I have just begun working with this module and I must say that adding or selecting existing fields from a drop-down-list-box is somewhat difficult. Therefore, I would like to strongly suggest this change:

Replace the drop-down-list-box with a scrollable editable datagrid and a toolbar. The toolbar would have buttons such as New, Delete, Save and perhaps other special function buttons. The datagrid would contain a row (record) for each "dynamic field". At the beginning of each row would be an edit icon and a checkbox. The edit icon would redirect the user to the detailed "dynamic field" edit page. The checkbox would allow the user to check/select one or more rows and then click the Delete button or some other special function button. The columns in the datagrid would be Name, Short Name, Sort Order, Question Type (drop-down-list-box), Required (checkbox), and perhaps other most-commonly used fields.

Currently, adding and modifying fields is very tedious, whereas the suggestion above would make things much easier and quicker (especially when dealing with large forms), which is very important. Thank you for your consideration.

Michael

BTW, if your Dynamic Forms product works this way also, then this suggestion applies even more so to that product as well.

Michael,

Thanks for your suggestions. We will review them for upcoming enhancements. We do already have several new features on the roadmap for speed editing and maintaining existing fields but not sure we will end up overhauling the main page.

A few not too far down the road:

* We are implemnting AJAX functionality to quickly move fields and set default values for new questions (i.e. when you tab off of entering the new field label it will automatically set the sort order based on the maximum sort order you already have defined as well as default the help text, short field name, etc...) We are also implementing AJAX within changing field types and other areas to speed up the process.

* We are adding to the wizard the ability to select multiple fields to delete all at one time similar to the 'Setup Wizard' that we implemented with v2.4 which is a major bonus for quickly adding new fields. Other items will be added to the wizard as well.

* New features will be added to copy fields types and 'New from copy'

* We are also reviewing an easier method for a table edit feature which would still be user friendly but mostly for advanced users. This functionality would put all field options in a data grid and you would be able to quicly manage the fields properties from this area. This probably sounds closest to your enhancement requests but I think we would be able to actually get almost all of the properties in the grid instead of having an edit icon at all. This of course would be mostly for advanced users though who were very familiar with the module.

Thanks again for your feedback.

-Chad

Thanks for the road map. That all sounds good.

One note on the editable datagrid: only the most commonly changed fields are necessary; otherwise, you end up with a massive grid (and viewstate, pagesize, etc) and you have to scroll way to the right (not good UI). The edit icon allows the user to edit other settings if necessary.

I didn't mention this before, but I've been a developer/consultant for the past twenty years with a focus on UI Design and Usability, so I try to share ideas with other developers when I like their product (and support).

One quick fix on your "edit" page would be to have another link that says, "Update and Add a New Question"

Also,  the options for Radio buttons etc. should be editable when initially adding the new question. Currently, you must update, and then come back to edit the question.

Michael