Course Outline

Offered by Networked Information Services

Instructor: (Contact: http://www.bu.edu/webcentral/help/)
Prerequisites: HTML: Introduction or equivalent knowledge. An account on people.bu.edu, or access to a site on www.bu.edu, is recommended.
2 hours (45 minutes lecture, 45 minutes hands-on exercises, 10-minute break)

Overview (10 minutes)

1. Forms are created using HTML tags.
2. Common uses for forms include communication, contact forms, surveys, registration forms, and order forms.
3. PonyExpress, BU's form processor, can send form information to an e-mail address, a web page, or a datafile on the server.

HTML form basics (15 minutes)

1. The <form> tag: Method ("Post" vs. "Get") and Action attributes
2. Text fields: tags and attributes
3. Checkbox and radio menus: tags and attributes
4. Selection menus: tags and attributes
5. Submit and reset buttons: tags and attributes

Hands-on exercise: Creating a basic form (15 minutes)

1. Add a <form> tag to a new web page.
2. Add a text box and text area to your form, then modify their attributes.
3. Add a checkbox and radio menu, then modify their attributes.
4. Add a select menu to your form. Experiment with its attributes.
5. Add a Submit and a Reset button.

PonyExpress: Special tags (10 minutes)

1. Sending output mail to an e-mail address
2. Indicating required fields
3. Specifying the order of fields in the output
4. Specifying a response page

Break: 10 minutes

Hands-on exercise: Making your form work with PonyExpress (15 minutes)

1. Connect to your practice site and download practice files.
2. Modify your form to send mail to an e-mail address.
3. Indicate which fields are required.
4. Specify the order in which the information will appear in the output message.
5. Specify the address of a response page visitors will see after submitting the form.
6. Upload and test your form online.

PonyExpress: Templates (10 minutes)

1. Optional for any form
2. Specifying the location of templates
3. Modifying an e-mail template
4. Overview of guestbook and datafile output

Hands-on exercise: Using PonyExpress e-mail templates (15 minutes)

1. Add special tags to your form to indicate the location of an e-mail template.
2. Modify the e-mail template included in your practice files to customize the format of the mail the form program will send.
3. Upload your form and test it online.

Supplementary material: Guestbook templates and datafiles (not covered during class)

To learn how to make templates for web output (guestbook) or to add datafile output, see the PonyExpress Templates page.