[UX] Remove multi-select list form elements from core by switching to Select2

[jenlampton]

Multiselect HTML select elements are hard for users. Selecting more than one requires Ctrl+clicking (or Cmd+clicking on Mac). Explaining this to users who sometimes have trouble even clicking the mouse is no one's idea of fun.

There are several modules for Drupal that replace all multi-select HTML elements with better alternatives:

• Better Select
  
• Chosen
  
• Select2
  
• Selectize
  
• Bootstrap Multiselect
  

There are also some great javascript libraries:

• Selectivity: https://arendjr.github.io/selectivity/
• SelectWoo: https://github.com/woocommerce/selectwoo

I would love to see the multi-select element removed from Backdrop's UI in favor of one of these better solutions.

(Looking for issues to mark as accessibility issues for an upcoming Sprint. Decided that this one does not qualify - @stpaultim 08/17/2021).

[klonos]

I'm pretty sure we already have an issue for this...

[jenlampton]

I thought so too but couldn't find it.

[klonos]

Selecting more than one requires Ctrl+clicking (or Cmd+clicking on Mac).

...and there's no way to use the multiselect on mobile where ctrl/cmd are not available.

I was thinking that it is kinda funny how the Better Select project usage stats show that there's only slightly over 600 sites still using it and in fact the number of installations is decreasing over time. Also, there is no port of it in D8 that I can find. So, people must be solving that issue in a different way somehow. So, a quick research brought into light the following:

https://api.jquerymobile.com/selectmenu and http://demos.jquerymobile.com/1.2.0/docs/forms/selects/

https://silviomoreto.github.io/bootstrap-select/examples/#multiple-select-boxes

Perhaps worth looking into as alternatives?

[jenlampton]

What you're seeing in the usage statistics is not "number of installations is decreasing over time" but the "number of sites reporting usage, decreasing over time". The majority of sites using this module are D6, and since there's no reason to have the update status module on for D6 sites anymore, people simply turn it off.

I think the easiest first step would be to remove the multi-select widget from core. After that we could look into adding fancy javascript based solutions. First things first?

[klonos]

The majority of sites using this module are D6, and since there's no reason to have the update status module on for D6 sites anymore, people simply turn it off.

Never thought of that. Your theory seems to be right because it is only the 6.x and the overall graphs that are declining - the 7.x graph seems to be relatively steady. Nevertheless, still weird that there's only so very few reported installations and that the highest it has ever gone to is a bit over the 1.000. I mean for such a useful module.

I think the easiest first step would be to remove the multi-select widget from core. After that we could look into adding fancy javascript based solutions.

Yep, with you on that 100%. Just thought that better_select is a JS solution too.

[jenlampton]

No PR here yet, so bumping to 1.7

[jenlampton]

As this issue has already missed a core release and still doesn't have a PR, I'm going to remove the milestone. That said, since it has [UX] in the title it is a priority issue for us, and can be rescheduled as soon as there's a PR for review.