HTML Tutorials

Using Forms on Your Personal Web Page

What are forms?

Forms offer a convenient way to request and capture information from people who view your Web pages. Each form is made up of specialized HTML tags that make it easy to ask for specific kinds of input from your visitors.

Forms may be constructed in many different ways, depending on your purposes and needs. The examples shown here are form elements that can be used to create an online Guestbook for your Web page.

There are two standard "methods" for form use: POST and GET.
The POST method usually results in more readable output and is more commonly used. HTML editors such as HIPPIE™ have built-in routines to make form creation easier.

Important note: Forms are generally used to gather information that is captured and acted upon by a "script" based on the Web server. On the Personal Web Pages server, support is provided only for sending your form's output to a Prodigy mailbox (youraddress@prodigy.com). You can use either YOURID@prodigy.com or your NETNAME@prodigy.com for this purpose.

Constructing Your Form

1. First, you must specify the form's action (POST in most cases), along with the URL location of the script engine that makes the form work.
Prodigy maintains a PERL script at cgi-search/mailto for the exclusive use of Personal Web Pages users.

The first line tells the browser that this is the start of your form, and must read as follows:

<FORM METHOD="post" ACTION="http://pages.prodigy.com/cgi-search/mailto">

2. Next, you need to specify the Prodigy Internet Email address to which the output of the form should be sent. This should be a Hidden Value as shown below:

<INPUT NAME="to" TYPE="HIDDEN" VALUE="your_address@prodigy.com">

3. Now you'll want to specify a subject that will be automatically inserted in the subject field in any Email you receive from the output of this form. This should be a Hidden Value as shown below:

<INPUT NAME="subject" TYPE="HIDDEN" VALUE="Subject_field_in_email">

4. If you like, you can specify a URL for a new Web page that will automatically be displayed after the viewer selects the form's SUBMIT button. For example, if you want visitors to return to your home page, simply specify the full URL of your Web page. Or, you may prefer to lead viewers to a special acknowledgement page with more options. This will also be a Hidden Value. If you don't specify a Next URL, a generic message will be displayed to acknowledge that the form has been submitted.

<INPUT NAME="nexturl" TYPE="HIDDEN" VALUE="http://pages.prodigy.com/mypage">

Designing Specific Form Fields

Detailed information about how to construct each type of field is provided on a separate page. Before digging into the specifics, you should first finish reading this basic form construction overview.

Your form can use one or more methods for capturing information. The basic input types are:

Radio Buttons

Check Boxes

Text Input Fields

Here are two examples of optional fields you might use for your online Guest Book form:

5. Sample Form Fields:

How did you find my Web page?

Please use this space for general comments about my Web page:

Finishing Your Form

Whatever choices you include on your form, the following steps are required:

6. Add the selectable buttons used to SEND or SUBMIT the information and RESET or CLEAR the form.

<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Send this Info"><INPUT TYPE="RESET" VALUE="Reset">

7. Finally, mark the end of the form with the following tag:

</FORM>

8. Reminder: The first line of each page you create for the Web, whether it contains a form or not, must be <HTML>, and the very last line must be </HTML>. Otherwise, your form won't work, and your page may not display correctly in all Web browsers!

Using Forms on Your Personal Web Page

Constructing Your Form

Designing Specific Form Fields

Finishing Your Form

Constructing Specific Form Fields