I'm new to HTML and I'm trying to learn how to use forms.
The biggest issue I am having so far is aligning the forms. Here is an example of my current HTML file:
<form>
First Name:<input type="text" name="first"><br />
Last Name:<input type="text" name="last"><br />
Email:<input type="text" name="email"><br />
</form>
The problem with this is, the field box after 'Email' is drastically different in terms of spacing compared to first, and last name. What is the 'proper' way to make it so that they 'line-up' essentially?
I am trying to practice good form and syntax...a lot of people might do this with CSS I am not sure, I have only learned the very basics of HTML so far.
The accepted answer (setting an explicit width in pixels) makes it hard to make changes, and breaks when your users use a different font size. Using CSS tables, on the other hand, works great:
form { display: table; }
p { display: table-row; }
label { display: table-cell; }
input { display: table-cell; }
<form>
<p>
<label for="a">Short label:</label>
<input id="a" type="text">
</p>
<p>
<label for="b">Very very very long label:</label>
<input id="b" type="text">
</p>
</form>
Here's a JSFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/DaS39/1/
And if you need the labels right-aligned, just add text-align: right to the labels: http://jsfiddle.net/DaS39/
EDIT: One more quick note: CSS tables also let you play with columns: for example, if you want to make the input fields take as much space as possible, you can add the following in your form
<div style="display: table-column;"></div>
<div style="display: table-column; width:100%;"></div>
you may want to add white-space: nowrap to the labels in that case.
Another example, this uses CSS, I simply put the form in a div with the container class. And specified that input elements contained within are to be 100% of the container width and not have any elements on either side.
.container {
width: 500px;
clear: both;
}
.container input {
width: 100%;
clear: both;
}
<html>
<head>
<title>Example form</title>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<form>
<label>First Name</label>
<input type="text" name="first"><br />
<label>Last Name</label>
<input type="text" name="last"><br />
<label>Email</label>
<input type="text" name="email"><br />
</form>
</div>
</body>
</html>
A simple solution for you if you're new to HTML, is just to use a table to line everything up.
<form>
<table>
<tr>
<td align="right">First Name:</td>
<td align="left"><input type="text" name="first" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right">Last Name:</td>
<td align="left"><input type="text" name="last" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right">Email:</td>
<td align="left"><input type="text" name="email" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
I find it far easier to change the display of the labels to inline-block and set a width
label {
display: inline-block;
width: 100px;
text-align: right;
}
<form>
<label>First Name:</label><input type="text" name="first" /><br />
<label>Last Name:</label><input type="text" name="last" /><br />
<label>Email:</label><input type="text" name="email" /><br />
</form>
You should use a table. As a matter of logical structure the data is tabular: this is why you want it to align, because you want to show that the labels are not related solely to their input boxes but also to each other, in a two-dimensional structure.
[consider what you would do if you had string or numeric values to display instead of input boxes.]
For this, I prefer to keep a correct HTML semantic, and to use a CSS simple as possible.
Something like this would do the job :
label{
display: block;
float: left;
width : 120px;
}
One drawback however : you might have to pick the right label width for each form, and this is not easy if your labels can be dynamic (I18N labels for instance).
using css
.containerdiv label {
float:left;
width:25%;
text-align:right;
margin-right:5px; /* optional */
}
.containerdiv input {
float:left;
width:65%;
}
this give you something like:
label1 |input box |
another label |another input box |
I'm a big fan of using definition lists.
They're easy to style using CSS, and they avoid the stigma of using tables for layout.
<dl>
<dt>Username:</dt>
<dd><input type="text" name="username" /></dd>
<dt>Password:</dt>
<dd><input type="password" name="password" /></dd>
</dl>
It also can be done using CSS and without tables or floats or fixed lengths by changing the content direction to rtl and then back to ltr, but the labels must go after each input.
To avoid this markup reordering, just set the label's text in a data-* attribute and show it using an ::after pseudo-element. I think it becomes much clearer.
