How to get an Editable Checklist within an Interface? (with screenshots)

[M_L]

Hello,

I'm reaching out for help on Interface Design ---> How can I add an editable checklist into my Interface? I keep running into problems (outlined below). If there's a simple way to add a checklist of, for example, 10 items, with an editable checkbox by each one that would be great.

Attempt 1: Use the "checklist" markdown formatting in a text box. While I am editing, I can check/uncheck boxes, however, when I publish the Interface and attempt to change the checkboxes in the live interface, I can no longer edit them. (Meaning, only "editors" can check/uncheck boxes, but normal Interface users cannot). This is the feature that uses the checkbox in a text list instead of a bullet or dash.

Attempt 2: Inserting a "checkbox" field into the interface as an element. I figured I could just insert the checkbox from a "checkbox" column into the Interface, but the formatting doesn't work. If I use the default label, it will only sit above the text box (making a "list" view unable to work), or I can remove the default label and make my own using a textbox but the line spacing and formatting doesn't work.

Attempt 3: Embedding a "Grid View" of a table with the checkbox column viewable and editable. This may work, however, it seems to defeat the purpose of the Interface if I'm just embedding the standard data view to get this functionality.

Context: The interface is setup as a "Record Review" format. The sidebar on the left are Events that my organization has hosted, and the interface is a means for us to track all of the tasks needed for each event. I want to add a checklist to each event so that all team members can see and update the status of the tasks. 

TIA for any help you're able to provide!

-ML

[stevendasilva · Accepted solution]

Please see this loom here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFJGChl5CZ4 

Let me know if this would work for you.

[kuovonne]

>  however, when I publish the Interface and attempt to change the checkboxes in the live interface, I can no longer edit them. (Meaning, only "editors" can check/uncheck boxes, but normal Interface users cannot)

What do you mean by "normal Interface users"? Only people with editor permissions (or higher) can edit fields. This restriction is the same for both rich text fields and checkbox fields.

Is it possible that you did not make the rich text field editable when designing the interface? Most interface elements default to not editable.

[M_L]

Hi @kuovonne,

Thanks for your response. By "normal Interface users", I mean anyone viewing the published interface. 

I can check/uncheck the markdown/text field check boxes *only when I am actively editing the interface*. When I publish the interface and attempt to view it on the "user side" of things, I can no longer check or uncheck the boxes.

Thanks for the suggestion of ensuring the rich text field is editable, however, these checkboxes are part of a text field element, not imported from the base data. When I select the Interface text box to try to make it "editable", I receive the message below, that there are "No configurable properties" for this text box.

That being said, I tried creating a text field in the base that's Long Text / HTML Enabled, which does allow me to edit the checkboxes in the interface. This is good, however, is there a way to "lock" the text so that *only* the checkboxes are editable? It's a standardized checklist for each record, so I'd rather avoid having the checklist be editable. If the only change I could make would be the checkboxes that would be ideal. Thoughts?

Thank you,

[M_L]

Hi @stevendasilva,

Thanks for your quick, detailed reply. I like the creative thinking on this one, I didn't know I could do that with lists within an interface and have the record open within the screen (very similar to the Record Review interface). There are more options for checkboxes in this view, I will check it out.

Thanks,

ML

[wheeler500]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing this.

[kuovonne]

>  these checkboxes are part of a text field element, not imported from the base data
Ah. Thanks for the explanation. I was thinking you had a rich text field. Yes, text elements are not editable in the published interface.

>  is there a way to "lock" the text so that *only* the checkboxes are editable? 

No. This is not possible.

I think the closest you can get is having a linked table for checklist items, like Steven demoed. However, I would probably show the linked checklist items as a grid instead of using the side-sheet. If you don't want people to edit the names of the items, you can use field level permissions. On the other hand, this also makes creating new checklists more difficult, and it might cause problems with record limits. 

So, it is a tradeoff. A lot depends on how much you can trust your users and how much you effort you want to put into developing/maintaining the system.

[M_L]

Thank you @kuovonne, this is helpful!