Adobe® CS4 Web Workflows: Building Web Sites With Adobe® Creative Suite® 4

Chapter 10. ADDING INTERACTIVE FORMS IN DREAMWEAVER

Forms are among the most commonly used page elements on the Web—and among the most misunderstood. What many beginning designers don't comprehend is that a form is the front end to a Web application and requires some type of server-side code to be useful. Once the forms have been filled out and the submit button clicked, the information is passed to code that can store it or send it to an administrator. While it's beyond the scope of this book to detail the server-side code necessary for processing forms, in this chapter you will learn how to create superlative forms with one of the coolest technologies in Dreamweaver: Spry.

What makes the best form? First, it must be easy to use. If site users are confused by an overly complicated form, they'll pass it by, whereas a well-styled, attractive form has a much better chance of attracting people to complete it. Spry form elements are built from the ground up with CSS styling in mind, so you have complete control over the look-and-feel of the form.

Moreover, for the information entered in the form to be useful, it must be in the proper format. The data, in other words, is validated to ensure that it is truly applicable. Spry form elements provide built-in validation, complete with error messages. ...