Entries tagged "HTML forms"
Make Sure Things Are Working Correctly in JavaScript with the alert() Method
My usage of JavaScript can be a bit sporadic. There are times when I go months without writing a line of JavaScript code. So I find myself forgetting how to do certain things. It also doesn't help that most of my time is spent with PHP which adds to the confusion since the languages have different aspects to them. To help get my bearings, I've used JavaScript's alert() method to quickly see things like what value a variable contains. Let's look at a simplified example showing how I use alert(). [Continue reading]
Alternate Way for Adding Labels to Online Forms
To make HTML forms more accessible to those using assistive technology like screen readers, we need to use <label> tags to associate the field labels with the corresponding fields. It wasn't until recently that I realized you don't always need to add an id attribute to field that you're attaching the label to. There is another way and it requires less typing. [Continue reading]
Pre-Populate Forms that Are Hosted on Other Websites
Lately, I've been more involved with submitting content to other organizations' websites. Getting indexed on those websites helps make the content more widely available. Since the information being submitted is already in a database or doesn't change from submission to submission, it would be nice if I didn't need to re-type or copy/paste everything. Luckily, there is a quicker way. [Continue reading]
Build Forms Quickly with JotForm
For those developing forms online (or if you want to), have you heard of JotForm? It's simple to use and it provides most of the features needed to build forms without knowing any code. Plus, they can be customized with CSS. There are even some useful features like having forms remember what visitors type. If someone's computer crashes while filling out the form, the information will be repopulated when the form is opened again. Let's take a quick peek at JotForm. [Continue reading]
Populate Forms Which Have Been Disconnected from Google Docs
Due to popular demand, we're going to look at pre-populating Google forms using PHP. Last week's post showed how forms can be liberated from Google Docs. Since they're disconnected, we won't be able to depend on the standard method provided by Google. We're responsible for developing our own solution. Luckily, this is fairly straight forward with server-side languages like PHP. [Continue reading]
Disconnect Forms from Google Docs for Complete Customization
Google forms provide a quick, easy, and free way to collect information from customers. The forms can even be embedded within an existing website to give a more consistent look from one page to another. Unfortunately, Google doesn't supply very many options for customizing forms. There is a way around these limitations, however. [Continue reading]
Advanced Uses of Google Forms: Customizing and Pre-population
As mentioned in last week's post, Google provides very few options for customizing their forms. However, with a little extra work, the form can look anyway we want. All the extra space between questions can be removed. Labels can appear on the same line as the corresponding form field. Let's look at customizing Google forms and other advanced usage of the service. [Continue reading]
Rapidly Developing Forms with Google Docs
If you develop surveys or data collection forms online, have you given Google Docs a spin? This free service is more than just creating spreadsheets and documents. It also provides a form builder which simplifies the development of online forms. The form responses are stored in a Google spreadsheet which can easily be exported to Microsoft Excel, CSV, etc. Plus, the forms can be embedded in your own website. [Continue reading]
Naming Your HTML Form Fields with an Associative Array
When using database entries to dynamically build HTML forms, how do you go about naming the form fields? Do you name them "Field1", "Field2′, etc.? Or do you have a more efficient way to access the fields when processing the form submissions? If you haven't tried using an array as the name, you may be missing out. [Continue reading]
Making HTML Forms More Accessible and Improving Usability with the Label Tag
It's surprising that there are still HTML forms online not taking advantage of the <label> tag. In addition to being required for creating accessible forms, <label> tags improve the usability of forms. For example, instead of forcing visitors to click those tiny radio buttons, why not let them to click the text label. [Continue reading]
