HTML Forms and Input

HTML Forms are used to select different kinds of user input.

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Try it Yourself - Examples

Create text fields
How to create text fields. The user can write text in a text field.
Create password field
How to create a password field.
(You can find more examples at the bottom of this page)

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HTML Forms

HTML forms are used to pass data to a server.
An HTML form can contain input elements like text fields, checkboxes, radio-buttons, submit buttons and more. A form can also contain select lists, textarea, fieldset, legend, and label elements.
The <form> tag is used to create an HTML form:

<form>
.
input elements
.
</form>

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HTML Forms - The Input Element

The most important form element is the <input> element.
The <input> element is used to select user information.
An <input> element can vary in many ways, depending on the type attribute. An <input> element can be of type text field, checkbox, password, radio button, submit button, and more.
The most common input types are described below.

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Text Fields

<input type="text"> defines a one-line input field that a user can enter text into:

<form>
First name: <input type="text" name="firstname"><br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

First name:
Last name:

Note: The form itself is not visible. Also note that the default width of a text field is 20 characters. 

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Password Field

<input type="password"> defines a password field:

<form>
Password: <input type="password" name="pwd">
</form>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

Password:

Note: The characters in a password field are masked (shown as asterisks or circles).

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Radio Buttons

<input type="radio"> defines a radio button. Radio buttons let a user select ONLY ONE of a limited number of choices:

<form>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="male">Male<br>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="female">Female
</form>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

Male
Female

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Checkboxes

<input type="checkbox"> defines a checkbox. Checkboxes let a user select ZERO or MORE options of a limited number of choices.

<form>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike">I have a bike<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car">I have a car
</form>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

I have a bike
I have a car

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Submit Button

<input type="submit"> defines a submit button.
A submit button is used to send form data to a server. The data is sent to the page specified in the form's action attribute. The file defined in the action attribute usually does something with the received input:

<form name="input" action="demo_form_action.asp" method="get">
Username: <input type="text" name="user">
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

Username:

If you type some characters in the text field above, and click the "Submit" button, the browser will send your input to a page called "demo_form_action.asp". The page will show you the received input.

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More Examples

Radio buttons
How to create radio buttons.
Checkboxes
How to create checkboxes. A user can select or unselect a checkbox.
Simple drop-down list
How to create a simple drop-down list.
Drop-down list with a pre-selected value
How to create a drop-down list with a pre-selected value.
Textarea
How to create a multi-line text input control. In a text-area the user can write an unlimited number of characters.
Create a button
How to create a button.

Form Examples

Fieldset around form-data
How to create a border around elements in a form.
Form with text fields and a submit button
How to create a form with two text fields and a submit button.
Form with checkboxes
How to create a form with two checkboxes and a submit button.
Form with radio buttons
How to create a form with two radio buttons, and a submit button.
Send e-mail from a form
How to send e-mail from a form.

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HTML Form Tags

= Tag added in HTML5.

Tag	Description
<form>	Defines an HTML form for user input
<input>	Defines an input control
<textarea>	Defines a multiline input control (text area)
<label>	Defines a label for an <input> element
<fieldset>	Groups related elements in a form
<legend>	Defines a caption for a <fieldset> element
<select>	Defines a drop-down list
<optgroup>	Defines a group of related options in a drop-down list
<option>	Defines an option in a drop-down list
<button>	Defines a clickable button
<datalist>	Specifies a list of pre-defined options for input controls
<keygen>	Defines a key-pair generator field (for forms)
<output>	Defines the result of a calculation

HTML Layouts

Web page layout is very important to make your website look good.

Design your webpage layout very carefully.

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Try it Yourself - Examples

Web page layout using <div> elements
How to add layout using <div> elements.
Web page layout using <table> elements
How to add layout using <table> elements.

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Website Layouts

Most websites have put their content in multiple columns (formatted like a magazine or newspaper).
Multiple columns are created by using <div> or <table> elements. CSS are used to position elements, or to create backgrounds or colorful look for the pages.