Here is an example setting the label's text in a custom attribute called data-text and showing them using the ::after pseudo-element, so we don't mess with markup while changing direction to rtl and ltr :
form
{
display: inline-block;
background-color: gold;
padding: 6px;
}
label{
display: block;
direction: rtl;
}
input{
direction: ltr;
}
label::after{
content: attr(data-text);
}
<form>
<label data-text="First Name">
<input type="text" />
</label>
<label data-text="Last Name">
<input type="text" />
</label>
<label data-text="E-mail">
<input type="text" />
</label>
</form>
Clément's answer is by far the best. Here's a somewhat improved answer, showing different possible alignments, including left-center-right aligned buttons:
label {
padding-right: 8px;
}
.FAligned,
.FAlignIn {
display: table;
}
.FAlignIn {
width: 100%;
}
.FRLeft,
.FRRight,
.FRCenter {
display: table-row;
white-space: nowrap;
}
.FCLeft,
.FCRight,
.FCCenter {
display: table-cell;
}
.FRLeft,
.FCLeft,
.FILeft {
text-align: left;
}
.FRRight,
.FCRight,
.FIRight {
text-align: right;
}
.FRCenter,
.FCCenter,
.FICenter {
text-align: center;
}
<form class="FAligned">
<div class="FRLeft">
<p class="FRLeft">
<label for="Input0" class="FCLeft">Left:</label>
<input id="Input0" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Left Left Left" class="FILeft" />
</p>
<p class="FRLeft">
<label for="Input1" class="FCRight">Left Right Left:</label>
<input id="Input1" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Left Right Left" class="FILeft" />
</p>
<p class="FRRight">
<label for="Input2" class="FCLeft">Right Left Left:</label>
<input id="Input2" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Right Left Left" class="FILeft" />
</p>
<p class="FRRight">
<label for="Input3" class="FCRight">Right Right Left:</label>
<input id="Input3" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Right Right Left" class="FILeft" />
</p>
<p class="FRLeft">
<label for="Input4" class="FCLeft">Left Left Right:</label>
<input id="Input4" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Left Left Right" class="FIRight" />
</p>
<p class="FRLeft">
<label for="Input5" class="FCRight">Left Right Right:</label>
<input id="Input5" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Left Right Right" class="FIRight" />
</p>
<p class="FRRight">
<label for="Input6" class="FCLeft">Right Left Right:</label>
<input id="Input6" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Right Left Right" class="FIRight" />
</p>
<p class="FRRight">
<label for="Input7" class="FCRight">Right:</label>
<input id="Input7" type="text" size="30" placeholder="Right Right Right" class="FIRight" />
</p>
<p class="FRCenter">
<label for="Input8" class="FCCenter">And centralised is also possible:</label>
<input id="Input8" type="text" size="60" placeholder="Center in the centre" class="FICenter" />
</p>
</div>
<div class="FAlignIn">
<div class="FRCenter">
<div class="FCLeft"><button type="button">Button on the Left</button></div>
<div class="FCCenter"><button type="button">Button on the Centre</button></div>
<div class="FCRight"><button type="button">Button on the Right</button></div>
</div>
</div>
</form>
I added some padding on the right of all labels (padding-right:8px) just to make the example slight less horrible looking, but that should be done more carefully in a real project (adding padding to all other elements would also be a good idea).
The traditional method is to use a table.
However, many would argue that tables are restricting and prefer CSS. The benefit of using CSS is that you could use various elements. From divs, ordered and un-ordered list, you could accomplish the same layout.
In the end, you'll want to use what you're most comfortable with.
Hint: Tables are easy to get started with.
Example:
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
First Name:
</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="first">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Last Name:
</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="last">
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I know this has already been answered, but I found a new way to align them nicely - with an extra benefit - see http://www.gargan.org/en/Web_Development/Form_Layout_with_CSS/
basically you use the label element around the input and align using that and then with css you simply align:
label {
display: block;
position: relative;
}
label span {
font-weight: bold;
position: absolute;
left: 3px;
}
label input,
label textarea,
label select {
margin-left: 120px;
}
<label><span>Name</span> <input /></label>
<label><span>E-Mail</span> <input /></label>
<label><span>Comment</span> <textarea></textarea></label>
you do not need any messy br lying around for linebreaks - meaning you can quickly accomplish a multi-column layout dynamically
the whole line is click-able. Especially for checkboxes this is a huge help.
Dynamically showing/hiding form lines is easy (you just search for the input and hide its parent -> the label)
you can assign classes to the whole label making it show error input much clearer (not only around the input field)
Well for the very basics you can try aligning them in the table. However the use of table is bad for layout since table is meant for contents.
What you can use is CSS floating techniques.
.styleform label{float:left;}
.styleform input{margin-left:200px;} /* this gives space for the label on the left */
.styleform .clear{clear:both;} /* prevent elements from stacking weirdly */
<div class="styleform">
<form>
<label>First Name:</label><input type="text" name="first" />
<div class="clear"></div>
<label>Last Name:</label><input type="text" name="first" />
<div class="clear"></div>
<label>Email:</label><input type="text" name="first" />
<div class="clear"></div>
</form>
</div>
An elaborate article I wrote can be found answering the question of IE7 float problem: IE7 float right problems
Insert input tags inside an unordered lists.Make the style-type none.
Here's an example.
<ul>
Input1
<li> <input type="text" />
Input2
<li> <input type="text" />
<ul/>
Worked for me !
The CSS I used to solve this problem, similar to Gjaa but styled better
It's very simple, and I'm just beginning, but it worked quite nicely
Here is my CSS and HTML, used specifically for a simple registration form with no php code
p {
text-align: center;
}
.styleform label {
float: left;
width: 40%;
text-align: right;
}
.styleform input {
float: left;
width: 30%;
}
<form id="registration">
<h1>Register</h1>
<div class="styleform">
<fieldset id="inputs">
<p><label>Name:</label>
<input id="name" type="text" placeholder="Name" autofocus required>
</p>
<p><label>Email:</label>
<input id="email" type="text" placeholder="Email Address" required>
</p>
<p><label>Username:</label>
<input id="username" type="text" placeholder="Username" autofocus required>
</p>
<p>
<label>Password:</label>
<input id="password" type="password" placeholder="Password" required>
</p>
</fieldset>
<fieldset id="actions">
</fieldset>
</div>
<p>
<input type="submit" id="submit" value="Register">
</p>
</form>
<form>
<div>
<label for='username'>UserName</label>
<input type='text' name='username' id='username' value=''>
</div>
</form>
In the CSS you have to declare both label and input as display: inline-block and give width according to your requirements. Hope this will help you. :)
Simply add
<form align="center ></from>
Just put align in opening tag.
