User ordered select lists

nipper

OK, I am looking for ideas.

Here is my issue, I have an index DCR (say a list of press releases), the user selects 1-100 to be listed on the index page. Currently that is in a scrolling list.

Order is now becoming important. Currently, it is whatever order DOS servers up the DCRs to my callserver. Sorting that by title, date, etc is easy, that is a strong option.

However what if the users require the ability to say this one is 1st, 2nd etc ?

Here are my thoughts.

Have a replicant 1-100 and select each individually. Trivial for me to implement but if I were a user I would hate it.

Have a top 5 when the users selects 1-5 and then the remaining are in a list that gets sorted by some means.

Either of those requires some ability to prevent selection of the same DCR in multiple different lists.

The other option I am thinking of is to have 2 lists, a complete list of available and a list of selected items. Then buttons to add/remove. I have written that code before. Then I would need to add buttons to move up/down. That is the most elegant way of doing it. The JS for this is complex.

Finally I could do the previous but have a field that I could read when someone adds, as to what position in the selected DCRs it belongs. Easier than above but not quite as nice.

thoughts ?

me

ISCBorisB

OK, I am looking for ideas. Here is my issue, I have an index DCR (say a list of press releases), the user selects 1-100 to be listed on the index page. Currently that is in a scrolling list. Order is now becoming important. Currently, it is whatever order DOS servers up the DCRs to my callserver. Sorting that by title, date, etc is easy, that is a strong option. However what if the users require the ability to say this one is 1st, 2nd etc ? Here are my thoughts. Have a replicant 1-100 and select each individually. Trivial for me to implement but if I were a user I would hate it. Have a top 5 when the users selects 1-5 and then the remaining are in a list that gets sorted by some means. Either of those requires some ability to prevent selection of the same DCR in multiple different lists. The other option I am thinking of is to have 2 lists, a complete list of available and a list of selected items. Then buttons to add/remove. I have written that code before. Then I would need to add buttons to move up/down. That is the most elegant way of doing it. The JS for this is complex. Finally I could do the previous but have a field that I could read when someone adds, as to what position in the selected DCRs it belongs. Easier than above but not quite as nice. thoughts ? me

I've implemented something similar once (though in no way identical).

We had PR Index Page (re)generated automatically on PR Submission with ten most recent sorted by
Date(youngest first) and the rest behind "PR Archive" Link. In addition, I had "List Ordinal" Item
(by default empty) associated with every PR Entry. If populated (numbered) by the Contributor, it simply meant
forced display List position regardless of *true* sorting.

There are few caveats to consider in this approach like whether to allow non-sequential Ordinals
but overall it worked pretty well