	Even though it is possible to create nice layouts with HTML tables, tables were designed for presenting tabular data - NOT as a layout tool!

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HTML Layouts - Using <div> Elements

The div element is a block level element used for grouping HTML elements.
The following example uses five div elements to create a multiple column layout, creating the same result as in the previous example:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<div id="container" style="width:500px">

<div id="header" style="background-color:#FFA500;">
<h1 style="margin-bottom:0;">Main Title of Web Page</h1></div>

<div id="menu" style="background-color:#FFD700;height:200px;width:100px;float:left;">
<b>Menu</b><br>
HTML<br>
CSS<br>
JavaScript</div>

<div id="content" style="background-color:#EEEEEE;height:200px;width:400px;float:left;">
Content goes here</div>

<div id="footer" style="background-color:#FFA500;clear:both;text-align:center;">
Copyright © W3Schools.com</div>

</div>

</body>
</html>

Try it yourself »

The HTML code above will produce the following result:

Main Title of Web Page

Menu
HTML
CSS
JavaScript

Content goes here

Copyright © W3Schools.com

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HTML Layouts - Using Tables

A simple way of creating layouts is by using the HTML <table> tag.
Multiple columns are created by using <div> or <table> elements. CSS are used to position elements, or to create backgrounds or colorful look for the pages.

	Using <table> to create a nice layout is NOT the correct use of the element. The purpose of the <table> element is to display tabular data!

The following example uses a table with 3 rows and 2 columns - the first and last row spans both columns using the colspan attribute:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<table style="width:500px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFA500;">
<h1 style="margin:0;padding:0;">Main Title of Web Page</h1>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td style="background-color:#FFD700;width:100px;vertical-align:top;">
<b>Menu</b><br>
HTML<br>
CSS<br>
JavaScript
</td>
<td style="background-color:#eeeeee;height:200px;width:400px;vertical-align:top;">
Content goes here</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFA500;text-align:center;">
Copyright © W3Schools.com</td>
</tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

Try it yourself »

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HTML Layout - Useful Tips

Tip: The biggest advantage of using CSS is that, if you place the CSS code in an external style sheet, your site becomes MUCH EASIER to maintain. You can change the layout of all your pages by editing one file. To learn more about CSS, study our CSS tutorial.
Tip: Because advanced layouts take time to create, a quicker option is to use a template. Search Google for free website templates (these are pre-built website layouts you can use and customize).

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HTML Layout Tags

Tag	Description
<div>	Defines a section in a document (block-level)
<span>	Defines a section in a document (inline)

HTML Blocks

HTML elements can be grouped together with <div> and <span>.

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HTML Block Elements

Most HTML elements are defined as block level elements or as inline elements.
Block level elements normally start (and end) with a new line when displayed in a browser.
Examples: <h1>, <p>, <ul>, <table>

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HTML Inline Elements

Inline elements are normally displayed without starting a new line.
Examples: <b>, <td>, <a>, <img>

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The HTML <div> Element

The HTML <div> element is a block level element that can be used as a container for grouping other HTML elements.
The <div> element has no special meaning. Except that, because it is a block level element, the browser will display a line break before and after it.
When used together with CSS, the <div> element can be used to set style attributes to large blocks of content.
Another common use of the <div> element, is for document layout. It replaces the "old way" of defining layout using tables. Using <table> elements for layout is not the correct use of <table>. The purpose of the <table> element is to display tabular data.

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The HTML <span> Element

The HTML <span> element is an inline element that can be used as a container for text.
The <span> element has no special meaning.
When used together with CSS, the <span> element can be used to set style attributes to parts of the text.

