#29666 [Opn]: Usability problem: "function list" restricts text input.

ID: 29666 Updated by: goba@php.net Reported By: annettetruong at yahoo dot com Status: Open Bug Type: Website problem Operating System: WinXP & IE6.0 PHP Version: Irrelevant New Comment: The 404 must be a browser issue, since I cannot reproduce it in Firefox / Linux. There might be an error in the JS. Could you please try this same search.php on another mirror site? Only the space input is restricted in the input field, when the function list is selected, you can type in anything else. Since our users very much got used to the order of the input fields, I don't think it would be a good idea to change the order. Note that we are beta testing this special search feature on search page. The most used search option is the function list search, this is why it is selected by default. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2004-08-14 00:24:53] annettetruong at yahoo dot com Description: ------------ When trying to use the form on this page: http://us3.php.net/search.php I was trying to search for online documentation. My first impulse is to A) enter search and then B) from the dropdown, select 'online documentation [en]'. However, on this page, the default is for "function list" to be selected. Unwittingly, I try to enter my documentation search in the input box, only for it to be hijacked by some kind of keyword matching? After a while I figured out that I have to go *forward* in the usability flow (TAB) select online documentation, then backward (SHIFT TAB) to type in my query. This is a bad user experience. But it is moot, since on Windows XP & IE 6.0 this form doesn't even work anyway (i.e when the form is finally submitted properly, a 404 is the result no matter what input values are used). In complete frustration, the user than bails out of this page totally, back to "good old www.php.net" where the form actually works! Reproduce code: --------------- 1.) Use Windows XP professional (2002) and IE 6.0 2.) http://us3.php.net/search.php 3.) Try to search for online documenation without using your mouse, using regular user flow (tabs). When "function list" is selected (which it sometimes is, by default) the input box is hijacked by the functions. Regular search requires TAB (select online documentation [en]) then SHIFT-TAB to enter text. ANNOYING. Expected result: ---------------- Expected: better user experience. I'm not sure what the solution is except to ditch the function hijacking or make it a seperate kind of search, or at least not the default search. Actual result: -------------- User confusion and bad user experience when trying to search online documentation [en] when "function list" happens to be the default dropdown option. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=29666&edit=1