Flash cards
Review the key moves
What is the main idea behind HTML Forms?
Lesson checks
Practice each idea before moving on
Short Mimo-style checks built from this lesson's code, terms, and sequence.
Which statement best captures the main point of this lesson?
Complete the missing token from the example code.
___ elementsPut the learning moves in the order that makes the concept easiest to apply.
An HTML form is used to collect user input. The user input is most often sent to a server for processing.
The <form> Element
The HTML <form> element is used to create an HTML form for user input:
<form>
.
form elements
.
</form>The <form> element is a container for different types of input elements, such as: text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, submit buttons, etc.
All the different form elements are covered in this chapter: HTML Form Elements .
The <input> Element
The HTML <input> element is the most used form element.
An <input> element can be displayed in many ways, depending on the type attribute.
Here are some examples
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| <input type="text"> | Displays a single-line text input field |
| <input type="radio"> | Displays a radio button (for selecting one of many choices) |
| <input type="checkbox"> | Displays a checkbox (for selecting zero or more of many choices) |
| <input type="submit"> | Displays a submit button (for submitting the form) |
| <input type="button"> | Displays a clickable button |
All the different input types are covered in this chapter: HTML Input Types .
Text Fields
The <input type="text"> defines a single-line input field for text input.
Example
<form>
<label for="fname">First name:</label><br>
<input
type="text" id="fname" name="fname"><br>
<label for="lname">Last
name:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="lname" name="lname">
</form>Live preview
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
Note
The form itself is not visible. Also note that the default width of an input field is 20 characters.
The <label> Element
Notice the use of the <label> element in the example above.
The <label> tag defines a label for many form elements.
The <label> element is useful for screen-reader users, because the screen-reader will read out loud the label when the user focuses on the input element.
The <label> element also helps users who have difficulty clicking on very small regions (such as radio buttons or checkboxes) - because when the user clicks the text within the <label> element, it toggles the radio button/checkbox.
The for attribute of the <label> tag should be equal to the id attribute of the <input> element to bind them together.
Radio Buttons
The <input type="radio"> defines a radio button.
Radio buttons let a user select ONE of a limited number of choices.
Example
<p>Choose your favorite Web language:</p>
<form>
<input type="radio" id="html" name="fav_language"
value="HTML">
<label for="html">HTML</label><br>
<input
type="radio" id="css" name="fav_language" value="CSS">
<label
for="css">CSS</label><br>
<input type="radio" id="javascript"
name="fav_language" value="JavaScript">
<label for="javascript">JavaScript</label>
</form>Live preview
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
Checkboxes
The <input type="checkbox"> defines a checkbox .
Checkboxes let a user select ZERO or MORE options of a limited number of choices.
Example
<form>
<input type="checkbox" id="vehicle1" name="vehicle1" value="Bike">
<label for="vehicle1"> I have a bike</label><br>
<input
type="checkbox" id="vehicle2" name="vehicle2" value="Car">
<label for="vehicle2">
I have a car</label><br>
<input type="checkbox"
id="vehicle3" name="vehicle3"
value="Boat">
<label for="vehicle3"> I have a boat</label>
</form>Live preview
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
The Submit Button
The <input type="submit"> defines a button for submitting the form data to a form-handler.
The form-handler is typically a file on the server with a script for processing input data.
The form-handler is specified in the form's action attribute.
Example
<form action="/action_page.php">
<label for="fname">First
name:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="fname" name="fname"
value="John"><br>
<label for="lname">Last name:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="lname" name="lname" value="Doe"><br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>Live preview
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
The Name Attribute for <input>
Notice that each input field must have a name attribute to be submitted.
If the name attribute is omitted, the value of the input field will not be sent at all.
Example
<form action="/action_page.php">
<label for="fname">First
name:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="fname" value="John"><br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>Live preview