INTERACTIVITY WITH FORMS

Forms allow you to interact with or gather information from visitors to your website. For example, you can ask for a user's name and e-mail address, or have visitors take a survey, sign a guest book, or provide feedback on your site.

Forms have two parts: HTML source code describing the form (for example, the fields, labels, and buttons a user sees on the page), and a script or application to process the information submitted (such as a CGI script). You can't collect form data without using a processing script.

You can use Dreamweaver to create a variety of form objects such as text fields, password fields, radio buttons, checkboxes, pop-up menus, or "clickable" images (such as a Submit button).

About CGI scripts:
Forms are usually processed by CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripts. CGl is a standardised way of sending information between a server and a processing script. CGI scripts are typically written in Perl or some other programming language such as C++, Java. VBScript, or JavaScript. Before creating interactive forms, check with your ISP or server administrator to see if CGI scripts can run on your server.

Inserting a form on your page