[thelist] fun with form entries

[Courtenay]

textarea..?! 

Have you ever seen the sorts of data people will enter if you just let
them free-form?


On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 16:39:22 -0400, M. Seyon <evoltlist at delime.com> wrote:
> Message from Steve Lewis (3/1/2005 12:24 AM)
> >the book is being returned to the shipper, having been flagged as
> >undeliverable.
> >
> >It turns out that the Suite number for the address at work never made it
> >into the mailing address in the bookstore's database.  A little more
> >sleuthing, and I discover that the address entry form has a max limit on
> >the field which is shorter than the address I was shipping to, and which
> >is shorter than any other address fields I have seen.
> 
> I think there are lots of web developers out there who weren't hired on the
> basis of their ability to think logically or apply judicious amounts of
> common sense.
> 
> One very very well-known lingerie company, with a globally recogniseable
> brand name, has a similar problem with their online store.
> 
> 
> >A phone call gets me in touch with the web master and I suggest having the
> >field auto-advance to the second address line when the first line is
> >full.  He likes the idea and told me to feel free to offer him an example
> >of what I am thinking.
> 
> I personally think the absolute best way to allow someone to enter their
> shipping address is a freeform textarea.
> 
> <soapbox>
> There are 6 billion people in the world. Average out a family size of 6 and
> you've got 1 billion possible addresses.
> 
> Apparently in some of the smaller Caribbean countries you can basically
> send mail to
> [Person's Name]
> [Island]
> 
> I'm just ranting, but really the more you try to apply strict rules to this
> sort of data entry the more likely you are to bollocks it up for somebody.
> 
> Not everywhere has States. Or Provinces, Regions, Territories, etc. Many,
> MANY places do not have postal codes. Lots of places with postal codes
> don't use only numeric characters in their postal code.
> 
> This also applies to phone numbers.
> 
> Fancy tricks have their place. The order form of a website is not one of
> those places.
> 
> </soapbox>
> 
> regards.
> -marc
> 
> --
> Trinidad Carnival in all its photographic glory. Playyuhself.com
> http://www.playyuhself.com/
> --
> 
> * * Please support the community that supports you.  * *
> http://evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
> 
> For unsubscribe and other options, including the Tip Harvester
> and archives of thelist go to: http://lists.evolt.org
> Workers of the Web, evolt !
>