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When I originally set out to create a form with dynamic select boxes I thought it'd be easy enough to just create some fields, throw some values into the fields, and then repeatedly modify the options on one field based on the option selected in another field. While Drupal is built around forms (and provides many ways for creating and changing them) the best way for handling dynamic select boxes populated from an external database wasn't obvious.

I evaluated and tested all sorts of way for creating forms using modules like CCK and Webform, creating my own forms with a custom module, and a combination of both. In the end, I figured-out an elegant solution for creating a 300+ field multi-page form with 35 dynamic select boxes and AJAX database queries for over 44,000 different vehicles.

Solution Overview

This article explains how to create dynamic drupal select boxes in 3 main steps:

• Step 1: Building your form with the Webform Module
• Step 2: Creating a custom module to access your database
• Step 3: Dynamically creating and changing select boxes on your form

At the end of these 3 steps you'll be a wizard at using Drupal to create forms, create modules, create web services, and more. Well, maybe not a wizard, but hopefully it leads you in the right direction so you can become the wizard you need to be instead of spending days and weeks like I did.

I’ve heard an increasing number of stories lately about traditional companies that know they want to create a business presence on the Internet, but they don’t necessarily know how to get started. Having created my first website in 1994 and worked in many parts of the technical industry since then I decided to write some tips for getting started. In these rough economic times its important to be as competitive and effective as possible and this article puts its focus on growing business by establishing a brand online, marketing services online, improving placement in search engines like Google, and other means of building conversation and buzz about your products and services on the Internet.

Getting Started

The goal of any Internet-based marketing initiative should be to drive new leads and sales to your business– essentially, it should pay for itself, done right. There are a few steps to get started and a few more to grow your presence and exposure online.

1. Create a web site

A bare minimum to establish an online brand is to have a website. This could be a simple page with contact information or it could consist of message boards, an online store, a blog, user accounts and secure access for clients and suppliers, and more.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a hot topic these days. It refers to designing and organizing your website in a way that makes it both understandable and seen as a reliable source of information to a search engine. There are many companies promoting SEO services– some of them are legitimate partners who will help you, and others are more questionable.

Whether you decide to get help or not there are at least some basic points you can focus on to make your site somewhat optimized:

• Make sure your site is built on a publishing platform like Wordpress, content management system like Drupal, or some other system. These systems are used by millions of sites on the web and have been refined over the last few years to make sure content is managed well. There are also SEO plug-ins, or feature modifications to the platform, that are free and will automatically increase your site’s SEO.
• Only post genuine, original, fresh content to your site and only on your site– don’t duplicate content.
• Link to other quality sites.
• Get quality sites to link to your site.