Interactive Forms at UW Oshkosh Web authors that have pages that reside on the UW Oshkosh web server are able to create interactive fill-in forms for use on their web pages.
		Creating Form Elements in HTML (Menus, Check Boxes, Fields, etc.)		Creating Form Elements With Claris Home Page (Menus, Check Boxes, Fields, etc.)
	General Questions About Forms Creation
		About Forms at UW Oshkosh		Links to Learning Sites
		What Will My Form Results Look Like?		View a Sample Form
		Important Note About Web Page Editors and Forms!

	About Forms at UW Oshkosh Forms at UW Oshkosh rely on a program, known as a CGI (common gateway interface) script to process data. You insert a form into a web page using HTML or an HTML editor, and then insert a piece of code that points your page to this CGI script on the UW Oshkosh server. Whatever people fill out on your form will be sent to an email address that you specify in your HTML document. Your form results will be returned to you in the form of an email message. This is called a Mailto Form. Unless you edit your pages directly on a Sun Workstation, you will not be able to tell if your form is "working" until you transfer your files from your computer to the UW Oshkosh web server. You should complete your page with forms and then transfer it to the server using an FTP program like WS_FTP or the publishing option within your Web Page Editor. 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. back to top HTML/Web Page Editors If you're not familiar with HTML, you may want to try web editing software such as Claris Home Page, AOLPress (free download), Microsoft Front Page, etc. All of these products make it easy for you to insert the different components of a form. Typically with a web page editor that inserts forms, it is simple to create the buttons, boxes and text areas by utilizing an "Insert" or "Format" menu in the program or looking in the program's Help menu for the appropriate instructions. However, there are THREE special things you need to tell your editor to do in order for your forms to work with the UW Oshkosh web server. You need to tell the editor how your form will be processed. You should be given an option of GET or POST. You will choose POST. In the same area, you will have to indicate a "Forms Handler" or "Action" meaning a CGI Script on the server that can process the forms data. In a field that is asking for this type of information, input this: /cgi-bin/mailto.cgi You will need to insert a Hidden Input Entry in order to indicate the email address where the results of the forms will go. A Hidden Input Entry will not display in your web page, but it is necessary to use one in order to tell the CGI script where to send your results. Consult your editor's Help for indications for how you create Hidden Input Entries. Your INPUT TYPE will be Hidden, the NAME of the field will be: to and the VALUE will be your email address [username@uwosh.edu]. If you can figure out how to insert all of your form elements such as buttons, boxes, etc., but can't figure out the above information, you may want to try inserting some things into your "raw" HTML after you're done inserting your boxes, buttons, text areas, etc: Get your editor to show you your HTML code. If you're not sure how to do this, check the Help or look for keywords like "Source Code" or "Show HTML", etc. Look in your code near the top of your form for the tag <FORM> and replace it with a string like this: <FORM ACTION="/cgi-bin/mailto.cgi" method=POST> Position your cursor after this tag and insert this code: <INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=to VALUE="yourusername@uwosh.edu"> [replace yourusername with your VaxA username.] Save your file. Look at the HTML help for examples of the different form elements possible. 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. 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: 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> Your Name = Pixie Tell us why you love coffee = It wakes me up in the morning! have you purchased a cup? = Yes Type of coffee I enjoy = Espresso CaffeLatte How_Do_You_Like_Your_Coffee? = With Sugar Submit = Tell us! back to top Sites that can help you learn about HTML and Forms If you would like to learn HTML, try this site: Basic HTML Help If you would like more detailed information about composing a form in HTML, try this site: Carlos' Forms Tutorial back to top Last updated December 1998 Return to the Editor's Corner Return to UW Oshkosh Contact neises@uwosh.edu