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Overview
Dropdown list and multi select dropdown list are the data types in Gainsight which allow you to create a custom dropdown list or multi select dropdown list. Multi select dropdown list is used when a user wants to store multiple values for the same record, whereas dropdown list is used to store a single value for a record.
You can create custom categories of either dropdown list or multi select dropdown list and define items in each category. You can find the standard dropdown lists and create custom dropdown lists in Administration > Data Management > Dropdown Lists. You can create custom fields in the standard and custom objects with datatype as Dropdown List, or multi select dropdown list, and select an associated category for mapping to this field.
By default, Gainsight ships Customer Stage and Customer Status dropdown list categories for standard and system fields of Company object and these cannot be editable.
You will also see several other non-editable dropdown list categories for standard and system fields in the Dropdown Lists page.
Example of Drop down List
Your product is likely used by many companies that belong to various industries. To identify the industry of your customer, a field called 'Industry' of data type dropdown list can be created to use across Gainsight. The field has multiple industry options and allows you to select one. A particular company may belong to an industry: IT, Automobile, Aerospace, Software, Networking, etc.
Example of Multi Select Dropdown List
A field like Sales Country where a column might require multiple values from a specified list.
Createa Custom Category
You can create a custom category of either dropdown list or multi select dropdown list. To create a custom category:
- Navigate to Administration > Data Management > Dropdown Lists.
- Click +CATEGORY. Create category dialog appears.
- Enter the Category Name and Description: Category Name cancontainthe character length of 3 to 100.
- Select the Variant either Single Select or Multi Select for the respective dropdown list.
- Click ADD.
Add Items in a Category
You can add items to a Dropdown List eithermanually one at a time or Bulk upload through a CSV file.
Add Items Manually
To add items in a category:
- Click the Category Name (Country here) and click +ITEM. Add new item dialog appears.
- Enter the following in the Add new item dialog:
- Name: Can contain upto 50 characters
- Short Name: Maximum 20 Characters are allowed
- Active: Checkbox. If selected, the item is available for selection in other functionalities in Gainsight
- Item color: A random Item color is automatically assigned to the new Item. You can change the Item color as per your preference. This is the color that will show in the Report Builder when using this field for reports.
- Description: [Optional] Maximum 255 Characters are allowed.
- Click ADD. Select Add another to add an item and open new dialog to add another item.
- The items can be arranged in an order. You can Sort alphabetically or Rearrange the items with the SORT and REORDER buttons.
Notes:
- When data is loaded into the custom field with data type dropdown list or multi select dropdown list through any of the ingest channels, it is restricted to load data into the items defined in the custom category.
- If the field associated with a custom category is used in any other functionality, these dependencies of the custom category are shown in the Dropdown list dependencies section.
Add a Bulk ofItems through aCSV file
Admins can create dropdown list items in bulk by uploading a valid CSV file which contains the list of items. The CSV file may contain the following headers:
- Name
- Description
- Short Name
- Active
- Color
Notes:
- CSV file should contain a Name header but the remaining headers are optional.
- You can create a maximum of 500 dropdown list items through a CSV file. Items more than 500 will not be added.
- CSV file size should be less than 1 MB.
- Name should be unique and it should contain a maximum of 50 characters which are only alphabets, numbers and special characters except Semicolon, Double quote, and Single quote.
- A maximum of 20 characters are allowed for Short Name.
- A maximum of 255 characters are allowed for Description.
Business Use Case: Admins can now save their time by quickly creating a bulk of dropdown list items through a CSV file rather than manually creating each of them. For example, If an Admin wants to create a dropdown list containing a list of 30 US states, they can be added as dropdown items through a CSV file, into the States category.
To create items in bulk using a CSV file:
- Navigate to Administrator > Data management > Dropdown Lists.
- Click +CATEGORY to create a new category. Refer to the Create a Custom Categorysection in this article.
- Click the required category name.
- Click +ITEM > Select From CSV. Upload CSV file screen is displayed.
- Click BROWSE and select the CSV file from your machine.
- Click NEXT. CSV Headers Mapping screen is displayed.'
- Map all the Item Attributes with the Source CSV fields.
Note: Mapping Name attribute is mandatory. - Click CREATE to add all the dropdown items to the category.
A confirmation banner is displayed showing the number of items added successfully and the number of failed items, if any.
