Postal abbreviation drop down lists.

The BBQ Pit
1

At most websites, when you need to put in your postal address, they have the little “drop down” box that lists all the states.

The problem is, you’re already typing and “tabbing” from one field to the next. You get to that address thing, and if you try to type in MD for Maryland, what happens is the “drop down” goes to MA, so you need to go to the mouse and scroll to MD.

What also happens is, I usually get the ‘D’ typed too, so then the list repositions the highlight to DC or DE (depending on how they alphabetized it).

At that point, I either need to retype ‘M’ or scroll all the way from DC to MD.

The ONLY place I’ve found that has figured out the best way to do this (IMHO) is Mapquest which actually allows you to type the postal abbreviation in completely, saving TONS of time and frustration.

And if you don’t know the state abbreviation (like .5% of the time you’re getting directions or 0% of the time when you’re entering your address), then all you need to do is click the hyperlink to get the list.

Does anyone think it’s easier to stop typing, scroll through a list of 50 states using your mouse, then go back to typing?

Every web site that wants your address should allow you to type it in completely.

Now, there’s a downside to everything. Who’s my idea going to hurt? The residents of the following states who, on the drop downs, are fortunate enough so that they only have to type ONE letter and their state’s abbreviation comes up – lah di dah. I hope they can make the sacrifice for the rest of us.

Alabama AL
California CA
District of Columbia DC
Florida FL
Georgia GA
Hawaii HI
Iowa IA
Kansas KS
Louisiana LA
Massachusetts MA
North Carolina NC
Ohio OH
Pennsylvania PA
Rhode Island RI
South Carolina SC
Tennessee TN
Utah UT
Virginia VA
Washington WA

So a phoney Nieman Marcus cookie recipe can make itself known to every monkey with a calculator, but will a good idea like Mapquest’s germinate? Future generations may judge us by our response.

2

Ummm, just hit “M” twice when you’re in the box. The first time you get MA, the next time you get MD. I don’t see the issue…

3

I believe you can use the arrow keys to navigate the drop-down list. No need to switch to the mouse. Now I need to find an example.

Websites and programs that have the tab-order screwed up. Now that’s annoying.

4

I second this suggestion. I’m in Indiana, so I just hit “I” 4 times (IA, ID, IL, IN).

5

OK, my method:
MA : 2 keystrokes
MD : 2
ME : 2
MI : 2
MN : 2
MO : 2
MS : 2
MT : 2

Your method
MA: 1 Keystroke
MD: 2
ME : 3
MI : 4
MN : 5
MO : 6
MS : 7
MT : 8

That’s a time saver.

And if I accidentally scroll by it because they list “maine, me” before “maryland, md” if they alphabetize by full name (which I think some do)? Back to the mouse, bucko.

6

VA should be left off that list. Type in “V” on drop down lists like that and the first one you get is VT- Vermont, not VA- Virginia. You have to hit V twice to get VA.

7

As Severian points out, you can use the arrow keys to find the right one. Up works just as well as down. No need for the mouse.

8

well, you highlight part of the problem.

According to you, they alphabetize by state name.

According to Munch, they alphabetize by postal abbreviation.

And, so what happens to Munch who plugs in 4 'I’s only to realize he’s sitting in Iowa, instead of Indiana.

It’s all part of the problem, for which there’s a simple simple solution: do it like Mapquest.

9

3 hits of the C will get me CT, but if it’s some weird list where it includes things like Canadian Provinces, the arrow keys will get me back up (or down) list pretty easily. I hate having to take my hands off the keyboard.

10

true. still not easier than typing it in. You’re removing your hands from the typical keys, and it’s still going to be more keystrokes in almost all cases. And, even if you’re careful, sometimes you shoot by it, and need to scroll back up.

I know that whole “keystroke” thing sounds silly to some, but a major selling point of editors like ‘vi’, and less so ‘emacs’, was so that you could do everything with a minimum of keystrokes and motion. Some of us still think things should be designed that way.

11

I think you’re ignoring the oft-overlooked fact that I am always right, and never make mistackes.

12

This is more to brag than anything, but Firefox (and all Mozilla variants, I believe) work like they’re supposed to – typing “md” would advance to MA (Massachusettes) then continue to MD (Maryland) as long as the two letters come in fairly close together. That works, I’d guess, about 95% of the time as most state lists either use just the abbreviation or the abbreviation followed by the state name. It also comes in handy when I’m buying something online and have to pick my credit card’s expiration date from a pair of dropdown lists.

I agree with you in principle though, just let people keep typing. By all means check it when the form submits, but at some point you need to trust the user to know his own address.

13

Dunno what Firefox is, but if you’re saying it’s a Mozilla variant, then its some kind of browser?

I figured that this problem I described was controlled by the website’s code, not the browser. The behavior you describe certainly does not seem built into Crazy Browser.

(what do you mean, “not to brag”, are you an author of Firefox?)

14

It’s all in how the browser handles the dropdown list. IE, from what I remember, behaves in a brain-damaged manner like what you described. There’s nothing in the page’s code to make it act one way or the other. All the page has is this:


<select name="state">
    <option value="AK">AK (Alaska)</option>
    <option value="AL">AL (Alabama)</option>

etc.

And yes, Firefox (aka Firebird, aka Phoenix, aka mozilla/browser) is the standalone browser version of the Mozilla program suite. More info at www.mozilla.org

Actually, I said, “this is more to brag than anything”, meaning I was basically just piping up to say “your browser sucks and mine doesn’t :p”. Firefox is written in C++, which I could barely program “Hello World” in, so no, I’m not a dev.

15

As a side-note: I think the advantages of large drop down lists (like the 50 states) are for the developer and not the end-user. By limiting the possible inputs to legal values, the developer needs to do less work. There is less error-checking and there is no need to handle the cases when there is an error (popping up an error screen and prompting the user to type it in). The state field will always have a valid state; whereas the MapQuest version could have an invalid state like QZ.

But my note is a (possible) explanation, not an excuse. I think the MapQuest strategy is better. Futhermore, in my opinion, MapQuest has gotten an even more important point right. You can enter the city and state or just the zip code. There is no need to enter both sets of these fields. In fact, you can just type the zip code and it will start from the center of town - pretty nice since I don’t really need directions to get from my house to the highway.

16

Hey Trunk , I completely agree. It’s way quicker to just type in two letters than go through the drop down list. Even if a person can get to their state with only two keystrokes the list takes more time to just look at and verify that the correct state is chosen. It also breaks up any type/tab rhythm developed.

17

:dubious:

Yes, let’s talk about Canadian provinces and territories for a minute, shall we. The really fun address forms are ones that are supposedly for use by international customers as well, but that require you to fill in a state and a five-number zip code. Um, brain fart…

When I encounter this, I usually fill in some stupid shit like 90210, but if it’s for something I actually want mailed to me, I usually stomp off in a huff, metaphorically speaking (they can’t want my business that badly if they’re going to make it impossible for me to fill out the form.)

One exception was this very groovy women’s/gay publisher. I wanted my copy of Dykes to Watch Out For so I emailed them and detailed the situation. A very apologetic woman emailed me back next day and said it would be fixed ASAP. It was, and I got my book. (She also said the web designer was from Windsor. Go figure.)

18

Why can’t they do it like FileMaker drop-down lists or Macintosh files & folders in a list view? If you want “VA”, you type “VA” and it jumps down to it. Or, if they’re alphabetized by name rather than abbrev, type “Vi” and it hops down to “VA Virginia”.