I'm currently working in a project where we're building an application with a map as an important component. In the map there's a layer control with map layers grouped in to different categories. As the user expand one layer group she will see one to many layers. Now I've got a problem with more layers than there is room for in the control. The result right now is that the layers at the bottom is unaccessible but I need to find a solution. I would like to hear if there are any other intressant options beside from a traditional scrollbar and if some of you have seen some examples of this, especially in a map client (the layer control).
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My first reaction is to caution you about changing the default scrolling UI. People know how a standard scrollbar works and they've developed habits for handling them. For example, I tend to use the mouse scrollwheel or the two-finger swipe on my trackpad to manipulate scrolling areas. But non-standard scrollbars don't always support those behaviors, making me click around on the thing to figure out how it works. |
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This reminds me of Photoshop's Layers window, which works just fine with grouped layers, all kinds of supporting buttons all over the place (plus on layers themselves), and a standard scroll bar on the right. I say scroll bar is perfectly fine, even in a small, constricted control like this. You could also probably do an accordion, but that would not necessarily perform equally well in all resolutions/screen sizes. |
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You should check whether you can display less layers simultaneously through different kinds of grouping. Layer trees are common in GIS apps. Folders / accordions are also good options. There's also the possibility of a tabbed list with 2-3 groups of layers, but this only works in very specialized cases, when the layers are of very different types. |
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