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HTML Grouping Tags

Tag	Description
<div>	Defines a section in a document (block-level)
<span>	Defines a section in a document (inline)

HTML Lists

The most common HTML lists are ordered and unordered lists:

HTML Lists

An ordered list: The first list item The second list item The third list item

An unordered list: List item List item List item

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Try-It-Yourself Examples

Unordered list
How to create an unordered list in an HTML document.
Ordered list
How to create an ordered list in an HTML document.
(You can find more examples at the bottom of this page).

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HTML Unordered Lists

An unordered list starts with the <ul> tag. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.
The list items are marked with bullets (typically small black circles).

<ul>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

• Coffee
• Milk

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HTML Ordered Lists

An ordered list starts with the <ol> tag. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.
The list items are marked with numbers.

<ol>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

1. Coffee
2. Milk

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HTML Description Lists

A description list is a list of terms/names, with a description of each term/name.
The <dl> tag defines a description list.
The <dl> tag is used in conjunction with <dt> (defines terms/names) and <dd> (describes each term/name):

<dl>
<dt>Coffee</dt>
<dd>- black hot drink</dd>
<dt>Milk</dt>
<dd>- white cold drink</dd>
</dl>

How the HTML code above looks in a browser:

Coffee

- black hot drink

Milk

- white cold drink

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Basic Notes - Useful Tips

Tip: Inside a list item you can put text, line breaks, images, links, other lists, etc.

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More Examples

Different types of ordered lists
Demonstrates different types of ordered lists.
Different types of unordered lists
Demonstrates different types of unordered lists.
Nested list
Demonstrates how you can nest lists.
Nested list 2
Demonstrates a more complicated nested list.
Description list
Demonstrates a definition list.

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HTML List Tags

Tag	Description
<ol>	Defines an ordered list
<ul>	Defines an unordered list
<li>	Defines a list item
<dl>	Defines a description list
<dt>	Defines a term/name in a description list
<dd>	Defines a description of a term/name in a description list

HTML Tables

HTML Table Example:

Firstname	Lastname	Points
Jill	Smith	50
Eve	Jackson	94
John	Doe	80
Adam	Johnson	67

---

Try it Yourself - Examples

Basic HTML tables
How to create basic tables in HTML.
A table with borders
How to add borders to a table.
A table with collapsed borders
How to make the borders collapse.
(You can find more examples at the bottom of this page).

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HTML Tables

Tables are defined with the <table> tag.
A table is divided into rows with the <tr> tag. (tr stands for table row)
A row is divided into data cells with the <td> tag. (td stands for table data)
A row can also be divided into headings with the <th> tag. (th stands for table heading)
The <td> elements are the data containers in the table.
The <td> elements can contain all sorts of HTML elements like text, images, lists, other tables, etc.
The width of a table can be defined using CSS.

Example

<table style="width:300px">
<tr>
  <td>Jill</td>
  <td>Smith</td>
  <td>50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>Eve</td>
  <td>Jackson</td>
  <td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>

Try it yourself »

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An HTML Table with a Border Attribute

If you do not specify a border for the table, it will be displayed without borders.
A border can be added using the border attribute:

Example

<table border="1" style="width:300px">
<tr>
  <td>Jill</td>
  <td>Smith</td>
  <td>50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>Eve</td>
  <td>Jackson</td>
  <td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>

Try it yourself »

	However, the border attribute is on its way out of the HTML standard! It is better to use CSS.

To add borders with CSS, use the border property:

Example

<style>
table,th,td
{
border:1px solid black;
}
</style>

Try it yourself »

Remember to define borders for both the table and the table cells.

