Creating Form Elements in Claris Home Page: Step By Step
	1st Step:
		Point your form to the CGI Script & Insert an Email Address
	2nd Step:
		Insert your form elements: Text Boxes | Text Areas | Check Boxes | Radio Buttons | Pop-up Menus | Submit Button | Reset Button
	3rd Step:
		Get fancier by requiring fields be filled out, providing links back to a web page and adding a subject line.
	F.Y.I.
		See how the form will look when it shows up in your email box | View a sample form
	1st Step:
		Start a new web page (File, New Page) or open an existing page (File, Open). Click on the Insert menu and choose Form, then Form Area. Where it says Action, type: /cgi-bin/mailto.cgi Where it says Method, make sure Post is chosen. In earlier versions of Claris Home Page (v.2.0), click on Edit, then choose Document Options. Click on the Tab labeled Advanced. In the box labeled Form Action, type: /cgi-bin/mailto.cgi Make sure that POST is selected in the adjacent menu, then click OK. Now click on the Insert menu, choose Form, then choose Hidden Entry. In the box labeled Name, put the word to In the box labeled Value, type your email address: username@uwosh.edu [put YOUR username before the @uwosh.edu] For more help with Forms, click on the Help menu and choose Forms from the list of topics. Information submitted via a form at UW Oshkosh is NOT secure. You should not ask for confidential information such as Social Security Numbers, I.D. Numbers, etc. return to top
	2nd Step: Form Elements
		Text Boxes Text Areas Radio Buttons Check Boxes Pop-up Menus Submit Button Reset Button Text Boxes: What's your email address? Text boxes can only contain one line of text. Use for short pieces of info. like an email address or name. Click on the menu option Insert, Form and choose Text Field. Type a name for the field in the box that appears. Example: email_address Don't put spaces in this name. The name you type will not appear in your editing window, it stays behind the scenes. This is the name that will identify the piece of information in the email message you will see in your email box when someone submits your form. Make it descriptive of what you want people to put here, but not too long. Type a size if desired. 30 is the default. You can always change this later. To edit this later, double click on the box. IMPORTANT: Don't leave any spaces in your NAME portion. You may want to use the underscore (shown above) to string your words together. return to top Text Areas: Tell me why you like coffee: A Text Area allows the input of more than one line of text. The size you make the text area doesn't limit the amount of input people can submit. If more text is entered, the text area will scroll. Click on Insert and choose Form and then Text Area. Type a name for the field in the box that appears. Example: why_like_coffee Don't put spaces in this name. The name you type will not appear in your editing window, it stays behind the scenes. This is the name that will identify the piece of information in the email message you will see in your email box when someone submits your form. Make it descriptive of what you want people to put here, but not too long. You can choose to Wrap text in the box. Your choices are: Virtual: The display word-wraps, but long lines are sent as one line without new-lines. Physical: The display word-wraps, and the text is transmitted at all wrap points. None: The display keeps scrolling over to the right. This can make it hard for people to keep track of what they're typing. IMPORTANT: Don't leave any spaces in your NAME portion. You may want to use the underscore (shown above) to string your words together. return to top Radio Buttons: Have you purchased coffee today? Yes No Radio Buttons allow users to choose ONE option that you provide. If you want people to be able to choose more than one option, use Check Boxes. Click on Insert, scroll down to Form and choose Radio Button. Erase the default in the Name box and insert your own name. Example: purchased_today For every button that you insert for each question, (e.g. Have you purchased coffee today) you should Name it the exact same thing, e.g. purchased_today [avoid using spaces with forms] In the Value box, erase the default and put the words you want to appear in your email form identifying people's answers, e.g. Yes, No, etc. This is how you tell which answer people checked on your form. IMPORTANT: Don't leave any spaces in your NAME portion. You may want to use the underscore (shown above) to string your words together. return to top Check Boxes: What's your favorite coffee? Caffe Latte Espresso Cappucino Check Boxes allow users to choose ONE or MORE options that you provide. Radio buttons (below) only allow ONE choice per question. Click on Insert, scroll down to Form and choose Check Box. Erase the default in the Name box and insert your own name. Example: favorite_coffee For every box that you insert for each question, (e.g. What's your favorite coffee) you should Name it the exact same thing, e.g. favorite_coffee [avoid using spaces with forms] In the Value box, erase the default and put the