessible drop down lists

Are there any standard keyboard shortcuts for making drop down lists appear? (in any kind of software, not just web based.) I'm going to write some JavaScript to make the drop down lists (select and ...
Sam Hasler's user avatar
  • 1,171
11 votes
4 answers
9k views

Adding items to dropdown list on-the-fly?

In certain locations in our application, users encounter dropdowns with a number of items, from which they can: Select a suitable value Add a value to the dropdown list if they don't find a suitable ...
t.hendr's user avatar
  • 165
11 votes
3 answers
6k views

How to best display a long list of check boxes

In my application users are required to select from a drop down, a list of projects they wish to include in their custom search. The easy part is that users can select one project to filter on or ...
Cliftwalker's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

How to best handle many breadcrumbs with overflow menu

We have a well-developed breadcrumbs component in the design system. Its logic is that breadcrumbs containing more than 5 elements are reduced and a drop-down menu appears. Currently, we show the ...
Юлия Байдак's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Should selected options be removed from single- and multi-select dropdown lists?

In our application we're working with dropdown lists that may contain many options (sometimes around 200). Usually, these lists allow the user to select multiple entries whereas in other places of our ...
Maurice's user avatar
  • 105
10 votes
5 answers
14k views

Best wording of "blank" option for an optional select?

For <select> elements that require the user to select at least one option, basic wording for the "blank" option is fairly easy: "Select..." or something similar. However, for <select> ...
0b10011's user avatar
  • 205
10 votes
6 answers
5k views

Drop down menu with language choice, what should the languages language be?

I hope the title is not confusing. I am talking about the (so common) drop down menu (doesn't have to be a drop down) where you choose the language. Something like this: As you can see this gives ...
Trufa's user avatar
  • 401
9 votes
4 answers
803 views

Navigation menu with only one drop-down child — intuitive or not?

Here is a website's main navigation: Having sub-navigation on-click is pretty common and irreplaceable: But as a user and designer, I have struggled with the case where there is only one child ...
Baumr's user avatar
  • 928
8 votes
8 answers
716 views

Store Locator - State and/or postcode?

I'm designing a website, which has store locator functionality. I live in Australia, which has 7 states. Some users may not know their postcode by heart, and may find it easier to just select their ...
Rich's user avatar
  • 3,542
8 votes
3 answers
779 views

Links inside a dropdown

I'm wondering if links inside a dropdown provides a valid user experience, if it isn't part of the main navigation of the site. For a news website I'm trying to come up with a nice way for the ...
Misha Scholte's user avatar
8 votes
5 answers
3k views

Alternatives to dropdown list when possible results are not known

For quite some time I've been looking around the web for alternatives to a dropdown list in assignment of data (i.e., during data capture that will be saved, NOT when searching for some data). One ...
bonifaz's user avatar
  • 211
8 votes
1 answer
16k views

Good user interface for multiple checkbox selection and a dropdown list (View/Editable mode)

I have a Dropdownlist and many Checkboxs. For any particular dropdown select value I will show all checkboxs and if their is already any database relation with that dropdown value I have set checkbox ...
Satinder singh's user avatar
7 votes
8 answers
2k views

Selecting items for different categories in a dropdown

I have a dropdown box that I can use to select a device in the following manner: When the user selects a device, they are taken to a Device Homepage. The device homepage contains information about ...
Jon White's user avatar
  • 1,798
7 votes
3 answers
2k views

When to start opening the select list? On mousedown? Or on click? And Why?

Component: select aka. dropdown Platform/system: web, non-touch device (laptop with trackpad or desktop with a mouse) Is there a guideline, convention, or some studies done which can help developers/...
Boghyon Hoffmann's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
8k views

A cross between a DropDownList and AutoComplete Text Box

I am trying to come up with an web interface that allows the addition of an item to a list. For simplicity I'll use an example of a list of names which, when selected will be assigned to a club/group. ...
Damien's user avatar
  • 215
7 votes
4 answers
16k views

What is the best way to allow users select items from a very long list in a responsive web app?

Scenario I'm designing a web app where the user adds predefined items from List A to a custom List B. List A is over 100 items sorted alphabetically. List B can be customized according to user needs. ...
Amelia K's user avatar
  • 121
7 votes
6 answers
8k views

Dropdown option order best practices when not using alpha sorting

Looking for best practices on ordering dropdown options when using a logical sort vs an alphabetical sort. To keep this from being open ended, here are some specific cases: Chronological - i.e. ...
Chris Janssen's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
742 views

How to improve the usability for dynamically populated drop downs?

I am working on an application for a client which has a "unique user interface" in which I want to improve. Currently, when the user comes to this web page, there's only one drop down shown for ...
Richard L. Burton III's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

What's the best way to present a nested drop down menu but avoid the drop down going off screen?

I'm currently working on a design that originally was using a nested drop down meny like so: But, when a user clicks on the "more" icon of the card furthest to the right, the drop down menu no longer ...
mlveg's user avatar
  • 171
7 votes
4 answers
677 views

Best way to display a nav item with a single sub-page?

