Operation Manual

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USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 3/28/2012
Radio buttons Represent exclusive choices. Selecting a button within a radio button group deselects all others in the
group (a group consists of two or more buttons that share the same name). In the example below, Rafting is the
currently selected option. If the user clicks Surfing, the Rafting button is automatically cleared.
List menus Display option values within a scrolling list that allows users to select multiple options. The List option
displays the option values in a menu that allows users to select only a single item. Use menus when you have a limited
amount of space, but must display many items, or to control the values returned to the server. Unlike text fields where
users can type anything they want, including invalid data, you set the exact values returned by a menu.
Note: A pop-up menu on an HTML form is not the same as a graphical pop-up menu. For information on creating,
editing, and showing and hiding a graphical pop-up menu, see the link at the end of this section.
Jump menus Navigational lists or pop-up menus that let you insert a menu in which each option links to a document
or file.
File fields Let users browse to a file on their computer and upload the file as form data.
Image fields Let you insert an image in a form. Use image fields to make graphical buttons such as Submit or Reset
buttons. Using an image to perform tasks other than submitting data requires attaching a behavior to the form object.
More Help topics
“Apply the Show Pop-Up Menu behavior” on page 339
Create an HTML form
1 Open a page and place the insertion point where you want the form to appear.
2 Select Insert > Form, or select the Forms category in the Insert panel and click the Form icon.
In Design view, forms are indicated by a dotted red outline. If you don’t see this outline, select View > Visual Aids >
Invisible Elements.
3 Set the properties of the HTML form in the Property inspector (Window >Properties):
a In the Document window, click the form outline to select the form.
b In the Form Name box, type a unique name to identify the form.
Naming a form makes it possible to reference or control the form with a scripting language, such as JavaScript or
VBScript. If you do not name the form, Dreamweaver generates a name using the syntax
formn, and increments the
value of
n for each form added to the page.
c In the Action box, specify the page or script that will process the form data by typing the path, or clicking the folder
icon to navigate to the appropriate page or script. Example: processorder.php.