Toggle is an HTML control element that enables users to update settings, preferences, and other types of information. As long as the toggle has a clear purpose, is simple to use, and provides immediate results, it can be a great solution for a number of user-interface problems. When used appropriately, the toggle can help designers create responsive layouts and deliver a smooth user experience.
Toggles are easy to use and can be applied to nearly any type of user-interface element. They can be used to control the visibility of elements, change their position on the page, or even show/hide the entire page. However, it’s important to use toggles in moderation and apply them only where they are needed.
The most common reason for using a toggle is to change the state of a component. This can be to enable a feature that is not yet available, hide a confusing or distracting piece of interface, or change the default behaviour of a component. Toggles are also often used as a way to support newer agile development processes, where teams can create features on code branches but then hide them behind a toggle until they are ready for release and broader testing.
One of the most important things to consider when using a toggle is that it should always have a clear label associated with it, which answers a binary question with a definite answer. It’s also a good idea to evaluate the color of the toggle, as it should be high contrast and not cause confusion for users with accessibility issues. This includes users with red/green color blindness, who will find it difficult to distinguish a green toggle from a red one.
A toggle is also a great way to manage permissions for a feature. This can be useful for e-commerce sites where they want to limit access to certain features to paying customers only. A Permission Toggle is similar to a Canary Release but is usually longer lived and may be applied to specific cohorts of users.
As companies grow it can become cumbersome to manage toggle configuration via static files, so many move them into some form of centralized store. Usually this is a database which makes it easier for system operators, testers and product managers to view and modify toggle flags.
It’s also important to keep in mind that the lifecycle of a toggle is limited, and it should be pruned as soon as it becomes unnecessary. This reduces the maintenance burden of unused toggles and also helps ensure that any remaining toggles are properly configured. This can be done by adding code cleanup tasks to team backlogs or by building a toggle management process into your feature management platform.
