Providing interactivity with forms

Forms are an advanced feature of HTML where a specific part of a topic is made available for user input. A topic can include many forms (although forms cannot be nested). Forms are designed to present input fields (form elements) to users for typing text and selecting radio buttons, check boxes, and drop-down menus.

Example of a form

A form of this type typically includes Submit and Reset buttons. When a user clicks Reset, the input is cleared and all form elements are set back to their default values (form entries are canceled). When a user clicks Submit, the viewer performs an action and sends values from the form’s input fields to a CGI script where the information is handled for further processing (such as searching and updating databases).

There are unlimited ways to use forms. For example, you can design a form that collects names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and serial numbers to register the names of customers who use your software or to fulfill an online purchase for a product.

You can easily create forms and form elements in the WYSIWYG Editor. Every form that you create must have a corresponding CGI script on the server. The script needs to recognize the names and values it receives from the form elements in the topic.

Form creation

Creating a form involves the following: