Magic Button - Open form to specific tab?
Hello. Is it possible via magic button to open a form to a specific tab therein (i.e. form tab, not browser tab)? Thanks!
Forum Discussion
I have not found a way to do this; and I know you are not the first person to ask.
If, however, you choose not to use TABS, and instead use Section Headings; there is a way to anchor a text element in each Section of a Form and then be able to redirect to a Form and have the form place the view at that anchored section (see portion of this post after the ***).
There are probably other techniques; and these days I personally prefer the TAB form layout better than one long scrollable Form.
I also do not recommend building multiple-forms, and being able to navigate to a customized form, just to provide the user a one-less-click experience; as this is a lot more work for an Admin to maintain.
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At the top of your Form Layout, insert a new row and select the form element Text.
Then, in your Text Item Properties text: box put:
<p id="top" style="display: block; position: relative; top: -120px; visibility: hidden;"></p>
<a href="#nameOfYourSection" class="Vibrant Primary" style="font-weight: bold">Button Label Name</a>
<a href="#DifferentSectionName" class="Vibrant Primary" style="font-weight: bold">Button Label Name</a>
Then create another Form Element of Text and place it directly underneath a Section Heading form element. In the Text Item Properties text: box put:
<p id="nameOfYourSection" style="display: block; position: relative; top: -120px; visibility: hidden;"></p><a href="#top">^ Top</a>
You can place these throughout your form and have a corresponding button at the top of your form to easily navigate longer forms. This was how I would do it before TABS came into the platform.
Remember to make sure the id is the exact same name as the href="# name value that you use at the top of the form (no spaces allowed). i.e. #contacts will have an id="contacts"
You can then put these anchors in your form and make the navigation easier for Users inside a form as well as append to a URL the #anchor point when redirecting.
To add an anchor point to the end of a redirect add the "#idNameHere" in your URL.
Example URL output:
https://laurahillier.quickbase.com/db/bh74wc3me?a=dr&rid=9182#contacts
If, however, you choose not to use TABS, and instead use Section Headings; there is a way to anchor a text element in each Section of a Form and then be able to redirect to a Form and have the form place the view at that anchored section (see portion of this post after the ***).
There are probably other techniques; and these days I personally prefer the TAB form layout better than one long scrollable Form.
I also do not recommend building multiple-forms, and being able to navigate to a customized form, just to provide the user a one-less-click experience; as this is a lot more work for an Admin to maintain.
**********
At the top of your Form Layout, insert a new row and select the form element Text.
Then, in your Text Item Properties text: box put:
<p id="top" style="display: block; position: relative; top: -120px; visibility: hidden;"></p>
<a href="#nameOfYourSection" class="Vibrant Primary" style="font-weight: bold">Button Label Name</a>
<a href="#DifferentSectionName" class="Vibrant Primary" style="font-weight: bold">Button Label Name</a>
Then create another Form Element of Text and place it directly underneath a Section Heading form element. In the Text Item Properties text: box put:
<p id="nameOfYourSection" style="display: block; position: relative; top: -120px; visibility: hidden;"></p><a href="#top">^ Top</a>
You can place these throughout your form and have a corresponding button at the top of your form to easily navigate longer forms. This was how I would do it before TABS came into the platform.
Remember to make sure the id is the exact same name as the href="# name value that you use at the top of the form (no spaces allowed). i.e. #contacts will have an id="contacts"
You can then put these anchors in your form and make the navigation easier for Users inside a form as well as append to a URL the #anchor point when redirecting.
To add an anchor point to the end of a redirect add the "#idNameHere" in your URL.
Example URL output:
https://laurahillier.quickbase.com/db/bh74wc3me?a=dr&rid=9182#contacts
I set this up how you described and all it does is move the tab page up, if you are on that tab. It does not show another tab.
The problem I'm having is when using a tablet (with desktop site on) the tabs on my form are way too long. My users aren't savvy enough to know that they have to click on the tiny black arrow to make the tabs scroll right just a couple at a time. This gets annoying, to say the least, to have to explain this over and over, that yes, you have to keep tapping on the tiny arrow until you see the tab you want. And frankly, it's annoying to have to tap on the tiny arrow anyway.
I was intrigued by your solution and thought that having an array of magic buttons to tap on would work, only to find out that it doesn't. What I want seems simple in theory; tap on a button to display a specific tab. Is there anything you can suggest that corrects your initial solution?
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Barry Dolan
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The problem I'm having is when using a tablet (with desktop site on) the tabs on my form are way too long. My users aren't savvy enough to know that they have to click on the tiny black arrow to make the tabs scroll right just a couple at a time. This gets annoying, to say the least, to have to explain this over and over, that yes, you have to keep tapping on the tiny arrow until you see the tab you want. And frankly, it's annoying to have to tap on the tiny arrow anyway.
I was intrigued by your solution and thought that having an array of magic buttons to tap on would work, only to find out that it doesn't. What I want seems simple in theory; tap on a button to display a specific tab. Is there anything you can suggest that corrects your initial solution?
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Barry Dolan
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- A few years ago there was fairly intense discussion on this forum about whether it was possible to make a button to go to a particular tab.
Nobody was able to crack that nut. I think it would take some enhancements on the QuickBase side in order to allow us to specify a tab.
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Mark Shnier (YQC)
Quick Base Solution Provider
Your Quick Base Coach
http://QuickBaseCoach.com
mark.shnier@gmail.com
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