A toggle is a control that lets users change the state of a setting, view, or piece of content. It’s generally a good idea to use a toggle when the change will take place instantly (either ON or OFF). In the case of system settings, toggles are often used as an alternative to radio buttons because they’re more intuitive and require less screen real estate.
When designing a toggle, there are several design considerations to keep in mind. The most important is to ensure that it’s clear to users what the toggle is currently controlling, and what the current state of that control is. This can be accomplished through color changes, iconography, and even movement to help differentiate the toggle from other controls. Likewise, it’s essential that toggles are easy to interact with and respond reliably to user input. If possible, it’s recommended that toggle switches look like sliders in order to avoid confusion.
In addition, the label of a toggle should clearly identify the setting, view, or piece of content that it controls. This will let users understand what the toggle is doing, as well as how to use it. Toggle labels should be descriptive and short. When in doubt, say the label out loud to see if it makes sense. If not, rewrite the label to make it more clear.
One of the advantages of toggles is that they can hide content without deleting it from the page. This can be a great way to prevent people from seeing spoilers or article links in an article that they’re not yet ready to read. However, the disadvantage is that anyone who can read the source code of the page will still be able to see hidden content. This can be avoided by adding the class “open” to both the toggle and the toggleContent component.
When working with feature toggles it’s important to test the toggle configuration that you expect to go live in production, as well as any other toggles that you plan to release flipped On. To further reduce risk it’s also wise to test the fallback configuration where existing or legacy behavior is enabled if any toggles are flipped Off.
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