forms

On the World Wide Web, facility for accepting structured user input and inserting it into a program such as a database. Most newer graphical Web browsers can handle forms, as can the older, text-based browser Lynx. Forms are needed to manage database queries at sites such as AltaVista, and to fill out registration forms for those sites that require them.

Web page designers implement forms by using a special set of hypertext markup language (HTML) tags and attaching a script, which parses the data and feeds it to the program specified in a form the program can use. The results, such as a user name and password or a list of matches, are sent back to the user.