- In case, all the items are added successfully, click Dismiss.
- In case, all or some of the items are failed to add, click Download to view the CSV file with the reason for failure.
Following are the most common errors:
- Duplicate Name: CSV file contains duplicate dropdown item name.
- Active is invalid: Status other than TRUE or FALSE is invalid.
- Name string is null/Name is empty: Any name field in the CSV file is empty.
- Name length exceeds 50 characters: Characters of any name field in the CSV is more than 50.
- ItemColor is not valid: Hex code for color is incorrect.
Rectify all the errors in the CSV file and re-upload to add the remaining dropdown items successfully.
Assigning Default item(s) to a Category
You can assign one default item for a dropdown list and multiple items up to six can be assigned to a multi select dropdown list category. If a null value is ingested into the field through any data ingestion channel, the null value will be replaced with the assigned default value into the field. To assign a default value:
- For a dropdown list category, select an item from the Default Category as shown below:
- For a multi select dropdown list category, click + to add items defined in the category to set them as default. You can select one or multiple items up to six as default items.
- Click DONEto save the selected default items.
Create a Dropdown list for Dependent Categories
Dependency in dropdown lists allows you to select the items in a Dependent dropdown list based on the selection of items in the Controller dropdown list. You can add fields on the Dependent and Controller Categories and create a Relationship between them as Controller and Dependent. When these fields are used in any consumption area, system allows users to select the item(s) in a Dependent field based on the selection of an item in the Controller field. To see Dependent categories section, navigate to Administration > Data Management > Dropdown Lists.
Controller: It is a category which has a list of dropdown items. Each item in the controller can control a set of items in another category (Dependent).
Dependent: It is a category which has a list of dropdown items. Some or all items in the dependent category can be in correspondence with an item from its Controller category.
Note: Category is a Dropdown List that contains a list of items.
Example: When you want to store Country and State of a CSM in an object, You may create a field Country and map to a Dependent field named State. When a user in a consumption area selects an item in the Country field, another dropdown list appears to select a State also. More information about configuration of the Dependent and Controller categories are shown below.
Usage of Dropdown List Categories:
- Dependent dropdown list categories can be used to createfields, while configuring the Timeline Activity Types.
- Fields of dependent dropdown list category typecan be used to enter Company data from the Data Operations page.
To create Controller and Dependent Categories:
- Navigate to Administration > Data management > Dropdown Lists.
- Add a Controller Category (Ex: Country) of Single select type, and add items (Country names). For the detailed information about how to create a category, refer Create a Custom Category and for addingitems, refer AddItems in a Category.
You will see the list of items added to the Controller Category (Ex: Country) as shown in the following image.
.png?revision=1 "Dropdown List and Multi Select Dropdown List (12)")
- Add a Dependent Category (Ex: State) of Single or Multi select type and add items (State names). For the detailed information about how to create a category, refer Create a Custom Category and for creation of items, refer Create Items in a Category.
You will see the list of items added to the Dependent Category (State) as shown in the following image.
.png?revision=1 "Dropdown List and Multi Select Dropdown List (13)")
- Click +DEPENDENCY in the Dependent Categories section in the Dropdown Lists page.
- In the Controller field, select a category (Country here) and in the Dependency field, select a category (State here). Dependency field depends on the Controller field and items in the Dependent category varies as per selection of an item in the Controller category. See below for the configuration of Dependency.
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Select an item in the Controller category (Country). Select the corresponding items in the Dependent category (State) to map with the selected item in the Controller category. In any consumption area using a dependency category, every time you change the country (Controller item), the list of states (Dependent items) will change accordingly.
Note: Controller dropdown list shows only categories of Single select whereas Dependent dropdown list shows both the Single select and Multi select categories
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Select an item from the Controller category (one Country name) on the left pane and its corresponding items from the Dependent category (State names here) on the right pane.
(Video) How to Create a Drop-Down List With Multiple Options in Excel : Computers & Tech Tips
In any consumption area using a dependency category, everytime you change the country (Controller item), the list of states (Dependent items) will change accordingly.
Note: Controller dropdown list shows only categories of Single select whereas Dependent dropdown list shows both the Single select and Multi select categories.
- Click SAVE. Items in a dependent category are now mapped with the respective items in a controller category.
