A toggle is a switch with two positions—on and off. It’s commonly used in software and hardware to enable on-off commands like the Caps Lock or Num Lock keys. You’ll also see them on computer options menus and in many apps. In more general usage, the term can also refer to shifting back and forth between settings or programs, as when you toggle the camera on your phone between portrait and landscape view while video chatting with two people at once.
Generally speaking, toggles are useful to make complex content more manageable. They’re especially effective when you have a lot of information you want to present on the screen, but it may be too much for one page. A toggle can let users update their preferences and settings quickly and easily. But, when not done well, they can confuse users and cause frustration.
The key issue with toggles is that they are often designed without context in mind. This means that a designer might use colors to differentiate the states—on and off—of the toggle, but the choice of color can cause confusion or even be misleading. This is because color can have different meanings for different users. For example, green might mean on to some, but red might mean off to others. The good news is that there are ways to design toggles with more context, which can help avoid this problem.
When designing a toggle, start with the purpose and user goals in mind. Ask yourself, “What will this switch do? How will it change the state of the information displayed?” Toggle switches should have clear, direct labels and provide immediate results.
Another important thing to keep in mind is how a toggle will appear in different screen sizes and orientations. It’s crucial to ensure that a toggle will still be readable when it’s zoomed out or resized to be more compact on the page. It’s also important to make sure that the toggle can be clicked in any direction, including when the page is rotated or scrolled.
The toggle item has a number of advanced options that can be accessed by clicking the gear icon and selecting “Advanced options”. These include options to adjust positioning, responsiveness, animation & delay as well as the overall appearance of the element. For more information on how to customize these settings, read our article on Customizing Content Toggle Items.
