Webforms, Give! Give! Give!
Personalizing your Internet Experience
Web forms are a major interactive link between you the web surfer and the Internet. The use of web forms may be required to fully personalize our Internet experience. It allows us to interact and share information on the world wide web, which may be required to take advantage of the many services and opportunities the Internet has to offer.
Show me the way to the forms!
Web forms can serve a variety of uses on the Internet They allow us to:
-
search for things using Search Engines.
-
compose web-based emails to our friends.
-
publish our thoughts on the Internet using guestbooks and electronic bulletin  boards.
-
order products from e-commerce websites.
-
contact organizations to give feedback (see the Center's website feedback form at the right).
-
contact customer service to inquire about our broken dishwasher.
In all of these cases, the web forms are used to gather information.
Comfortable use and understanding of forms will improve our interaction with the Internet. We will learn how to:
-
identify what a web form is.
-
identify different elements within a web form.
-
identify different types of web forms.
-
use a web form to interact with the world wide web.
How do I know it's a web form?
Web forms can take many shapes and sizes. They can be simple and complex. They can contain one text field for one bit of information, or can contain pages and pages of fields for lots of information. Below are some web form elements. You may test them out and practice freely; they will not submit any information.
What happens to the information you type in a web form?
We all know that web forms gather information. What these web forms do with the information will determine what kind of web form it is. Here are common examples of web forms you may find on the Internet:
Types of Web Forms
Email webform:
An email webform takes what you typed in the webform and sends it somewhere else. For example, the Email Massachusetts Senator John Kerry website or the Contact Senator Kennedy website (provided below) will send your opinions to the office of Senator John Kerry or Senator Edward Kennedy, respectively. The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Feedback Form (featured below) will send your feedback about the Center's website to their webmaster.
Search Webform:
Perhaps the most common use of a webform is to perform searches. Internet-wide search engines (ex: Google.com) as well as more specific search engines (ex: Bostonworks.com job search) take your keywords and provide matches from a database. We will discuss more about search engines during the lesson on Internet Searching.
CGI/Java webform:
The CGI/Java webform manipulates your information and provides an output depending on the data in their databases. These types of webforms give helpful information, including driving directions to and from anywhere in North America (ex: mapquest.com, featured below), and providing customized vacation quotes that depend on your dates and locations of travel (ex: expedia.com, featured below).
Hey, how did they get back to me so quickly?
Sometimes webforms have the ability to send an automated email response if you provide your email address in the form. This happens instantly, sometimes within seconds of hitting the submit button. The Recovery Center Introduction to the Internet Guestbook has this feature if you provide your email address; after submitting an entry, you will receive an email thanking you for the submission.
What will be done with my information?
Using the Internet may shield us from personal one on one interactions, but it doesn't hide our identities completely. The general rule of thumb is: never give any information that  you wouldn't normally write down on the subway station wall Information transferred over the Internet can often be seen by third parties. Sometimes, commerce companies will share or sell your mailing address or email address to other companies. Junk email is just as popular (maybe even more popular) as conventional junk mail. Some people feel comfortable sharing personal information. Some people may be willing to share personal information in exchange for a service (downloading free programs, registering with organizations, finding support, etc.). Some people are not comfortable sharing any information whatsoever. It is best to assess where you stand before giving out personal information. Surf smart. Don't give very personal information with a source you do not trust.Protected transactions with secure servers and credit cards are a slightly different story, which will be covered in a later lesson.
Web form examples
If you quench knowledge and information, below are links to some useful and interesting websites which use web forms.
Proceed to the next lesson: Email around the World...
Site and course content by Kevin Berner, edited by Lori Wallace and Donna Wilbur
|
