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Forms
-- Back to the Basics and Beyond -- Part Three -- Form Tips & Tricks
By Shelley Lowery
In part one of this series we focused on setting up a basic form on your
website. We discussed the Form Element Attributes and began the Form Element
Properties.
In part two of this series, we continued with the Form Element Properties and
moved on to some more advanced form options.
In part three of this series we will focus on some great tips and tricks you can
use to spice up your forms.
If you missed part one, you can find it here:
Basic Forms Tutorial
If you missed part two, you can find it here:
Advanced Forms
Form Tips and Tricks
Now that you have a basic understanding of forms and how you can place them
within your website, we'll now focus on a few "tips & tricks" you can use to
spice up your forms.
Creating A Default Form Option
The OPTION tag is used to create options listed in a drop down box of a form.
You can select a default option, by adding the word "selected" within your
OPTION tag.
<SELECT>
<OPTION>option 1
<OPTION SELECTED>option 2
<OPTION>option 3
<OPTION>option 4
<OPTION>option 5
<OPTION>option 6
</SELECT> |
Customizing Your Input
Boxes
You can specify the size of your INPUT box by changing the SIZE value. In
addition, you can change the amount of text input by changing the MAXLENGTH
value. When specifying the MAXLENGTH value, make sure you provide your visitors
with enough space to type in the
necessary information.
| <INPUT
type="text" SIZE="10" MAXLENGTH="40"> |
Adding Color to Your Input
Boxes (IE)
The INPUT tag is used to create input fields within a web page form. You can
change the font, input text color, input text size and the background color of
your INPUT box by using STYLE tags.
<FORM>
<INPUT type="text" STYLE="color: #FFFFFF; font-family: Verdana; font-weight:
bold; font-size: 12px; background-color: #72A4D2;" size="10" maxlength="30">
</FORM |
Disappearing Form Text
You can display default text within your text input boxes that magically
disappears when you click inside the box. This will enable you to provide your
visitors with an example of text they should place within your text box.
| <INPUT
type="text" name="url" value="http://www.yourdomain.com" size="30" onfocus="value=''"> |
Change the "value="http://www.yourdomain.com"
text to the default text you would like to be displayed within your text box.
Flashing Cursor in Form on Load
You can set up your forms so that when the page loads your visitor's cursor will
be flashing within your text box.
Place the following code witin your <BODY> tag. This code tells the browser to
place the cursor within the "customer" form in the "email" text box.
| <body
onLoad="focus();customer.email.focus()"> |
The "customer" text
represents the name of your form. The name attribute should be added to your
form like this:
You can change the name to
whatever you'd like. However, make sure you also change it within your <BODY>
tag as well. They must be the same.
The "email" text represents the name of your form element. The <input> attribute
should be written like this:
| <input
type="text" name="email"> |
You can change the "email"
name to whatever you'd like. However, make sure you also change it within your
<BODY> tag as well. They must be the same.
Tabbing Through Forms
You can enable your visitors to tab through your form fields simply by adding "tabindex"
to your INPUT tags.
<FORM
METHOD=post ACTION="/cgi-bin/example.cgi">
<INPUT type="text" name="name" size="20" maxlength="30" tabindex="1">
<INPUT type="text" name="address" size="20" maxlength="30" tabindex="2">
<INPUT type="text" name="email" size="20" maxlength="30" tabindex="3">
<INPUT type="text" name="url" size="20" maxlength="30" tabindex="4">
<INPUT type="Submit" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM> |
The "tabindex" value
determines the order in which you will tab through the text boxes. If you would
like the tab order to skip a certain area, such as check boxes and radio
buttons, simply use a negative value beginning with "-1" then "-2" and so on.
Each negative value will be bypassed when tabbing through your form.
Customizing Form Colors
You can completely customize the look of your forms simply by using STYLE tags.
Each of the following examples will enable you to customize your forms in
specific colors. You can change the colors by changing the hexadecimal color
codes.
