Indicator for hidden information in settings

1 Requirements

Thanks to AJAX (or other web design wizardry), complex settings in ILIAS look much less intimidating these days, as information and sub-options get hidden as long as they are not needed. This is a great way to reduce visual complexity.

On the downside, hiding options without any clear visual indicator is quite problematic. New users may not be aware about their options in some places without arbitrarily checking and unchecking options, just to see what happens.

I’ll add two screenshots to give you an example.

My suggested feature would change this by adding some kind of visual indicator at the appropriate places.

I can envision two possible solutions, one more complex than the other:

2 Minimalist solution: Just add […]

The minimalist solution could be implemented without needing any code at all. We could just add something like […] to an option:

( ) Bla Option Bla […]

This would be simple, but comes with the downside that users still have to check/uncheck setings just to see the subsettings.

3 Even better solution: Let people see what an option is without activating it

This would require code changes.

The look could be the same as above, but it would allow users to click on […] and unveil further options, without checking any checkbox. The […] would act as a kind of "switch" to reveal more information (or hide it when it is already revealed).

We could make this a tad more fancy by using [+] to reveal more information, and using [-] to hide it.

4 Mockups

Here’s a totally unprofessional mockup of my solution to give you an idea.

5 Additional Information

• Idea / concept: Fabian Kruse, fabian@ilias.de
  
• Interest in funding: (please indicate if you are interested/able to fund this feature)
• Maintainer: (will be set by Jour Fixe / maintainer)
• Implementation of the feature is done by (will be set by Jour Fixe / maintainer)
• Testcases by: (please add your name if you want to create the testcases for this feature)

6 Discussion

AT 2015-04-10: I would like it very much that users get some cue there is something more to be looked at. 

7 Implementation

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