I recently managed to get dropdown selection to work by dynamically ouputing some data from php and using jquery to disable certain options in the dropdown depending on the stock quantity for my ecommerce site.
Here is the code: http://jsbin.com/osipe5/2/edit
The issue now is that I want to have the selection displayed as a radio button for now and eventually use css to to style it similar to something like this: http://jsbin.com/uwuje (posted by another SO user)
So my question is: Should I convert the dropdown entirely into a chained radio button selection or do something like this: http://jsfiddle.net/yJTdF/ (posted by another SO user) where radio buttons are generated by jquery and hide the dropdown using css?
I am concerned about usability and cross-browser issues.
Any input is much appreciated.
Thanks!
If the first dropdown only has 4-6 items in it then radio buttons will be fine for the first one.
You can use radio buttons for the first one and a dropdown for the next.
There is no rule that says they both must be the same. Experiment what might look/work better. Ask your co-workers their opinion. If you have a designer (other than yourself) available, ask them.
Most importantly, keep it simple. Radio buttons alone can be used to update the content in the other dropdown. A hidden dropdown should not be needed to do that.