Forms: Overview

Overview	You can put forms in your web pages to request information from your visitors. Forms make your web site interactive.
	There are many common uses of forms on a web site: questionnaires registration information order forms short answer quizzes
	However, to gather and retrieve the information that you request in a form, you need a script that tells the server where to store the information. The most common type of script used with a web page form is a CGI Script
CGI Scripts	CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. The CGI script is a simple computer program that processes the information gathered by the form that you have placed on your web site. Because this script resides on the web server, you must contact your site administrator to find out how to place a script on your host server. Note that you can display a form on your web site with simple HTML coding or the use of an HTML editor. However, you can’t actually gather the data in a form without the CGI script that has been installed on the web server to process the data.
The Form Field	When you create a form you delineate the area in which will go the entire form, i.e. both the questions you ask and the box and button spaces where the visitor will supply responses. This area is called the form field The fill-in blanks are called form elements. You can place many different types of form elements in the same form.
	When you create a form field you are asked to supply two piece of information: the pathname of the CGI Script that the server will use to process the form. the method (usually Post) by which the browser will process the form.
	Important: Before you can actually get your forms to work, you must arrange for the installation of a form handler (i.e., the CGI script that will render the form operable) on your web site host server. Consult your site administrator for more information.