HTML Forms

HTML forms are used to pass data to a server. A form can contain input elements like text fields, checkboxes, radio-buttons, submit buttons and more. A form can also contain select lists, textarea, fieldset, legend, and label elements. The <form> tag is used to create an HTML form: <form> . input elements . </form>

HTML Forms - The Input Element

The most important form element is the input element. The input element is used to select user information. An input element can vary in many ways, depending on the type attribute. An input element can be of type text field, checkbox, password, radio button, submit button, and more. The most used input types are described below.

Text Fields
<input type="text" /> defines a one-line input field that a user can enter text into: <form> First name: <input type="text" name="firstname" /><br /> Last name: <input type="text" name="lastname" /> </form> How the HTML code above looks in a browser: First name: Last name:

Note: The form itself is not visible. Also note that the default width of a text field is 20 characters.

Password Field
<input type="password" /> defines a password field: <form> Password: <input type="password" name="pwd" /> </form> How the HTML code above looks in a browser: Password: Note: The characters in a password field are masked (shown as asterisks or circles).

Radio Buttons
<input type="radio" /> defines a radio button. Radio buttons let a user select ONLY ONE one of a limited number of choices: <form> <input type="radio" name="sex" value="male" /> Male<br /> <input type="radio" name="sex" value="female" /> Female </form> How the HTML code above looks in a browser: Male Female

Checkboxes
<input type="checkbox" /> defines a checkbox. Checkboxes let a user select ONE or MORE options of a limited number of choices. <form>

<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike" /> I have a bike<br /> <input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car" /> I have a car </form> How the HTML code above looks in a browser: I have a bike I have a car

Submit Button
<input type="submit" /> defines a submit button. A submit button is used to send form data to a server. The data is sent to the page specified in the form's action attribute. The file defined in the action attribute usually does something with the received input: <form name="input" action="html_form_action.asp" method="get"> Username: <input type="text" name="user" /> <input type="submit" value="Submit" /> </form> How the HTML code above looks in a browser: Username:
Submit

If you type some characters in the text field above, and click the "Submit" button, the browser will send your input to a page called "html_form_action.asp". The page will show you the received input.

The HTML frame Element

The <frame> tag defines one particular window (frame) within a frameset. In the example below we have a frameset with two columns. The first column is set to 25% of the width of the browser window. The second column is set to 75% of the width of the browser window. The document "frame_a.htm" is put into the first column, and the document "frame_b.htm" is put into the second column: <frameset cols="25%,75%"> <frame src="frame_a.htm" /> <frame src="frame_b.htm" /> </frameset>

Color Values
HTML colors are defined using a hexadecimal notation (HEX) for the combination of Red, Green, and Blue color values (RGB). The lowest value that can be given to one of the light sources is 0 (in HEX: 00). The highest value is 255 (in HEX: FF). HEX values are specified as 3 pairs of two-digit numbers, starting with a # sign.

Color Values
Color Color HEX #000000 #FF0000 #00FF00 #0000FF #FFFF00 #00FFFF #FF00FF #C0C0C0 #FFFFFF Color RGB rgb(0,0,0) rgb(255,0,0) rgb(0,255,0) rgb(0,0,255) rgb(255,255,0) rgb(0,255,255) rgb(255,0,255) rgb(192,192,192) rgb(255,255,255)

Web Safe Colors?

