A toggle is a switch that can be flipped between two states, usually on and off. It’s used in software, hardware, and other systems that need a way to distinguish between different functions or modes. For example, a toggle could be used to turn on or off a feature that displays a toolbar or navigation bar. It can also be used to display or hide a set of content, such as an article’s comments or a chat interface.
The word toggle originally meant a pin that was passed through the eye of a rope or belt to fasten it. It’s still often used as a synonym for this kind of fastener, but it also describes a physical button or switch that allows users to choose between two settings or functions, such as switching the caps lock on and off.
Toggle descriptions
Long text above the fold can be distracting and deter users from completing your desired conversion actions. Use this app to create customizable “show more” and “show less” links that can be applied to any text on your site that exceeds a certain amount of words or characters. When clicked, this text will be shown or collapsed to make more room for your other important content.
Feature toggles are commonly used in A/B testing and other data-driven optimizations. They allow teams to consistently send different cohorts down one code path or another without needing to write an entirely new piece of functionality. This allows them to quickly and easily test and optimize things like the purchase flow of an ecommerce website or the Call To Action wording on a button.
Savvy teams avoid using toggles to control large swaths of their codebase and instead only use them for features that will benefit the majority of their user base. This prevents them from introducing too many toggles that may confuse users and cause bugs when not needed. They also take care to remove the toggles from their codebase once they are no longer necessary. This can be done by adding a task to the team’s backlog each time a new toggle is added or by placing “expiration dates” on them so that they will be removed automatically when they are no longer being used.
A toggle can be set to remember its state for a single session, a browser window, or a tab. It can also be set to open or close elements when the page is printed. The plugin has a special configuration option that restricts toggles to the details element inside of its parent, which can be useful for creating accordions and other grouped elements.
Toggle can be confusing to users, especially if the toggles are designed with colors that don’t match up. For example, many websites use green for on and red for off, which can be confusing to people with colorblindness or low vision. Using a consistent color system for toggles can help reduce user confusion and improve accessibility.
