Tickbox (Multiple) (Manual)
A set of tickboxes where any number may be ticked, with the options defined on the field itself.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Data:
- Datastores — the datastore, then Table Designer to add or edit a field
It does not join
Multi-select fields store their selections as text rather than as a single reference, so they are not joinable. A report cannot join through this field and group by it the way it can with a single-select one.
That is not a defect — one value cannot point at three records — but it is the trade you are making. If "how many records are in each category" is a question you will ask often, a single-select field, or a proper linked datastore, will serve you far better.
Where it fits
- A short fixed list of attributes that will not change — the sort of thing that is part of the form's design.
- Checklists, where seeing every option matters.
- Anywhere the user should be aware of what they are not selecting.
Visibility is the reason to choose it
Like radios, every option is on screen. For a checklist that is the entire point — somebody confirming which checks were carried out needs to see the ones they did not tick.
A multi-select dropdown hides the unselected options, which is fine for tags and wrong for a checklist.
Keep it short
Six or eight at most. A long column of tickboxes is slow to scan and easy to mis-tick, and the visibility advantage disappears once the list runs past a screen.
Manual or database-backed?
The same test as the dropdown family. If the business maintains the list, or an option might ever need an attribute of its own, use the database-backed version. If the list is genuinely part of the form's definition, manual is simpler.
Unticked is ambiguous
The three-state problem, multiplied. An unticked box means "no" or "not considered", and across eight options you cannot tell a carefully completed checklist from an untouched one.
Where that matters — and on a compliance checklist it always does — pair it with a confirmation that the checklist was completed, so a blank set is distinguishable from a deliberate one.
Order for the task
Group related options together and follow the order somebody would work through them. A checklist ordered to match the physical process is faster and less error-prone than one ordered alphabetically.
Changing the list
Adding an option to an existing checklist means historical records were completed against a different list. That is not wrong, and it is worth being aware of when comparing across time — a check nobody could have ticked last year will look neglected.
Worked example
A safety inspection form uses a manual multiple tickbox for the eight standard checks, ordered to match the walk-round, with a separate "inspection completed" tickbox. A record with nothing ticked and the completion box ticked is a genuine all-clear; one with neither is an unfinished inspection, and the two are now distinguishable.
Recommendations
- Use it where seeing the unselected options matters.
- Six to eight options, ordered for the task.
- Add a completion flag so blank and deliberate differ.
- Go database-backed if the business maintains the list.