Microsoft FrontPage 2003 Illustrated Complete Creating a Form

2Creating a FormUnit G  Understand forms  Open a Web page that contains a form  Add a text box and a text area  Add a drop-down box Objectives

3Creating a FormUnit G Objectives  Add an option button group  Add a check box  Set form properties  Create a search form

4Creating a FormUnit G Creating a Form  Forms provide a way for your site’s visitors to supply information or answer questions  After completing a form, the visitor submits it  Submitted forms are sent to a Web server, where the data is processed and stored

5Creating a FormUnit G Understanding Forms  A form in a Web page is similar to a paper form that you might use to register for a class, apply for a job, or order a product  A form field is a data-entry field in a form, such as a text box or an option button  A form handler is a program that collects and processes the data contained in a form

6Creating a FormUnit G Understanding Forms (cont.)  The collection of data entered into the form by the user and processed by a server is the form’s results  A form handler might store a form’s results in a file, an HTML document, or in a database, or send the results to an address  The server usually sends a confirmation page to the user via the browser from which the form was submitted

7Creating a FormUnit G Understanding Forms (cont.)  A confirmation page might include a copy of the form results so the user can verify its accuracy; other times it might only send a message indicating that the server received the form

8Creating a FormUnit G Understanding Forms (cont.)  A confirmation page

9Creating a FormUnit G Understanding Forms (cont.)  A form component is a container that stores all the form’s fields and other form content and identifies the part of the Web page that the server will process  You can create a variety of forms using FrontPage form templates and a wizard

10Creating a FormUnit G Understanding Forms (cont.)  Web page containing a form component

11Creating a FormUnit G Opening a Web Page That Contains a Form  If you use a template or wizard to create a form, the new page that you create will contain content and form fields that you can edit and format to match your needs  If you create a form from scratch by inserting a form component using the Form command on the Insert menu, it’s up to you to enter and insert all of the form’s fields and content

12Creating a FormUnit G Adding a Text Box and a Text Area  A text box accepts a single line of typed information  The initial width of a text box is 20 characters  A text area, also called a scrolling text box, has the same characteristics as a text box, except that it accepts multiple lines of data  The initial size of a text area is 20 characters wide and two lines high

13Creating a FormUnit G Adding a Text Box and a Text Area (cont.)  Text Box Properties dialog box

14Creating a FormUnit G Adding a Drop-Down Box  A drop-down box organizes choices in a list  A user can select the desired choice by clicking the list arrow that appears on the form field, then scrolling the choices as necessary and clicking the desired choice in the list  You can set the form field to display one or more choices or to accept one or more selections

15Creating a FormUnit G Adding a Drop-Down Box (cont.)  Drop-Down Box Properties dialog box

16Creating a FormUnit G Adding an Option Button Group  An option button, also called a radio button, usually appears in a group with other option buttons in a form  A group name identifies a related set of option buttons  Within a group of option buttons, a user can select only one option button at a time - selecting an option button deselects another selected option button

17Creating a FormUnit G Adding an Option Button Group (cont.)  Like other form fields, an option button is given an initial name until you rename it  An option button is also given a value, which indicates what to store in the results file when the button is selected  Option buttons are useful when you need to limit the form’s users to one of a few mutually exclusive choices

18Creating a FormUnit G Adding an Option Button Group (cont.)  Option Button Properties dialog box

19Creating a FormUnit G Adding a Check Box  A check box lets users indicate a yes/no response to a single question or statement  You can also use check boxes in groups so users can indicate a yes/no response to a group of related questions or statements that appear in a list  Selecting one check box in a check box group doesn’t deselect another check box  You can use check boxes when you want a user to select from a group of one or more independent and nonexclusive choices

20Creating a FormUnit G Adding a Check Box (cont.)  Check Box Properties dialog box

21Creating a FormUnit G Setting Form Properties  After creating a form component in a Web page, you need to set its properties so it will store the form results in the format that you need  You can store the form results in a(n): –Text file –HTML document –Database –Using a script that you create

22Creating a FormUnit G Setting Form Properties (cont.)  Form Properties dialog box

23Creating a FormUnit G Creating a Search Form  A search form contains a component that searches the Web site for text that the user specifies  The default settings for a search form create a single text box into which users can type their search text, along with two push buttons that let users submit the form (start the search) and clear the text box

24Creating a FormUnit G Creating a Search Form (cont.)  When you submit a search form to a server, the server searches the Web site for matching entries and displays a revised page that includes the search component and a result table

25Creating a FormUnit G Creating a Search Form (cont.)  Search form added to a Web page

26Creating a FormUnit G Summary  A form is a Web page that you use to submit information  A form field is a data-entry field in a form  A form handler is a program that collects and processes the data contained in a form

27Creating a FormUnit G Summary  If you use a template or wizard to create a form, the new page that you create will contain content and form fields that you can edit and format  If you create a form from scratch, it’s up to you to enter and insert all the form’s fields and content  In either case, you must enter text that helps users enter data in the form, create the form fields that will collect data, and specify a form handler to process the results

28Creating a FormUnit G Summary  You can add a text box, which accepts a single line of typed information  You can add a text area, which scrolls if a user enters more data than the text area can display  You can add a drop-down box, which organizes choices in a list

29Creating a FormUnit G Summary  You can add option buttons, which allow users to select only one option  You can add check boxes, which allow users to indicate a yes/no response to a single question or statement or a group of questions or statements

30Creating a FormUnit G Summary  After creating a form, you must set its properties  You can create search forms