Chapter 10

Form Basics
Key Concepts

Copyright © 2013
Terry Ann Morris, Ed.D

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 Learning Outcomes
 Describe common uses of forms on web pages
 Create forms on web pages using the form, input,
textarea, and select elements
 Associate form controls and groups using label, fieldset,
and legend elements
 Use CSS to style a form
 Describe the features and common uses of server-side
processing
 Invoke server-side processing to handle form data
 Configure new HTML5 form controls and attributes

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 Overview of Forms
 Forms are used all over the Web to
Accept information
Provide interactivity

 Types of forms:
Search form, Order form, Newsletter sign-up form,
Survey form, Add to Cart form, and so on…

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 Two Components of Using Forms

1. The web page form

An HTML element that contains and organizes form
controls such as text boxes, check boxes, and
buttons that can accept information from website
visitors.
and
2. The server-side processing
Server-side processing works with the form data and
sends e-mail, writes to a text file, updates a
database, or performs some other type of processing
on the server.

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 HTML Using Forms
 <form> tag
 Contains the form elements on a web page
 Container tag
 <input> tag
 Configures a variety of form elements including text boxes, radio
buttons, check boxes, and buttons
 Stand alone tag
 <textarea> tag
 Configures a scrolling text box
 Container tag
 <select> tag
 Configures a select box (drop down list)
 Container tag
 <option> tag
 Configures an option in the select box
 Container tag

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 Sample Form HTML
<form>
E-mail: <input type="text" name="email" id="email" >
<br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Sign Me Up!"> <input type="reset">
</form>

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 The Input Element Text Box
<input>
Accepts text information

Common Attributes:
◦ type=“text”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ maxlength
◦ value
◦ required (HTML5)
◦ placeholder (HTML5)

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 The Input Element Password Box
<input>
Accepts text information that needs to be
hidden as it is entered

Common Attributes:
◦ type=“password”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ maxlength
◦ value
◦ required (HTML5)
◦ placeholder (HTML5)

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The Input Element Check box
<input>
Allows the user to select one or more of
a group of predetermined items

Common Attributes:
◦ type=“checkbox”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ checked
◦ value

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 The Input Element Radio Button
<input>
Allows the user to select exactly one from a group of
predetermined items

Each radio button in a group is given the same name and

a unique value

Comon Attributes:
◦ type=“radio”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ checked
◦ value

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 The Textarea Element
<textarea>
 Configures a scrolling text box

 Common Attributes:
name
id
cols
rows

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 The Select Element
<select>
Configures a select list (along with <option> tags)
Alsoknown as: Select Box, Drop-Down List,
Drop-Down Box, and Option Box.
Allows the user to select one or more items
from a list of predetermined choices.
Common Attributes:
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ multiple

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 The Option Element
<option>
 Configures the options in a Select List

 Attributes:
value
selected

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The Input Element Submit Button
<input>
 Submits the form information
 When clicked:
Triggers the action method on the <form> tag
Sends the form data (the name=value pair for
each form element) to the web server.

 Attributes:
 type=“submit”
 name
 id
 value

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 The Input Element Reset Button
<input>
 Resets the form fields to their initial
values

 Attributes:
type=“reset”
name
id
value

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 The Label Element
<label>
 Associates a text label with a form control
 Two Different Formats:
<label>Email: <input type="text" name="CustEmail"
id ="CustEmail"></label>

Or
<label for="email">Email: </label>
<input type="text" name="CustEmail" id= "email" />

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 The Fieldset & Legend Elements
 The Fieldset Element
<fieldset>
 Container tag
 Creates a visual
group of form controls
on a web page
 The Legend Element
<legend>
 Container tag
 Creates a text label within the fieldset

<fieldset><legend>Customer Information</legend>
<label>Name:
<input type="text" name="CName" id="CName" size="30"></label>
<br><br >
<label>Email:
<input type="text" name="CEmail" id="CEmail"></label>
</fieldset>
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 Using CSS to Style a Form

form { background-color:#eaeaea; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;

width: 350px; padding: 10px;}
label { float: left; clear: left; display: block; width: 100px;
text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; }
input, textarea { margin-top: 10px; display: block;}
#mySubmit { margin-left: 110px; }
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 HTML5: Email Text Box
Accepts text information in <input>
e-mail address format

Common Attributes:
◦ type=“email”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ maxlength
◦ value
◦ placeholder
◦ required

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 HTML5: URL Text Box
<input>
Accepts text information in URL format

Common Attributes:
◦ type=“url”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ maxlength
◦ value
◦ placeholder
◦ required

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HTML5: Telephone Number Text Box
<input>
Accepts text information
in telephone number format

Common Attributes:
◦ type=“tel”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ maxlength
◦ value
◦ placeholder
◦ required

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 HTML5: Search Text Box
<input>
Accepts
search terms
Common Attributes:
◦ type=“search”
◦ name
◦ id
◦ size
◦ maxlength
◦ value
◦ placeholder
◦ required

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 HTML5: Datalist Control
<label for="color">Favorite Color:</label>
<input type="text" name="color" id="color" list="colors" >
<datalist id="colors">
<option value="red">
<option value="green">
<option value="blue">
<option value="yellow">
<option value="pink">
<option value="black">
</datalist>

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 HTML5: Slider Control
<input>
<label for="myChoice">
Choose a number between 1 and 100:</label><br>
Low <input type="range" name="myChoice" id="myChoice"> High

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 HTML5: Spinner Control
<input>
<label for="myChoice">Choose a number between 1 and 10:</label>
<input type="number" name="myChoice" id="myChoice"
min="1" max="10">

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 HTML5: Calendar Control
<input>
<label for="myDate">Choose a Date</label>
<input type="date" name="myDate" id="myDate">

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HTML5 Color-well Control
<label for="myColor">Choose a color:</label>
<input type="color" name="myColor" id="myColor">

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Practice with an HTML5 Form
 The form display and functioning varies with
browser support.

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 Summary

 This chapter introduced the use of forms on

web pages.
 You learned about how to configure form
elements and provide for accessibility.
 You learned how to configure a form to
access server-side processing.
 You also learned about new HTML5 form
controls and attributes.

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