Frontpage: Lesson 7 - Creating Forms

The first part of our form page will consist of a list of three places of accommodation: add the title Where_title.gif to the centre of the page after saving the page as where.html. Hit return and add a table consisting of three rows and two columns by clicking on the Insert Table button and entering these numbers next to rows and columns. In this dialog box, set the horizontal alignment of the table to the centre and the width 600 pixels. In each cell, add the following images and text:

• hotel.jpg/accomd1.txt
• self_cater.jpg/accomd2.txt
• bandb.jpg/accomd3.txt

We will now lay out a form beneath this table with further details arranged in a table. To create the form, go to Insert, Form, Form. This menu also contains the other components that will be added later to create the form, such as buttons and text fields.

With the cursor in this form, create another table four rows deep but otherwise the same dimensions as the first table. Select the top two cells and go to Table, Merge cells. In the single emaining top cell, enter the text, 'For further information please complete the following form:'.

In the four remaining cells, ensure that the vertical alignment of each is set to top and enter the following text and fields using the Forms palette:

• Row 2, left-hand cell: Name and Email, each with a one-line text box
• Row 2, right-hand cell: Address and scrolling text box set to four lines deep
• Row 3, left-hand cell: Season with four radio buttons labelled Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.
• Row 3, right-hand cell: Type of Accommodation and a drop-down list/menu. Click on List Values in the Properties palette and click the plus button to add the following text to this menu: Hotels, Self-Catering and Bed and Breakfast.
• Row 4, left-hand cell: Two buttons, one to submit (the default), the other to reset the form (click on each button and choose the relevant actions in the Properties palette).

To complete the page, add links to the other top level sites. You may also wish to experiment with the page's format, for example by changing text headings to green to match the colours across the rest of the site.

Click here to see what the page should look like, then click Back on the browser toolbar to return to this page.

You can order copies of the following books:
Web Production for Writers and Journalists in paperback.
The Internet: The Basics in paperback.
The Cyberspace Handbook in paperback.