web ui: How to present a large list for multi-select

Question

I'm looking for any examples anyone might have seen of how to effectively present a list of items (about 1500 in total) so that multiple items can be selected.

I've seen a couple of similar questions where the answer suggests an auto-complete, which works to select a single item, but that doesn't allow users to select multiple items.

Any suggestions, or especially pointers to web apps that might have a potential solution, would be most appreciated!

Answer 1

It's been a while since this was posted, but in the meantime some very good multi-select "tag input" or "pillbox" style options have become available:

https://harvesthq.github.io/chosen/

This is a fantastic solution for many situations - try it out!

Answer 2

I'm thinking something along the lines of how Google does it with Gmail.

First off, you can put checkboxes next to each item that the user can select individually. Then put a filter/search box, with the option to select/deselect all matching (add to/subtract from selection). You could also implement autocomplete on the textbox.

Other filtering options (by tag, by date, etc) lend themselves nicely to this method as well. It depends on what kind of items you're trying to list.

You could also arrange the list in a set of sub-lists, if there is some common grouping among the items. Still with the checkboxes, but you can arrange listboxes next to each other (populating children in the next box to the right as users select a parent node to view). Or a simple tree-view might do.

Answer 3

I can't think of any usable web app I use that shows me 1500 things that I have to choose from.

My suggestion would be to break the list down somehow (for example, as a sequence of smaller choices, which you can then allow multiples on). What you're asking about sounds like a usability nightmare.