<FORM
METHOD=post ACTION="/cgi-bin/example.cgi">
<TEXTAREA wrap="virtual" name="comments" rows=6
cols=20 STYLE="scrollbar-face-color: #317B9C;
scrollbar-track-color: #87B4C9;
scrollbar-arrow-color: #54A1C4;
scrollbar-3dlight-color: #B8D7E6;
scrollbar-shadow-color: #1E6180;
scrollbar-highlight-color: #7CBCDA;
scrollbar-darkshadow-color: #1E6180">This example displays the scrollbars in
an alternative color. You can change these colors to whatever you'd like
simply by
changing the hexadecimal color codes.
</TEXTAREA>
<INPUT type="Submit" VALUE="Submit" STYLE="color:#FFFFFF; background:
#317B9C;
font-weight: bold">
<INPUT type="Reset" VALUE="Reset" STYLE="color:#FFFFFF; background: #317B9C;
font-weight: bold">
</FORM> |
The following example
displays a form with colored scrollbars and text. The text is displayed in a
specific font and the face of the button displays an image background.
This example will require you to include an image. Simply create a small
patterned 2x2 .gif image and upload it to your server. You will need to replace
the (yourimage.gif) text within
the "Submit" and "Reset" background values to the URL of your image.
<FORM
METHOD=post ACTION="/cgi-bin/example.cgi">
<TEXTAREA wrap="virtual" name="comments" rows=6
cols=20 STYLE="scrollbar-face-color: #317B9C;
scrollbar-track-color: #87B4C9;
scrollbar-arrow-color: #54A1C4;
scrollbar-3dlight-color: #B8D7E6;
scrollbar-shadow-color: #1E6180;
scrollbar-highlight-color: #7CBCDA;
scrollbar-darkshadow-color: #1E6180">This example displays the scrollbars in
an alternative color. The text is displayed in a specific font and the face
of the button
displays an image background.
</TEXTAREA>
<INPUT type="Submit" VALUE="Submit" STYLE="color: #FFFFFF; background:
url(yourimage.gif); font-family: Verdana, Helvetica; font-weight: bold">
<INPUT type="Reset" VALUE="Reset" STYLE="color: #FFFFFF; background:
url(yourimage.gif); font-family: Verdana, Helvetica; font-weight: bold">
</FORM> |
The following example
displays a form with a colored background, scrollbars and text. The text is
displayed in a specific font and the face of the button displays an image
background. You will need to replace the (yourimage.gif) text within the
"Submit" and "Reset" background values to the URL of your image.
<FORM
METHOD=post ACTION="/cgi-bin/example.cgi">
<TEXTAREA wrap="virtual" name="comments" rows=6
cols=20 STYLE="background:#EAE8E8;
scrollbar-face-color: #317B9C;
scrollbar-track-color: #87B4C9;
scrollbar-arrow-color: #54A1C4;
scrollbar-3dlight-color: #B8D7E6;
scrollbar-shadow-color: #1E6180;
scrollbar-highlight-color: #7CBCDA;
scrollbar-darkshadow-color: #1E6180">This example displays a form with a
colored background, scrollbars and text. The text is displayed in a specific
font and the face
of the button displays an image background.
</TEXTAREA>
<INPUT type="Submit" VALUE="Submit" STYLE="color: #FFFFFF; background:
url(yourimage.gif); font-family: Verdana, Helvetica; font-weight: bold">
<INPUT type="Reset" VALUE="Reset" STYLE="color: #FFFFFF; background:
url(yourimage.gif); font-family: Verdana, Helvetica; font-weight: bold">
</FORM> |
Keep in mind, if you change
the colors of your scrollbars and buttons, make sure your selected colors match
your website's color scheme. In addition, always make sure your text is clearly
visible through your background colors.
Forms provide you with an excellent alternative to snail mail. Your visitor's
information can be instantly processed right over the Internet. This information
might include taking orders, collecting customer information, or even allowing
your visitors to provide you with feedback. The possibilities are endless.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design
Mastery.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the
look and feel of a REAL book.
http://www.ebookstarter.com
Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and
receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
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