Create a field of Dropdown List or Multi Select Dropdown List
You can create custom fields in the standard and custom objects with datatype as Dropdown List, or multi select dropdown list, and select an associated category for mapping to this field.
To create a field of dropdown or multi select dropdown list:
- Navigate to Administration > Data Management > [Select an object into which you want to create a custom field].
- Click ADD FIELD. Add field dialog appears.
- Enter the following details:
- Display Name:The easily understandable display name
- Field Name: The system defined field name with a suffix of __gc
- Data type: Select either Dropdown list or Multi select dropdown list.
- Category:This shows the associated categories of dropdown list or multi select dropdown list. Select the appropriate category. This maps the category to thiscustom field.
- Click ADD. Custom field of the type dropdown list or multi select dropdown list is created. For more information on creating a custom field, refer to Gainsight Data Management.
Create Controller and Dependent Fields
To create a Controller and Dependent field:
- Navigate to Administration > Data Management. Select an object in which you want to create Controller and Dependent fields.
- Click ADD FIELD and create a field (Country here) of data type Dropdown List and map to the category Country as shown below.
- Add another field (State here) of data type Dropdown List and map to the category State and select Controller as Country as shown below. Dependency between Dependent and Controller fields is now created.
In a consumption area where data from an object is used, if a user selects a Country, the corresponding item State can also be selected.
Note:You can create dependent fields of single select or multi select dropdown list data type whereas you can create controller fields of single select dropdown list only. This allows users to select multiple items in a dependent field.
FAQs
What is the difference between dropdown and multiselect dropdown? ›
Multi select dropdown list is used when a user wants to store multiple values for the same record, whereas dropdown list is used to store a single value for a record. You can create custom categories of either dropdown list or multi select dropdown list and define items in each category.
Can a drop-down list have multiple selections? ›When you create a drop-down list, you can only make one selection. If you select another item, the first one is replaced with the new selection. He wanted to make multiple selections from the same drop down in such a way that the selections get added to the already present value in the cell.
How do I allow multiple answers to a drop-down list in Excel? ›On the ribbon, click DATA > Data Validation. In the dialog, set Allow to List. Click in Source, type the text or numbers (separated by commas, for a comma-delimited list) that you want in your drop-down list, and click OK.
How do I show multiple selected values in a dropdown list? ›Windows: We need to hold down the CTRL button to select multiple options. Mac: We need to hold down the command button to select multiple options.
What is the advantage of a drop-down list compared to a multiple choice questions? ›Advantages of using dropdown menu question type in surveys
Easy-to-use: A dropdown menu is very easy to use. All you need is to drag and drop to add question type and edit the answer options. Easy-to-answer: Respondents have to just click on an option from the list of answers.
There are limits to the number of items that will show in a data validation drop down list: The list can show up to show 32,767 items from a list on the worksheet. If you type the items into the data validation dialog box (a delimited list), the limit is 256 characters, including the separators.
How many options is too many in a dropdown? ›In General, Avoid Drop-Downs When There Are More Than 10 or Fewer Than 5 Options. Drop-downs quickly become difficult for users when they are presented with an overwhelming number of options to choose from.
How do you handle multiple selected Dropdowns? ›To handle drop down and multi select list using Selenium WebDriver, we need to use Select class. The Select class is a Webdriver class which provides the implementation of the HTML SELECT tag. It exposes several “Select By” and “Deselect By” type methods.
Is there a limit to the number of items in an Excel drop-down list? ›There are limits to the number of items that will show in a data validation drop down list: The list can show up to show 32,767 items from a list on the worksheet. If you type the items into the data validation dialog box (a delimited list), the limit is 256 characters, including the separators.
How do I create a conditional drop-down list in Excel? ›Select the cell where you want the Dependent/Conditional Drop Down list (E3 in this example). Go to Data –> Data Validation. In the Data Validation dialog box, within the setting tab, make sure List in selected. In the Source field, enter the formula =INDIRECT(D3).
How do you multiselect a dynamically populated dropdown based on another dropdown value selection? ›
It's simple: just add an onClick to call a function every time the options are checked (or unchecked), and then, loop the checkboxes looking for the cheked options, concatenating their texts and showing it at the main label of the select. Same thing is possible if you want to show the number of items selected.
How do I make multiple selections from a drop down list in Excel without duplicates? ›- Select the column range you want to use in the table, the press Ctrl + C to copy it, and place it to another position by pressing Ctrl + V.
