When building a people directory—whether it's for Senior Staff, Faculty, or Support Staff—the user experience often calls for a "tabbed" interface. In the Drupal ecosystem, two heavyweights compete for this job: Better Exposed Filters (BEF) and QuickTabs.
While both can achieve a similar visual result, their underlying architecture and performance impact are vastly different.
1. The Contenders
Better Exposed Filters (The Unified Approach)
BEF isn't a layout module; it's a "widget" module. It takes standard Drupal Views filters (like a select list of categories) and transforms them into links, radio buttons, or checkboxes.
- Best For: When your categories share the same layout but just need to be filtered.
- Architecture: One View, one display, one query.
QuickTabs (The Modular Approach)
QuickTabs is a structural module. It creates a block that can hold multiple "tabs," each of which can be a different View display entirely.
- Best For: When "Faculty" needs to look completely different (e.g., a photo grid) than "Support Staff" (e.g., a simple phone list).
- Architecture: Multiple displays/blocks combined into one container.
2. Head-to-Head Comparison
| Feature | Better Exposed Filters + AJAX | QuickTabs + AJAX |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration | Easy: Modify one View display. | Complex: Manage 3+ displays + 1 QuickTab. |
| Scalability | Automatic: New categories appear as tabs. | Manual: You must add a new tab for new categories. |
| Performance | Light: Only refreshes the result area. | Heavier: Often loads multiple blocks into the DOM. |
| Accessibility | High: Semantic forms and labels. | Moderate: Depends on the tab renderer. |
3. The Implementation Guide
The "BEF Tab" Strategy (Recommended)
This is the most efficient way to build a directory for GlueBox operations.
- Expose your Category Filter: Set your "Category" field to Exposed.
- Enable BEF Style: In the View's Advanced section, change the Exposed form style to Better Exposed Filters.
- Configure Widget: In the BEF settings, change your category filter to Radio Buttons.
- Style as Tabs: Use the CSS snippet below to transform radio buttons into professional tabs.
/* Quick CSS to turn BEF Radios into Tabs */
.views-exposed-form .bef-select-as-radios .form-item {
display: inline-block;
margin-right: 5px;
}
.views-exposed-form .bef-select-as-radios input[type="radio"] {
display: none; /* Hide the radio button circle */
}
.views-exposed-form .bef-select-as-radios label {
padding: 10px 20px;
background: #f0f0f0;
border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
cursor: pointer;
}
/* Highlight the active "tab" */
.views-exposed-form .bef-select-as-radios input:checked + label {
background: #007bff;
color: white;
font-weight: bold;
}