My First Design Challenge

[vangogh]

Most of the form I'm using are simple. I have the form itself on one page and end it to a thank you page which has the php logic that decides what to do with the info. I'll use javascript validation just to make things easier for the person filling out the form, which should keep them on the original page until things are filled out right.

I'll always validate on the server side too with php and in the thank you page if something doesn't validate it's easy to redirect people back to the original form while still populating all the fields. It's never more than 2 pages and relatively easy to maintain. I find having everything in one file requires adding more logic to get things to work.

[billbenson]

It's a style thing. I consider js the devil and avoid it if at all possible. Could be just because I don't know much js though I do notice that online bill payment sites tend to primarily validate server side only though. Dunno.

In any case, I never did get the server globals working on my pc under windows using php and mysql locally. I'll try it again on my Linux install and see if I can get that working. I can probably find more online support for that as well.

[vangogh]

Agreed. Either way can work. js is pretty cool. You can do a lot with it to enhance the user interface. Validation still needs to be done on the server though even if you use js validation. For security you have to validate on server side.

I wish I knew the answer to the global issue. I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to setting up servers. It's on the list though.