Some years ago, when computers supported max 256 different colors, a list of 216 "Web Safe Colors" was suggested as a Web standard, reserving 40 fixed system colors. The 216 cross-browser color palette was created to ensure that all computers would display the colors correctly when running a 256 color palette. This is not important today, since most computers can display millions of different colors. Anyway, here is the list: 000000 003300 006600 009900 00CC00 00FF00 330000 333300 336600 339900 33CC00 33FF00 660000 663300 666600 669900 66CC00 66FF00 990000 993300 996600 999900 99CC00 99FF00 CC0000 CC3300 000033 003333 006633 009933 00CC33 00FF33 330033 333333 336633 339933 33CC33 33FF33 660033 663333 666633 669933 66CC33 66FF33 990033 993333 996633 999933 99CC33 99FF33 CC0033 CC3333 000066 003366 006666 009966 00CC66 00FF66 330066 333366 336666 339966 33CC66 33FF66 660066 663366 666666 669966 66CC66 66FF66 990066 993366 996666 999966 99CC66 99FF66 CC0066 CC3366 000099 003399 006699 009999 00CC99 00FF99 330099 333399 336699 339999 33CC99 33FF99 660099 663399 666699 669999 66CC99 66FF99 990099 993399 996699 999999 99CC99 99FF99 CC0099 CC3399 0000CC 0033CC 0066CC 0099CC 00CCCC 00FFCC 3300CC 3333CC 3366CC 3399CC 33CCCC 33FFCC 6600CC 6633CC 6666CC 6699CC 66CCCC 66FFCC 9900CC 9933CC 9966CC 9999CC 99CCCC 99FFCC CC00CC CC33CC 0000FF 0033FF 0066FF 0099FF 00CCFF 00FFFF 3300FF 3333FF 3366FF 3399FF 33CCFF 33FFFF 6600FF 6633FF 6666FF 6699FF 66CCFF 66FFFF 9900FF 9933FF 9966FF 9999FF 99CCFF 99FFFF CC00FF CC33FF

CC6600 CC9900 CCCC00 CCFF00 FF0000 FF3300 FF6600 FF9900 FFCC00 FFFF00

CC6633 CC9933 CCCC33 CCFF33 FF0033 FF3333 FF6633 FF9933 FFCC33 FFFF33

CC6666 CC9966 CCCC66 CCFF66 FF0066 FF3366 FF6666 FF9966 FFCC66 FFFF66

CC6699 CC9999 CCCC99 CCFF99 FF0099 FF3399 FF6699 FF9999 FFCC99 FFFF99

CC66CC CC99CC CCCCCC CCFFCC FF00CC FF33CC FF66CC FF99CC FFCCCC FFFFCC

CC66FF CC99FF CCCCFF CCFFFF FF00FF FF33FF FF66FF FF99FF FFCCFF FFFFFF

HTML Basic Document

<html> <head> <title>Title of document goes here</title> </head>
<body> Visible text goes here... </body>

</html>

Heading Elements
<h1>Largest Heading</h1>

<h2> . . . </h2> <h3> . . . </h3> <h4> . . . </h4> <h5> . . . </h5> <h6>Smallest Heading</h6>

Text Elements

<p>This is a paragraph</p> <br /> (line break) <hr /> (horizontal rule) <pre>This text is preformatted</pre> Logical Styles <em>This text is emphasized</em> <strong>This text is strong</strong> <code>This is some computer code</code> Physical Styles <b>This text is bold</b> <i>This text is italic</i>

Links
Ordinary link: <a href="http://www.example.com/">Link-text goes here</a> Image-link: <a href="http://www.example.com/"><img src="URL" alt="Alternate Text" /></a> Mailto link: <a href="mailto:webmaster@example.com">Send e-mail</a>

A named anchor: <a name="tips">Tips Section</a> <a href="#tips">Jump to the Tips Section</a>

Unordered list
<ul> <li>Item</li> <li>Item</li> </ul>

Ordered list
<ol> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> </ol>

Definition list
<dl> <dt>First term</dt>

<dd>Definition</dd> <dt>Next term</dt> <dd>Definition</dd> </dl>

Tables
<table border="1"> <tr> <th>Tableheader</th> <th>Tableheader</th> </tr> <tr> <td>sometext</td> <td>sometext</td> </tr> </table>

Frames
<frameset cols="25%,75%"> <frame src="page1.htm" /> <frame src="page2.htm" /> </frameset>

Forms
<form action="http://www.example.com/test.asp" method="post/get">

<input type="text" name="email" size="40" maxlength="50" /> <input type="password" /> <input type="checkbox" checked="checked" /> <input type="radio" checked="checked" /> <input type="submit" value="Send" /> <input type="reset" /> <input type="hidden" /> <select> <option>Apples</option> <option selected="selected">Bananas</option> <option>Cherries</option> </select>

<textarea name="comment" rows="60" cols="20"></textarea> </form>

Entities
&lt; is the same as < &gt; is the same as > &#169; is the same as

Other Elements
<!-- This is a comment --> <blockquote> Text quoted from a source. </blockquote> <address> Written by W3Schools.com<br /> <a href="mailto:us@example.org">Email us</a><br /> Address: Box 564, Disneyland<br /> Phone: +12 34 56 78 </address>

