A toggle is a switch that allows you to manage the state of an object. Toggles are commonly used in user interfaces to let people update their preferences, settings and other types of information, and they work best when they offer direct labels, use standard visual design and deliver immediate results.
When used properly, toggles can minimize scrolling and help visitors find the content that is most relevant to them. But it’s important to consider whether a toggle is the right choice for an interface and, if not, what would be a better solution.
Originally, the word toggle referred to a pin passed through the eye of a rope to keep it secure. Today it’s also used to refer to any sort of up-and-down command, such as the Caps Lock key that turns your keyboard on and off. In technology, a toggle is a button or control that enforces one of two mutually exclusive states by changing its appearance when activated.
There are several different ways to implement toggles in a user interface, including using a dropdown or checkbox and showing a toggle icon with the name of the current state. Toggles are also often used in conjunction with a label to provide context. It is important to use toggles consistently so that users will quickly understand the purpose and operation of a button or control.
Toggle can be difficult to make accessible, and it’s important to remember that not all toggles are created equal. Adding colors to toggles can be helpful, but it’s essential to consider colorblindness in your design. For example, using green as the on position can be confusing for users with red/green colorblindness. In addition to color, it’s important to evaluate societal and cultural differences when selecting which states to display in your toggles.
Lastly, when designing a toggle, it’s important to consider how it will affect performance. For example, using a toggle on a page with long article content may increase the load time and require more network requests. To avoid this, you can hide the toggle behind a header or query parameter instead of using it directly on the page. This will prevent the toggle from being fetched directly on the page and will avoid additional database queries. However, it’s important to note that this approach might be discovered by malicious users and could result in them performing actions that are otherwise forbidden by your terms of service.
Creating toggles is an effective way to deploy features with limited resources. However, it’s important to understand that a toggle is only a temporary fix and should be considered carefully before deploying. It’s also important to consider other methods for managing the configuration of a feature, such as using an editable code flag and allowing users to change it on demand. This method allows developers to dynamically re-configure the toggle and provides greater flexibility for managing changes over time. However, it does not allow for the same reversibility as a toggle and requires that the developer be willing to follow a consistent pattern of re-configuration.