words you want to appear in your email form identifying people's answers, e.g. Caffe_Latte This is how you tell which answer people checked on your form. IMPORTANT: Don't leave any spaces in your NAME portion. You may want to use the underscore (shown above) to string your words together. return to top Pop-up Menus: How do you like your coffee? sugar black cream cream and sugar Type your question. Click the Insert menu, choose Form, then choose Pop-up Menu. Name your Pop-up menu. Don't use any spaces in your name. Example: how_do_you_like_your_coffee Click on Edit Items Click under the Title column and type the words you want to be displayed for this item on your pop-up menu. Example: sugar This is what people will see when they are making a choice from your pop-up menu. Click under the column labeled Check to choose that the item be the item displayed by "default" in the pop-up menu. [only do this for one of your items] Click on Add for each item you want to add. Whatever you type under the Name column is what people will see when using your list. To edit your Pop-up Menu and items, double click on it and click on Edit Items. IMPORTANT: Don't leave any spaces in your NAME portion. You may want to use the underscore (shown above) to string your words together. return to top Submit Button: You have to insert a Submit button so people can send the form info. to you. Click your cursor where you want the Submit button to go. Click on the Insert menu, choose Form, then choose Submit Button. In the box labeled Action Name, keep the word Submit there. If you want to change what your Submit button says, just double click your cursor on the text inside the button and change it! return to top Reset Button: You can insert a Reset button so people can clear their form information and start over. Click your cursor where you want the Submit button to go. Click on the Insert menu, choose Form, then choose Reset Button. If you want to change what your Reset button says, just double click your cursor on the text inside the button and change it! return to top
		3rd Step:
		Requiring people to fill out parts of your form. Providing a link back to your web page after people have filled out the form. Inserting a subject heading that wills how up in the email message.
		How to require that people fill out parts of your form Click your cursor anywhere inside your form. Click on Insert, then Form, then Hidden Entry Where it says Entry Name, type required_fields [type exactly as you see here] Where it says Entry Value, type in the names you designated for different parts of your form (radio buttons, text areas) when you created them. Separate each NAME with a comma: Entry Value: purchased_today,email_address,why_like_coffee If you forgot what you named a box or button, double click on it to check. You must have this exactly the same or it won't work. return to top How can I provide a hypertext link for people to go back to my web page after they've submitted my form? Click your cursor somewhere in your form. Click on Insert, then Form, then Hidden Entry Where it says Entry Name, type continue_url [type exactly as you see here] Where it says Entry Value, type in the URL (Web Address) you would like people to go to, e.g. http://www.uwosh.edu/ [you must include the http://] Next, Click your cursor somewhere in your form. Click on Insert, then Form, then Hidden Entry Where it says Entry Name, type continue_text [type exactly as you see here] Where it says Entry Value, type in the text you want to appear as "clickable" in your web page, e.g. Thanks for filling out the form. Return to the main web page. return to top How do I insert a subject heading that will show up in the email message? Click your cursor somewhere in your form. Click on Insert, then Form, then Hidden Entry Where it says Entry Name, type subject [type exactly as you see here] Where it says Entry Value, type in the Subject you would like to appear in your email inbox, e.g. Reservation Form (keep it short). return to top
		What will my form results look like when people fill out my form? They will come as an email message to the address that you specify in your forms coding. The sender will appear as "No From Given". You can't change what appears here. The subject will be Webmail: plus any subject you designated: When you look at one of the messages, the "fields" you designated in your forms coding will be in the message, as will the answers people gave. For the sample form above, a message may look like this: Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 20:17:11 +0000 From: sender.did.not.provide.an.email.address@webmail.gateway (No From given) Subject: WebMail: To: yourusername@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu Message-id: <19980506201711.10533.qmail@thor.acs.uwosh.edu> email_address =guest@uwosh.edu why_like_coffee = It wakes me up in the morning! purchased _today? = Yes favorite_coffee= Espresso CaffeLatte How_Do_You_Like_Your_Coffee? = With Sugar Submit = Tell us! return to top
	Last updated December 1998 Return to the Editor's Corner Return to UW Oshkosh Contact neises@uwosh.edu