[Sigia-l] Selecting multiple options from a list

[Katie Ware]

(okay - just lost the entire text of this email because I accidently clicked 
on the MSN logo on the hotmail compose page to get back to this screen and 
it went to MSN. Didn't save my text. Grrrr. Let's see if I can recreate.)

Okay then, I'm working on a project that has a taxonomy that goes to 
potentially 4 levels. It's been decided that the user can only choose one 
topic at the top level, but we would like the user to be able to select 
multiple subcategories (which can get long, up to 5o or so entries). That's 
where it gets ugly. The other option is to just allow selection of a topic 
and only single choices throughout. The user would have the option to get 
results at any level after the second level, bypassing the taxonomy. The end 
result is likely to be printed and reviewed, not read online.

I've looked at the archives, and some similar issues have been raised about 
taxonomy searching and long lists. Also checked out Flamingo.com (which had 
info, but the samples didn't work) and some taxonomy articles.

Can this be done elegantly? Is it impossible? Here are the options so far 
(users can also opt out after the second level and get all results):

1.  Yahoo-like initial screen, second screen has list of subcategories  with 
check boxes. Third and subsequent screens have checkbox lists for all chosen 
subcategories. Pro is all options are visible, con is that it could get ugly 
quickly if lists are long or many subcategories are chosen.

2.  Single option list box on initial screen, second and subsequent screens 
use an "accumulator box" (list of potential subcats on left, select and 
click arrow to move to selection box on right). Pro is that functionality is 
similar across screens and it can be somewhat contained on the screen. Cons 
are that user has to scroll to see options and some novice users may have 
trouble with the accumulator.

3.  Single option list box on initial screen, list box with check boxes for 
each entry. (Someone suggested this, I have not seen it in action. Anyone 
else?) Again, a little more contained, but not all options visible.

Any thoughts? Any example sites? Most I've looked at follow a single thread 
(and maybe there is a good reason for that). Back in my unemployed days last 
year there were a number of job search sites that dealt with this - not very 
well, actually. But, they seem to have disappeared (out of business, bought 
out or maybe redesigned).

thanks!

Katie



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