Hey folks! It’s Dave Parrish from Knack Builders, and today I want to share some insights about a common issue that I’ve encountered with dropdown menus in Knack forms. Let’s do it!
500
Recently, I had two clients reach out to me frustrated because their dropdowns weren’t populating correctly. When you’re trying to make selections in a form and nothing shows up, it can be quite annoying ... Unless you know. The crux of the issue lies in the number of records available in those dropdowns—specifically, when it comes to the magic number: 500.
How Dropdowns Work in Knack
Here’s what I discovered: Knack has a built-in limitation for dropdowns. If the options exceed 500, the dropdown won’t display the list. For example, if you have over 500 entries in your “Partners” dropdown, it simply won’t show anything. However, if you have 500 or fewer entries, like in my “Markets” dropdown (which had only 22), the options populate just fine.
Typing to the Rescue
So, what happens when your dropdown exceeds this limit? You’ll need to start typing! As you type, the dropdown will begin to filter the options based on your input. This means you can still find what you need, but it’s just a bit less straightforward than clicking through a list.
Experimenting with Alternatives
Out of curiosity, I experimented by switching the “Partners” dropdown to radio buttons, expecting it might change the behavior. However, the dropdown remained unchanged. This indicates that Knack prioritizes performance—especially page load times—when dealing with large datasets.
Key Takeaways
So, if you find your dropdown isn’t working as expected, remember this: it’s not that the options are lost; they’re just waiting for you to start typing. Understanding this limitation can save you time and frustration.
If you have any more questions about using Knack or other related topics, feel free to reach out. Until next time!
Interested in my Knack database services? ... Book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/daveparrish/callwithdave
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