Use of "had to + verb" in a sentence?

I am asking the question that If I want to make a sentence, the case here is,
There is a website on which there is a check box to select an option. Suppose people have to go to the next page then they have to click up on that check box. So, they can navigate to the next page.
So in present tense i will write it as,
People have to click on the check box to move to the next page.
Now the case is changed. I mean there is no check box now to select an option.
Now, if i want to explain the functionality as it was before then how can I make a sentence?
Is the following sentence right?
The functionality was like, People had to select an option to move to the next page.
The original things don’t persist now and I want to tell people how they were before then how can I make the sentence in this case?
Can anyone make the sentence which I have written above in present tense in past ? or whatever I have made using “had to” is correct?