I am working on a nav which includes a page that has a single sub page like so: Home > Careers > Profile. If I want people to go to the overview or landing page first which has the majority of the ...
coexsystem's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
2k views

I need to create groups or buckets and add things to them

User story: Create a group and add some items to it through a filtered list. I have a mockup but I am unsure where the list of groups would go in case I'd like to delete them or edit them. Also, ...
themack's user avatar
  • 345
6 votes
2 answers
963 views

Alternative to dropdown with over 6000 values [duplicate]

On a login form where the user must select the name of the store location that they are logging into, there may be up to 6000 values. For a company that only has 5-10 locations the dropdown works well....
Steve Jones's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
16k views

Combining text entry and drop down functionality

In a complex data entry app I am trying to minimise the amount of stuff on screen. So I considered combining text entry and drop down into a single element. So the user can either select from the ...
Sheff's user avatar
  • 5,169
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the advantage of drop down list appearing in front of control instead of below it?

Originally, drop-down lists appeared at a static position below the control (or above it if space was restricted): However, in recent user interfaces, these lists appear in front of (i.e. layered on ...
ADTC's user avatar
  • 225
6 votes
3 answers
551 views

A button with choices

I have list of buttons that can be pressed or unpressed individually (like checkbox functionality). Some of the buttons can also have some attributes (+ or -), but it's uncommon to select those ...
Henrik Ekblom's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
6k views

Order of 'Country' and 'State' fields in Registration forms

Most registration forms seem to be to ask for the 'State' first and 'Country' after that, both being drop down lists. The 'State' list has the State names of USA by default, and this list is refreshed ...
Kashyap's user avatar
  • 1,167
6 votes
5 answers
1k views

Drop down list, radio buttons or something else for a language selector (of two languages)?

We have only two languages in the system: Japanese and English and I personally think that Drop Down List is irrelevant for this type of input, while radio buttons might be easier. What do you think?
Jackie Chan's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
676 views

List autocomplete delete/edit behaviour

I am not sure what these widgets are called, but they are the ones used to assigned tags to questions on SE and appear in webmail apps such as GMail and Hotmail as well: If someone could chime in and ...
F21's user avatar
  • 5,938
5 votes
4 answers
486 views

Models of user interaction when dealing with selections from a looong list?

I'm a programmer working on a web project. We need the user to select one item from a given list of universities. It's a list of 100+ elements, and the frontend is XHTML/css/js. Here are the options ...
cbrandolino's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
4k views

Best choice for three-state value?

In my application, the user can filter fields by selecting one of three possible values for each field: True False Both I currently have a drop-down box, but this requires two clicks while the ...
pimvdb's user avatar
  • 153
5 votes
3 answers
9k views

Standard list of religions for dropdown menu [closed]

I am creating a form that will include a step about the person's religion, I have seen forms that contain a dropdown menu of religions, however I cannot find one which has a standard list of religions,...
MacMac's user avatar
  • 405
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Dropdown issues on Mac

One of the websites that we've been working on has a dropdown with <select> having multiple <option>s. In our Windows PC, the dropdown show only a number of items while on the client's Mac,...
DriftingSteps's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is it problematic to have dropdown selector options expand above the field instead of below?

I'm designing a product-based website, and I have a dropdown selector at the bottom of one of the pages near the footer. When I went to review development, I noticed that the way the dropdown selector ...
az123's user avatar
  • 199
5 votes
2 answers
496 views

Break up options in a drop down by scope

I'm working on a social application whose main component we'll call Object. On the Object view there is a drop down that can contain as many as 9 options. Some of these options impact only a single ...
elemjay19's user avatar
  • 1,288
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

How should I implement a 'recently used' list in a dropdown function?

I'm building a complex web app that has a number of places where the user will need to select things from dropdowns. The dropdown lists can be quite long. We are already using the Select2 library to ...
Drew Beck's user avatar
  • 657
5 votes
1 answer
3k views

On mobile, when should I use which dropdown list equivalent?

Everytime I start designing for an App project I get stuck on user's list of options which my brain instantly associate with a desktop dropdown list like this: From what I could gather Android have 4 ...
Taly Emmanuela's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
4k views

How should I sort items in a drop down list?

I have a simple drop down list containing about 12 choices. The choices are not countries, states, or any other common set of items that users would be used to scanning alphabetically or by name. What'...
Glenn Arndt's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
15k views

What should be default value of select (drop down list)? [duplicate]

I'm wondering what is the best practice of designing select / drop down lists. In some projects I've worked in the select on a form was filled with first value from the list. In other project we had ...
Arkadiusz Kałkus's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Amazon's Website Search Bar

Before After Did you notice the change in the results being shown in the drop-down? In the first image, only last words are highlighted in bold but in case of the second image the moment user keys ...
NB4's user avatar
  • 2,511

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