Question

I am trying to create a form for my php/mysql application. I want my users to list the priority of thier choices where they have 5 options and they have to choose each in order of preference

Answer 1

Why not simply provide five slots (one under the other) for each of the choices and provide a higher/lower control on the right of each to change the order? That’s always more attractive than assigning an out-of-order sequence number.

For example, start with:

Favorite Friends:     1 Pax             ^   v     2 Litb            ^   v     3 Jon Skeet       ^   v     4 VonC            ^   v     5 Jeff Atwood     ^   v 

Then, if you want to bump Jon up to position 2, just click on the ‘^‘ next to his name once.

Favorite Friends:     1 Pax             ^   v     2 Jon Skeet       ^   v     3 Litb            ^   v     4 VonC            ^   v     5 Jeff Atwood     ^   v 

If, for some reason, you think I’ve wronged you (and I’m truly sorry :-), click on my ‘v‘ character four times and you end up with:

Favorite Friends:     1 Jon Skeet       ^   v     2 Litb            ^   v     3 VonC            ^   v     4 Jeff Atwood     ^   v     5 Pax             ^   v 

This variable-position/fixed-number is (IMNSHO) much better than the fixed-position/variable-number solution thus:

Favorite Friends:     5 Pax     2 Litb     1 Jon Skeet     3 VonC     4 Jeff Atwood