Improved validation states and feedback components

[jhelvy]

Discussed in https://github.com/orgs/surveydown-dev/discussions/219

^{Originally posted by LarryVincent September 14, 2025}

Description

I really appreciate the great work you’re doing on surveydown. I just fielded my first study with it (a baby one) and I felt so empowered being able to do everything programmatically. I have been wishing for this for years!

One suggestion I’d like to make is around validation notices. At the moment, if a user makes an error or something needs attention, they see a blocking pop-up alert. While that works functionally, it might be more user-friendly to implement inline form validation using Bootstrap’s built-in validation states and feedback components. Since surveydown already leverages Quarto, which relies heavily on Bootstrap and javascript, this would align nicely with the existing UI framework and provide a smoother, more consistent user experience.

You're building something great here. I would be happy to contribute if you need help in the future. I'm excited to launch my next study.

[jhelvy]

@LarryVincent thanks for this suggestion, I converted it into an issue as it indeed is something we should add to the package. We'll post here as we come up with solutions. And of course, if you would like to try adding a solution, we'd be more than happy to accept a PR.