Ensure that 'outside UK' automatically selects the correct foreign postcode in the backend

[tomwm]

No description provided.

[dan-palmer]

Had a look at this issue & I'm not sure which is the right direction for us as the simple fixes just lead to a poor user experience.

Originally we had the postcode validation working regardless of which country was selected(this was changed in January) - now it only runs if the country is specified as UK. Invalid post codes cause this error to be displayed:

The error message based on the current code doesn't really make sense as the error is only visible when UK is selected. It's also odd that you have to put something in and get an error back telling you what to do if you're outside of the UK. Potentially wasting the users time as they investigate what to put in this field. Surely this should be displayed as a hint?

Solution 1: We could always perform the postcode validation and also provide a hint to the user explaining the use of the "default outside of the uk postcode".

Solution 2: When the form is submitted we always make sure we set the postcode as the "default outside of the uk postcode". This approach is poor though as you're making a user fill in a pointless field that shouldn't be there if they are outside of the UK & then changing the input value.

Solution 2 was what we proposed but it doesn't really work very well. Ideally the postcode field shouldn't be there if the user selects a country outside of the UK. If time is critical on this and its not a massive concern then solution 1 is probably best.

Thoughts @tomwm ?

[dan-palmer]

Solution 1 would look like this:

[dan-palmer]

Its worth keeping in mind though that a commit was made to avoid validation if outside of the UK.

Is/was there a good reason for this?

[dthomps1]

I had a look at this too - some thoughts. Is it possible to move the Country to the first question (i understand this would look odd sequentially) and have the responses as radio buttons, then if the user selects outside UK we hide the postcode option and default the field behind it?
When this issue cropped up earlier, JADU confirmed that the schema will accept up to any 8 digit combination of letters/numbers as it does not validate, so could we not default it to e.g. NON-UK or a series of spaces/....? Prior to fees - this was the 'workaround' on the ETHOS database should an application come from a Non-UK Resident. Additionally, the SW55 9QT appears on the database and can subsequently appear on any letters we issue (should the admin user forget to delete this field).