Is there any way to simulate drag/dropping a widget on the screen?  Or is this being considered for a future release?

We have been thinking about different ways to add drag and drop simulations to Axure.

In the meantime, drag and drop is sometimes demonstrated by presenting multiple states of a page or dynamic panel and maybe having a link that says something like "click here to see drag and drop".

Ohh, I would be very interested to see this in action. Victor, would you or someone else on the list be willing to create a drag and drop interaction using the method you have suggested here?

I've attached a file showing what I meant. It's just showing how a button can be moved from one location to another. Clicking the link hides the first button and shows the second button in the new location.

In v5, you'll be able to move the dynamic panel with an action instead of using two panels to hide one and show another.

Cool! Thanks

 When is version 5 due out?
 

We're aiming for early April with a beta available in the next couple weeks.

Victor

 

Now that version 5 is out (sweet!) would you mind creating another quick demo that shows how you would simulate a drag and drop using the new features that allow you to do it? I'm doing an Axure demo, and I'd love to be able to show my group how this can be done.

 

TIA 

We have a blog post showing how to use the new interactions in Version 5, which you can read at http://axure.com/cs/blogs/axure/archive/2008/01/07/Anchors_2C00_-Moving-Panels_2C00_-and-Focus-Events.aspx. The blog post also includes a sample RP file.

Hope this helps!

- Andrea
 

Hi TIA,

And just to further clarify your specific question, if you take a look at the sample file that Victor had posted previously, in Version 5 with the Move Dynamic Panel action, you would only need to have one state for the dynamic panel and add an action to move that dynamic panel.

Please let us know if you have any other questions!

Thanks,
Andrea

 

Add me to the list of people who would REALLY like to see drag and drop functionality. Since one of the main draws of Axure over other prototyping tools is the ability to prototype Web 2.0 experiences, missing this key feature is unfortunate. For me, Axure is used not only for documentation, but also for usability testing (where using different cases or explanatory notes is not ideal). I tried a whole bunch of different ways to fake it and couldn't come up with anything other than move on click (rather than click and drag).
 

Is there a way to click and drag a dynamic panel from one location on screen to another AND when that panel touches a specified place, something happens? For instance:

 

1. Click and drag the dynamic panel to a hotspot.

2. When the dynamic panel touches the hotspot, display some text.

3. If the dynamic panel doesn't hit a hotspot, return it to its origin.

 

Is this possible? I'm not quite sure how to get Axure to do this...that's why I'm wondering.

 

Help? 

Ok, I tried Andrea's suggestion. Moving the dynamic panel on click isn't the same user experience as dragging and dropping. I'm with you  vs slacks.  Drag and Drop is an essential Web 2.0 behavior.

 There must be some way to do this...
 

Try this one: I have two ways to do it. One is just moving the mouse from location to location. The other is a psuedo "click" and drag.

Hey, that's pretty close (a bit better than the click and move).

 

Thanks for this :-) 

Yeah, that's great. My remaining wish - since I'd like to be able to simulate drag and drop for usability testing the prototype - is to change the icon to the crosshairs that typically represents movement. I worry that the visual cue here is misleading (they can drag and drop, but the cursor changing to the circle with a line through it (is there a name for that symbol?) gives a visual indication that they can't.