Creating Forms -- SELECT, TEXTAREA tags

Form Number 1 -- SELECT tag!

The SELECT tag allows FORMs to provide a large number of choices without taking up too much of the computer screen. The SELECT tag creates a pop-up list from which any one option may be selected. Observe the sample below:

Which of the following courses is your favorite?

Suppose we want a scrollable list instead of a pop-up list that shows all possible choices. Observe the code below:

Which of the following courses is your favorite?

Suppose we wish to have our list act like a CHECKBOX tag (so we can select multiple entries) instead of a RADIO tag. Observe the FORM below for selecting multiple items (you will have to shift-click to select more than one option):

Which of the following courses are your favorites?

Finally, suppose we wish to have our list default to a specific choice. Observe below:

Which of the following courses is your favorite?

Form Number 2 -- TEXTAREA tag!

The TEXTAREA tag is a container (like the SELECT tag) which creates a box for a user to enter large amounts of text. Many web pages use this tag to create a Comments field. All rules of the {PRE} PREFORMATTED tag apply but there is no implicit text wrapping as of the time I wrote this form (it will be called WRAP). You must press RETURN when you reach the end of a line that fits within the TEXTAREA region. Observe the FORM below:

Type your comments below:

Using Preset Push Buttons
You have already seen the RESET button. It can be placed anywhere within a form. It allows you to reset all values of a FORM back to the default values. Observe below:

The SUBMIT button is used to send off your form to the designated URL of the CGI program. It looks like the following:

Both RESET and SUBMIT can be spruced up:

Finally, we can use an INPUT tag to display a message. Why? I don't know. Observe below (if it works on your particular browser):