nigel_man

CORRECTION:

I can see that a new option to select standard HTML dropdowns was added.
I selected that but forgot to clear the cache to get the standard HTML features to work. So the above comments only refer to the custom search.

There are still too many usability issues with the latest version 3.1.3

1. The dropdown starts in a state where all option sub-items are collasped.

For example:

A
B
C

only when you click on the A radio button are the sub-items revealed

e.g.

A
– a
– b
– c
B
C

The problem is that users cannot tell that sub-items are available. If you had a down arrow instead of the radio button that might make more sense. Clicking on the down arrow could then reveal the sub-items where they existed, or collapse the sub-items. But you have implemented the worst of all scenarios because once the sub-items are revealed there is no means of collapsing them, and further more if there are further levels of sub-items these again are not revealed until clicked.

e.g.
A
– a
— i
— ii
– b
B

All sub-items need to be visible or implement the hidden features correctly with collapsible down pointing arrows.
I understand the desire to make the dropdowns as flexible as possible, but it should not be at the expense of the user experience.

The location and category dropdowns should be closely aligned with what you can do with creating your own custom dropdowns. Just Keep it simple. Users should not have to close a dropdown, they should close automatically when the selection is made or when the user has clicked away elsewhere.
I cannot use in the present state, its just too far removed from earlier implementations.