HTML Form Attributes

11-25-24

This chapter describes the different attributes for the HTML <form> element.

The Action Attribute

The action attribute defines action to be performed when the form is submitted. Usually, the form data is sent to a file on the server when the user clicks on the submit button.

HTML Forms

If you click the "Submit" button, the form-data will be sent to a page called "/action_page.php".

Tip: If the action attribute is onitted, the action is set to the current page.

The Target Attribute

The target attribute specifies where to display the response that is received after submitting the form. The target attribute can have one of the following values:

Value	Description
_blank	The response is displayed in a new window or tab
_self	The response is displayed in the current window
_parent	The response is displayed in the parent frame
_top	The response is displayed in the full body of the window
framename	The response is displayed in a named iframe

The default value is _self which means that the response will open in the current window.

The form target attribute

When submitting this form, the result will be opened in a new browser tab:

The Method Attribute

The method attribute specifies the HTTP method to be used when submitting the form data. The form-data can be sent as URL variables (with method="get") or as HTTP post transaction (with method="post"). The default HTTP method when submitting form data is GET.

The method Attribute

This form will be submitted using the GET method:

After you submit, notice that the form values is visible in the address bar of the new browser tab.

The method Attribute

This form will be submitted using the GET method:

After you submit, notice that, unlike the GET method, the form values is NOT visible in the address bar of the new browser tab.

Notes on GET:

Appends the form data to the URL, in name/value pairs
NEVER use GET to send sensitive data!(the submitted form data is visible in the URL!)
The length of a URL is limited (2,048 characters)
Useful for form submissions where a user wants to bookmark the result
GET is good for non-secure data, like query strings in Google

Notes on POST:

Appends the form data inside the body of the HTTP request (the submitted form data is not shown in the URL)
POST has no size limitations, and can be used large amounts of data.
Form submissions with POST cannot be bookmarked

Tip: Always use POST if the form data contains sensitive or personal information!

The Autocomplete Attribute

The autocomplete attribute specifies whether a form should have autocomplete on or off. When autocomplete is on, the browser automatically complete values based on values that the user has entered before.

The form autocomplete attribute

Fill in and submit the form, then reload the page, start to fill in the form again - and see how autocomplete works.

Then, try to set autocomplete to "off".

The Novalidate Attribute

The novalidate attribute is a boolean attribute. When present, it specifies that the form-data (input) should not be validated when submitted.

The form novalidate attribute

The novalidate attribute indicates that the form input is not to be validated on submit: