How to Write HTML Forms

Writing forms in html is an essential skill for any web content developer. Html forms allow users to enter and submit information. Html forms collect user's input either via email or add the information into a database. Complex html forms require an advanced level of programming knowledge.

Instructions

Step 1:
Create the form's layout in a word processing program. A usable form should be designed in advance. A clearly designed form is critical for ease of use. Many businesses convert existing hard copy forms into html forms directly.

Step 2:
Start the form with <> and end the form with the < /form > tags. These tags define the content of the html form for the form processing program. The most common form processing programs are CGI, MySQL Perl and PHP. These programs need to be on the web server in order for the form data to be processed. Ask the web hosting service which scripts are available on their servers.

Step 3:
Use the <> tag for obtaining information from users.

This tag is used with various form elements such as radio buttons, checkboxes, reset and submit. Wherever a user is expected to enter information the <> tag is used such as < type="checked">.

Step 4:
Submit the form to the server using the < method="POST" action=" "> tag. This allows the form to be processed by the script, such as CGI, Perl and PHP. The exact location of the server script must be known for this to work correctly.

Step 5:
Create advanced data driven forms using Active Server Pages (ASP) and Cold Fusion. These programs provide a wide range of form capabilities but require a higher level of programming ability. Forms can be as simple as a few questions submitted via email or as complicated as a hundred page multiple choice job interview questionnaire.

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