- Then keep selecting the list, click Data > Remove Duplicates.
Type the formula necessary to perform the calculation, using the drop box names, following an “equal” (=) sign into the “Formula” field. For example, if you wanted to find the sum of two drop boxes, you would type “=Dropdown1+Dropdown2” into the field. Click the “OK” button to save the formula.
Are multiple choice questions Effective? ›Introduction. Multiple choice tests can be an effective and simple way to measure learning. Multiple choice questions can be assessed quickly, providing students with prompt feedback. In addition, well-written multiple choice questions can go beyond testing rote facts and may measure higher cognitive abilities.
When answering multiple choice questions is it best? ›- Read the entire question. ...
- Answer it in your mind first. ...
- Eliminate wrong answers. ...
- Use the process of elimination. ...
- Select the best answer. ...
- Read every answer option. ...
- Answer the questions you know first. ...
- Make an educated guess.
Avoid dropdowns for more than 10 options or less than 5
There are three main issues with dropdowns that have such a large number of options: no overview – seeing more than 20 uncategorized options can be confusing and intimidating to users, making it difficult for them to find the input they need.
- In a new worksheet, type the entries you want to appear in your drop-down list. ...
- Select the cell in the worksheet where you want the drop-down list.
- Go to the Data tab on the Ribbon, then Data Validation . ...
- On the Settings tab, in the Allow box, click List .
We can use any of the methods we used to select one value from the dropdown to select multiple values by invoking the methods multiple times for different values. The "Select " class provides a method, isMultiple(), using which we can first validate whether the dropdown allows us to select multiple values.
What is the disadvantage of drop down menu? ›High interaction cost- scrolling through a drop down list can be awkward and time consuming for mobile users. For example, when searching through a selection of countries to choose from, the user needs to fist click the drop down tag, then scroll through while reading each option, before selecting the right choice.
What is the problem with drop down menus? ›One problem with drop-down navigation is that it can cause difficulty for website visitors with limited dexterity. This includes older people or people with disabilities. The dexterity required to successfully navigate using drop-down navigation can frustrate some people.
How many options is too many? ›
So how many choices are too many? What is the optimal number of alternatives for effective decision making? According to a study in the journal, Natural Human Behavior, researchers at Caltech determined that “somewhere between 8 to 15” is the optimal number of choices.
Which method is most advisable to be used in case of dropdown? ›Use the isMultiple method to select multiple commands. isMultiple(): boolean – This method informs whether the Select element supports multiple selection options at the same time or not.
How do I show more than 8 in a drop-down list in Excel? ›By default, a data validation drop-down list only shows 8 items in the list when clicking the drop-down arrow. So you need to drag the scroll bar down for viewing more values in the list.
How do I create a drop-down list with multiple selections in sheets? ›...
Select an option:
- Enter “@.” In the Menu, under the components section, click “Dropdowns."
- At the top, click Insert. Dropdown.
- Click Data. Data validation. Add rule .
- Right click on a cell. Dropdown.
Drop-down Menu: Dynamic Select. The drop-down menu is a clear method of showing a list of data, allowing users to pick their choice from the list. This field can be categorized into two types based on the choice of selection types offered.
What is cascading dropdown? ›A cascading drop-down list is a series of dependent DropDownList controls in which one DropDownList control depends on the parent or previous DropDownList controls. The items in the DropDownList control are populated based on an item that is selected by the user from another DropDownList control.
How do you add rows to a drop-down list automatically Dynamic Data Validation lists? ›To do that, start with the cell that you want the drop-down list to be added to. Then access the Data Validation window by selecting the Data tab on the ribbon and clicking on the Data Validation button. In the Data Validation window, under the Settings tab, we can type the name of our range into the Source field.
How do I create a dynamic Data Validation List in Excel? ›- Select a cell where you want to create the drop down list (cell C2 in this example).
- Go to Data –> Data Tools –> Data Validation.
- In the Data Validation dialogue box, within the Settings tab, select List as the Validation criteria.
Open the Data Validation dialog box (Data tab > Data Validation). On the Settings tab, select List in the Allow box. In the Source box, type the items of your Excel validation list, separated by commas. For example, to limit the user input to three choices, type Yes, No, N/A.
