Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Chapter 15. Forms

Forms provide a method for true interaction between users and the publisher of a web site, with an immediacy that could never be achieved in print. With forms, you can solicit input from a user in order to provide a customized response on-the-fly or just collect the data for later use. Forms can be used for functions as simple as surveys and guestbooks or as complex as online commerce systems.

This chapter provides a detailed review of the available form elements and how to use them. It also provides a brief introduction to CGI, one of the available methods for processing form information.

Summary of Form Tags

In this section, browser support for each tag is noted to the right of the tag name. Browsers that do not support the tag are grayed out. Tag usage is indicated below the tag name. Start and end tags are required unless otherwise noted. “Deprecated” means that the tag or attribute is currently supported but is due to be phased out of the HTML specification and is discouraged from use (usually in favor of similar style sheet controls). The attributes listed for each tag reflect those in common use. A more thorough listing of attributes for each tag, according to the HTML 4.01 specification, appears in Appendix A .