Validate Your HTML Files

To validate an HTML document, a doctype declaration must be added. The doctype declaration is not an HTML tag; it is an instruction to the web browser about what version of the markup language the page is written in. The doctype declaration refers to a Document Type Definition (DTD). The DTD specifies the rules for the markup language, so that the browsers can render the content correctly. The doctype declaration should be the very first thing in an HTML document, before the <html> tag.
HTML 4.01 Strict

This DTD contains all HTML elements and attributes, but does NOT INCLUDE presentational or deprecated elements (like font). Framesets are not allowed:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> HTML 4.01 Transitional

This DTD contains all HTML elements and attributes, INCLUDING presentational and deprecated elements (like font). Framesets are not allowed:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> HTML 4.01 Frameset

This DTD is equal to HTML 4.01 Transitional, but allows the use of frameset content:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">

Validate Your HTML With W3C's Validator

Type a URL in the input field below (like http://www.w3schools.com/):

Validate the page

External Style Sheet

An external style sheet is ideal when the style is applied to many pages. With an external style sheet, you can change the look of an entire Web site by changing one file. Each page must link to the style sheet using the <link> tag. The <link> tag goes inside the <head> section: <head> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css" /> </head>

Internal Style Sheet

An internal style sheet can be used if one single document has a unique style. Internal styles are defined in the <head> section of an HTML page, by using the <style> tag, like this: <head> <style type="text/css"> body {background-color:yellow} p {color:blue} </style> </head>

Inline Styles
An inline style can be used if a unique style is to be applied to one single occurrence of an element. To use inline styles, use the style attribute in the relevant tag. The style attribute can contain any CSS property. The example below shows how to change the text color and the left margin of a paragraph: <p style="color:blue;margin-left:20px">This is a paragraph.</p> To learn more about style sheets, visit our CSS tutorial.

HTML Style Tags

Tag <style> <link /> Description Defines style information for a document Defines the relationship between a document and an external resource

The HTML title Element

The <title> tag defines the title of the document. The title element is required in all HTML/XHTML documents.

The title element:

defines a title in the browser toolbar provides a title for the page when it is added to favorites displays a title for the page in search-engine results

A simple HTML document, with the minimum of required tags: <html> <head> <title>Title of the document</title> </head> <body> The content of the document...... </body> </html>

The HTML base Element

The <base> tag specifies a default address or a default target for all links on a page: <head> <base href="http://www.w3schools.com/images/" /> <base target="_blank" /> </head>

The HTML link Element

The <link> tag defines the relationship between a document and an external resource. The <link> tag is most used to link to style sheets: <head> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css" /> </head>

The HTML style Element

The <style> tag is used to define style information for an HTML document. Inside the style element you specify how HTML elements should render in a browser: <head> <style type="text/css"> body {background-color:yellow} p {color:blue} </style> </head>

The HTML meta Element

The <meta> tag provides metadata about the HTML document. The meta element will be explained in the next chapter.

The HTML script Element

The <script> tag is used to define a client-side script, such as a JavaScript. The script element will be explained in a later chapter.

HTML head Elements

Tag <head> <title> <base /> <link /> <meta /> <script> <style> Description Defines information about the document Defines the title of a document Defines a default address or a default target for all links on a page Defines the relationship between a document and an external resource Defines metadata about an HTML document Defines a client-side script Defines style information for a document

Keywords for Search Engines

Some search engines will use the name and content attributes of the meta element to index your pages. The following meta element defines a description of a page: <meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials on HTML, CSS, XML" /> The following meta element defines keywords for a page: <meta name="keywords" content="HTML, CSS, XML" /> The intention of the name and content attributes is to describe the content of a page.

The HTML script Element

The <script> tag is used to define a client-side script, such as a JavaScript. The script element either contains scripting statements or it points to an external script file through the src attribute. The required type attribute specifies the MIME type of the script. Common uses for JavaScript are image manipulation, form validation, and dynamic changes of content. The script below writes Hello World! to the HTML output:

Example
<script type="text/javascript"> document.write("Hello World!") </script>