HTML Form Controls
There are different types of form controls that you can use to collect data using HTML form:
Text Input Controls
Checkboxes Controls
Radio Box Controls
Select Box Controls
File Select boxes
Hidden Controls
Clickable Buttons
Submit and Reset Button
Text Input Controls
There are three types of text input used on forms:
Single-line text input controls - This control is used for items that require only one line of user
input, such as search boxes or names. They are created using HTML <input> tag.
Password input controls - This is also a single-line text input but it masks the character as soon as a
user enters it. They are also created using HTMl <input> tag.
Multi-line text input controls - This is used when the user is required to give details that may be
longer than a single sentence. Multi-line input controls are created using HTML <textarea> tag.
Single-line text input controls
This control is used for items that require only one line of user input, such as search boxes or names. They are
created using HTML <input> tag.
Example
Here is a basic example of a single-line text input used to take first name and last name:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Text Input Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form >
First name: <input type="text" name="first_name" />
<br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="last_name" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
First name:
Last name:
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <input> tag for creating text field.
Attribute
Description
type
Indicates the type of input control and for text input control it will be set
to text.
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
value
This can be used to provide an initial value inside the control.
size
Allows to specify the width of the text-input control in terms of
characters.
maxlengt
h
Allows to specify the maximum number of characters a user can enter
into the text box.
Password input controls
This is also a single-line text input but it masks the character as soon as a user enters it. They are also created
using HTML <input> tag but type attribute is set to password.
Example
Here is a basic example of a single-line password input used to take user password:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Password Input Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form >
User ID : <input type="text" name="user_id" />
<br>
Password: <input type="password" name="password" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
User ID :
Password:
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <input> tag for creating password field.
Attribute
Description
type
Indicates the type of input control and for password input control it will
be set to password.
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
value
This can be used to provide an initial value inside the control.
size
Allows to specify the width of the text-input control in terms of
characters.
maxlengt
h
Allows to specify the maximum number of characters a user can enter
into the text box.
Multiple-Line Text Input Controls
This is used when the user is required to give details that may be longer than a single sentence. Multi-line
input controls are created using HTML <textarea> tag.
Example
Here is a basic example of a multi-line text input used to take item description:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Multiple-Line Input Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
Description : <br />
<textarea rows="5" cols="50" name="description">
Enter description here...
</textarea>
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
Description :
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <textarea> tag.
Attribut
e
Description
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
rows
Indicates the number of rows of text area box.
cols
Indicates the number of columns of text area box
Checkbox Control
Checkboxes are used when more than one option is required to be selected. They are also created using
HTML <input> tag but type attribute is set to checkbox.
Example
Here is an example HTML code for a form with two checkboxes:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Checkbox Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type="checkbox" name="maths" value="on"> Maths
<input type="checkbox" name="physics" value="on"> Physics
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
Maths
Physics
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <checkbox> tag.
Attribut
e
Description
type
Indicates the type of input control and for checkbox input control it will
be set to checkbox.
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
value
The value that will be used if the checkbox is selected.
checked
Set to checked if you want to select it by default.
Radio Button Control
Radio buttons are used when out of many options, just one option is required to be selected. They are also
created using HTML <input> tag but type attribute is set to radio.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with two radio buttons:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Radio Box Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type="radio" name="subject" value="maths"> Maths
<input type="radio" name="subject" value="physics"> Physics
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
Maths
Physics
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for radio button.
Attribut
e
Description
type
Indicates the type of input control and for checkbox input control it will
be set to radio.
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
value
The value that will be used if the radio box is selected.
checked
Set to checked if you want to select it by default.
Select Box Control
A select box, also called drop down box which provides option to list down various options in the form of
drop down list, from where a user can select one or more options.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with one drop down box
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Select Box Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<select name="dropdown">
<option value="Maths" selected>Maths</option>
<option value="Physics">Physics</option>
</select>
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
Physics
Attributes
Following is the list of important attributes of <select> tag:
Attribut
e
Description
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
size
This can be used to present a scrolling list box.
multiple
If set to "multiple" then allows a user to select multiple items from the
menu.
Following is the list of important attributes of <option> tag:
Attribut
e
Description
value
The value that will be used if an option in the select box box is selected.
selected
Specifies that this option should be the initially selected value when the
page loads.
label
An alternative way of labeling options
File Upload Box
If you want to allow a user to upload a file to your web site, you will need to use a file upload box, also
known as a file select box. This is also created using the <input> element but type attribute is set to file.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with one file upload box:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>File Upload Box</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type="file" name="fileupload" accept="image/*" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce following result:
Attributes
Following is the list of important attributes of file upload box:
Attribut
e
Description
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server to be
recognized and get the value.
accept
Specifies the types of files that the server accepts.
Button Controls
There are various ways in HTML to create clickable buttons. You can also create a clickable button using
<input> tag by setting its type attribute tobutton. The type attribute can take the following values:
Type
Description
submi
t
This creates a button that automatically submits a form.
reset
This creates a button that automatically resets form controls to their initial
values.
button
This creates a button that is used to trigger a client-side script when the user
clicks that button.
image
This creates a clickable button but we can use an image as background of the
button.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with three types of buttons:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>File Upload Box</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" />
<input type="reset" name="reset" value="Reset" />
<input type="button" name="ok" value="OK" />
<input type="image" name="imagebutton" src="/html/images/logo.png" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
Hidden Form Controls
Hidden form controls are used to hide data inside the page which later on can be pushed to the server. This
control hides inside the code and does not appear on the actual page. For example, following hidden form is
being used to keep current page number. When a user will click next page then the value of hidden control
will be sent to the web server and there it will decide which page has be displayed next based on the passed
current page.
Example
Here is example HTML code to show the usage of hidden control:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>File Upload Box</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<p>This is page 10</p>
<input type="hidden" name="pagename" value="10" />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" />
<input type="reset" name="reset" value="Reset" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