How do you generate all possible combinations of items from multiple lists Excel? ›- Click the Expand button in the column header. From the sub-menu: Select only the column with the data we wish to retain (i.e., in our example, uncheck the Temp column) ...
- The list of possible combinations now appears in the Power Query window.
How do you handle if the dropdown options are dynamic? ›
- Creating a WebElement and passing it as the constructor parameter for the Select class.
- Passing the WebElement directly in the Select class's constructor parameter as follows:
You can convert a custom picklist to a multi-select picklist to support multiple values in the field, later. However, when you convert a multi-select picklist to a picklist field that doesn't support multi-select, Salesforce clears the values for that field on existing records. The new field only allows one value.
How do you make a drop-down list change depending on selection in a different list? ›In the same or in another spreadsheet, select a cell or several cells in which you want your primary drop-down list to appear. Go to the Data tab, click Data Validation and set up a drop-down list based on a named range in the usual way by selecting List under Allow and entering the range name in the Source box.
How do I prevent duplicates in Excel from a drop-down list? ›Or simply use the combination of Ctrl + Shift + End. It is important to select the 1st data cell first. Go to Excel "Data" tab and click on the Data Validation icon to open the dialog box. On the Settings tab, choose "Custom" from the Allow drop down list and enter =COUNTIF($D:$D,D2)=1 into the Formula box.
How do you select multiple things without dragging? ›- Select the first item that you want. For example, select some text.
- Press and hold CTRL.
- Select the next item that you want. Important Be sure to press and hold CTRL while you select the next item that you want to include in the selection.
A standard list box is a box containing a list of multiple items, with multiple items visible. A drop-down list is a list in which the selected item is always visible, and the others are visible on demand by clicking a drop-down button.
What is the difference between select and multi select? ›The difference between these two components is simple and straightforward. Multi-select allows the user to select multiple values in the list of dropdown options, where as select allows only one value at a time.
What are different methods for dropdown? ›- selectByVisibleText: selectByVisibleText(String arg0): void. ...
- selectByIndex: selectByIndex(int arg0) : void. ...
- selectByValue: selectByValue(String arg0) : void. ...
- getOptions: getOptions( ) : List<WebElement> ...
- deselectAll()
It's a list that we can select from in order to filter attendance data by department. The source of this dynamic data validation list has been created using the UNIQUE function. UNIQUE is a Dynamic Array Formula that returns all the unique values from a data range. In other words, it removes duplicates from a data set.
When would you not use a dropdown menu? ›Avoid dropdown boxes for data that is highly familiar to your users, such as the day, month, or year of their birth. Such information is often hardwired into users' fingers, and having to find these options in a long menu is tedious, breaks the previous guideline, and can create even more work for users.
When should you use a drop-down menu? ›
The use case for drop-down menus
Offering drop-down menus can help users avoid scrolling and can quickly get them access to your site's content. For large websites, drop-down menus can save users time by allowing them to jump down a level or two to get to the content they seek.
Under Insert controls, click Multiple-Selection List Box. If you cleared the Automatically create data source check box in step 3, select a repeating field in the Multiple-Selection List Box Binding dialog box to which you want to bind the multiple-selection list box.
What is the difference between multi choice and multi-select? ›Multi-select (M-S) questions require respondents to identify one or more correct answers in a list of possible answers. Unlike multiple choice (MC) questions, multi-select questions enable you to choose a grading format and allow users to select more than one answer.
What is difference between multiple-choice questions and multiple select questions? ›However, in multi-select questions respondents can pick more than one answer alternatives. A multiple-choice question consists of two essential parts. The 'stem' represents the question or the problem statement and a set of alternatives containing a 'key' or the best possible answer.
How does multiselect work? ›The bootstrap Multiselect is a plugin component to select multiple options in the dropdown list. It is an advanced plugin that works for a user to select many options from the dropdown list as per requirement. It makes a single dropdown list to select multi options using a checkbox for web application visitors.
How many options should be in a dropdown? ›In General, Avoid Drop-Downs When There Are More Than 10 or Fewer Than 5 Options. Drop-downs quickly become difficult for users when they are presented with an overwhelming number of options to choose from. Take, for instance, a commonly included input in checkout forms, the “Country Selection” drop-down.
Which method is used to check whether the dropdown allow multiple selections? ›The "Select " class provides a method, isMultiple(), using which we can first validate whether the dropdown allows us to select multiple values.