Form Help

[nooksandniches]

Hi all, I am needing some guidance when it comes to making a form. Here is what I am going for:

I would like to create a form for my e-commerce store where customers can review their service. Ideally I would like them to be able to post and then read on the same page.

I am clueless when it comes to forms. Is this possible? Can you maybe point me in the direction of a good tutorial?

[netroact]

What language?

[mikmik]

nooksandniches, do you mean like a message board, forum, or blog?

[ADAM Web Design]

This is possible, and a fairly simple task. All you need are three things:

1) A form (thank me, Captain Obvious!).
2) A server-side programming language, such as ASP or PHP, to process the form.
3) Either a database to store the info in or an email address to send the info to (or both if you're feeling so inclined).

You have those three things, and you will have the tools required to build the form.

Now as far as the form itself and what to gather is concerned, that really depends on the store, the products, and what you'd like to know. Do you want reviews of product features? Do you want reviews of the delivery process? Price reviews? Quality reviews? Etc. and so on.

[paulhiles]

Agree with ADAMWebDesign's suggestions, and would like to add a fourth item to the list.. but maybe it should be right at the top. This is probably the most important aspect of the whole process; what are the actual requirements?

You need to list exactly what you expect the form to do (functionality). What information will need to be stored? (information capture). How will you ensure your data is captured in the appropriate format? (validation and error handling) The information required will inevitably determine the structure of your database.
How will the information be retrieved? What information will be public, which fields will you allow the user/customer to change? Then you can actually approach how to implement such a system (method). Did I mention the testing you'll need to do? I could go on... but I'm getting weary just thinking about it! :o)

A tall order? Maybe... but nothing that hasn't been done a hundred times over. Which is why folks have a tendency to go for ready-made solutions.

Paul