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Forms - Working with Radio Buttons
Radio buttons allow users to select only
one option from a group, unlike check
boxes, which allow users to select multiple options.
In order to use the radio button form field, two
processes must be completed: inserting the radio button form field and
assigning the form field a name and checked value.
The following links may also be helpful as you work with
form fields:
 Inserting
Radio Buttons
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Place your cursor within the form boundary where you
would like to insert the form field
For information on inserting a form boundary, refer to
Creating Forms.
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From the Insert menu, select Form
Objects » Radio Button
OR
From the Insert pane, in the Forms tab, click
RADIO BUTTON
A radio button appears.
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Type any desired text before or after the radio button
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Proceed with
Assigning the Name and Checked Value
Assigning
the Name and Checked Value
In a group of radio buttons, the name must be the same
for the whole group. This limits the user to select only one radio button
in each group. After the group name is specified, any radio buttons
created after the first button will have the group name automatically
entered. If the buttons are all created before the group name is
specified, the user must specify the same group name for each button in
the group.
The name for the form
field should indicate what type of information you are prompting the user
for, or identify what question you were asking the user (e.g., a group of
radio buttons that are all answers to the same question about UW-Eau
Claire may have the name "UWEC").
The checked value of
a radio button is not visible to the user (as with text boxes). The
checked value should identify what option the radio button represented for
the user (e.g., the location radio button below is an option to
answer "location" in response to the question and has the checked value
"location").
When a user submits the form, perhaps the
inputs are sent to you -- the form developer -- via email; the checked
value of the radio button will be matched with the name of the radio
button. The information the form developer receives may look like this:
name: checked value (e.g., UWEC: location).
Therefore, the name UWEC identifies what question
was being asked and the checked value indicates what the user answered for
the particular question.
To Assign the Name and Checked Value
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After inserting the radio button, click it
The Radio Button Properties pane appears.
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In the RadioButton text box, type a name for the
radio button
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In the Checked Value text box, type a value for
the radio button
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For Initial State, select Checked
or Unchecked
An initial state of checked means that, by
default, the radio button will be selected when a user views your page.
NOTE:
Use pre-selected options with caution. If you
pre-select a response for users, they may not look at the alternative
choices.
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