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An HTML Table with Collapsed Borders

If you want the borders to collapse into one border, add border-collapse to your CSS:

Example

<style>
table,th,td
{
border:1px solid black;
border-collapse:collapse
}
</style>

Try it yourself »

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An HTML Table with Cell Padding

Cell padding specifies the space between the cell content and its borders.
If you do not specify a padding, the table cells will be displayed without padding.
To set the padding, use the CSS padding property:

Example

th,td
{
padding:15px;
}

Try it yourself »

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HTML Table Headings

Table headings are defined with the <th> tag.
By default, all major browsers display table headings as bold and centered:

Example

<table style="width:300px">
<tr>
  <th>Firstname</th>
  <th>Lastname</th>
  <th>Points</th>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>Eve</td>
  <td>Jackson</td>
  <td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>

Try it yourself »

To left-align the table headings, use the CSS text-align property:

Example

th
{
text-align:left;
}

Try it yourself »

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An HTML Table with Cell Spacing

Cell spacing specifies the space between the cells.
To set the cell spacing for the table, use the CSS border-spacing property:

Example

table
{
border-spacing:5px;
}

Try it yourself »

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More Examples

Horizontal/Vertical table headings
How to create horizontal/vertical table headings.
Table with a caption
How to add a caption to a table.
Table cells that span more than one row/column
How to define table cells that span more than one row or one column.
Tags inside a table
How to display elements inside other elements.

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HTML Table Tags

Tag	Description
<table>	Defines a table
<th>	Defines a header cell in a table
<tr>	Defines a row in a table
<td>	Defines a cell in a table
<caption>	Defines a table caption
<colgroup>	Specifies a group of one or more columns in a table for formatting
<col>	Specifies column properties for each column within a <colgroup> element
<thead>	Groups the header content in a table
<tbody>	Groups the body content in a table
<tfoot>	Groups the footer content in a table

HTML Images

Example

Norwegian Mountain Trip

Try it yourself »

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Try it Yourself - Examples

Insert images
How to insert images into an HTML document.
Insert images from different locations
How to insert an image from another folder or another server.
(You can find more examples at the bottom of this page).

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HTML Images - The <img> Tag and the Src Attribute

In HTML, images are defined with the <img> tag.
The <img> tag is empty, which means that it contains attributes only, and has no closing tag.
To display an image on a page, you need to use the src attribute. Src stands for "source". The value of the src attribute is the URL of the image you want to display.
Syntax for defining an image:

<img src="url" alt="some_text">

The URL points to the location where the image is stored. An image named "boat.gif", located in the "images" directory on "www.w3schools.com" has the URL: http://www.w3schools.com/images/boat.gif.
The browser displays the image where the <img> tag occurs in the document. If you put an image tag between two paragraphs, the browser shows the first paragraph, then the image, and then the second paragraph.

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HTML Images - The Alt Attribute

The required alt attribute specifies an alternate text for an image, if the image cannot be displayed.
The value of the alt attribute is an author-defined text:

<img src="smiley.gif" alt="Smiley face">

The alt attribute provides alternative information for an image if a user for some reason cannot view it (because of slow connection, an error in the src attribute, or if the user uses a screen reader).

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HTML Images - Set Height and Width of an Image

The height and width attributes are used to specify the height and width of an image.
The attribute values are specified in pixels by default:

<img src="smiley.gif" alt="Smiley face" width="42" height="42">

Tip: It is a good practice to specify both the height and width attributes for an image. If these attributes are set, the space required for the image is reserved when the page is loaded. However, without these attributes, the browser does not know the size of the image. The effect will be that the page layout will change during loading (while the images load).

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Basic Notes - Useful Tips

Note: If an HTML file contains ten images - eleven files are required to display the page right. Loading images takes time, so my best advice is: Use images carefully.
Note: When a web page is loaded, it is the browser, at that moment, that actually gets the image from a web server and inserts it into the page. Therefore, make sure that the images actually stay in the same spot in relation to the web page, otherwise your visitors will get a broken link icon. The broken link icon is shown if the browser cannot find the image.

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More Examples

Let an image float to the left and to the right
How to let an image float to the left or right of a paragraph.
Make a hyperlink of an image
How to use an image as a link.
Create an image map
How to create an image map, with clickable regions. Each region is a hyperlink.

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HTML Image Tags

Tag	Description
<img>	Defines an image
<map>	Defines an image-map
<area>	Defines a clickable area inside an image-map