I tried many times that google give me answers, but, It not working... Someone help?
I tried:
<input type="text" height="10">
<input type="text" style="min-height: 10px;">
use this style to height the input element
input {
height:50px;
}
<input type="text" placeholder="Enter Text Here"/>
Try This
<input type="text" style="height:10px;">
This code you wrote <input type="text" style="min-height: 10px;"> - does work actually. it just won't go to min-height you stated because inside the font for the text is bigger. If you maintain the font correlated with the input height it will work.
This example works if you make the font size smaller.
<input type="text" style="min-height: 5px; font-size: 4px;">
It is not height its size.
If you want in the way you questioned.Something like this help
<input type="text" size="10">
<input type="text" size="10px">
Just have a quick question, I am working on a website and as you can see I have created a few input fields. Ideally I wanted all my input fields to be skewed to the far right, which they are. Unfortunately, they are overly bunched without much padding. I've tried to add a class to my input fields and add appropriate padding via the CSS, but I've only managed managed to get them to go all to the far right.
So my question is, what do I need to add so my input fields are to the far right AND spaced appropriately?
<form action="demo_form.asp">
First Name: <input type="text" name="fname" class="test" required>
<br>Last Name: <input type="text" name="lname" class="test" required>
<br>Contact Me By:
<select name="contactuser" form="carform" class="test"">
<option value="email">Email</option>
<option value="phone">Phone</option>
</select>
<br>Email: <input type="text" name="email" class="test" required>
<br>Phone: <input type="text" name="phone" class="test" required>
<br>Zip Code: <input type="text" name="zipcode" class="test" required>
<br>
<input type="submit">
CSS
.test {
position: absolute;
right: 0;
}
You need to apply a margin.
input{
margin: 5px;
}
CODEPEN DEMO
line-height seems to be the precise way if you don't want to mess with changing anything.
You can just call the form in the CSS and add the line-height there or give the form a class and do the same which will be better
form {
line-height: 30px;
}
This is what i tested with and it spaced things out:
Fiddle - https://jsfiddle.net/20LcL21k/1/
I would use
http://materializecss.com/forms.html
Or bootstrap, but material have such a nice way of doing forms
I'm creating a form for my website and have the following piece of code for the enter message part of my code. I want to change the height for this input box only but am unsure how to do it.
I would prefer to change the height in the html code rather than CSS if possible.
Thanks :)
<p>
<label for="from">Your message:</label>
<br />
<input type="text" name="message" id="message" value="type your message..." maxlength="40" size="40" onclick="this.value=''"/>
</p>
I have tried doing:
<p>
<label for="from">Your message:</label>
<br />
<input type="text" name="message" id="message" value="type your message..." maxlength="40" width="40px" height="40px" onclick="this.value=''"/>
</p>
But this didn't work
A "text" input does not have a height or width attribute. Since you want to define the height in your HTML, you can use the style attribute. You use CSS rules as its value like this:
<input type="text" style="height: 40px;" />
According to the MDN article for <input>:
width
If the value of the type attribute is image, this attribute defines the width of the image displayed for the button.
The same description applies to height
Use CSS instead. Either inline (not preferred) style="height: 40px;" or
#message{ height: 40px; }
You can style text inputs like so with css
input[type=text] {
...
}
Without css you can use the style attribute like so
<input type="text" style="..."/>
If using text areas you can use the rows attribute to change the height of the element however this does not work with inputs
I have a site that I'm creating, part in static HTML, the other part is served via Django. Since I want the look and feel to remain the same (who doesn't?) I have used CSS for the static site. That same CSS I have included (almost successfully) in the dynamic site.
When I create a form, I can get a very nice two column listing on the static side
Label Input
Label Input
Label Input
But, when I do the same code on the dynamic side, it's not so nice
Label Input
Label Input
Label Input
The CSS I'm using is:
form.login label.fixedwidth {
display: block;
width: 240px;
float: left;
}
\.
Sorry, here's my form:
<form action="" method="post" class="login">
<fieldset>
<div>
<label for="username" class="fixedwidth">User name:</label>
<input type="text" name="username" value="" id="username">
</div>
<div>
<label for="password" class="fixedwidth">Password:</label>
<input type="password" name="password" value="" id="password">
</div>
<input type="submit" value="login" />
</fieldset>
</form>
[edit]
So, I noticed that my two 'input type' lines didn't close the tag (no '/'). But, no difference.
[/edit]
Try
clear:both; overflow: auto
on the surrounding DIV.
By the way, a <ul> with <li> s may be semantically more fitting than <div>s here. Won't make a difference in the output though.