Justin wrote:
> I'm trying to decide on a nice semantic way to mark-up a short (usually
> only a few words) block of help text in the context of a web form.
The <label> element can contain inline elements (like <input />). So you can wrap it
around the <input> in your example and perhaps remove the <p> from the help text to
include it as well:
<form...>
<div class="formitem">
<label for="f-title">Label: <input id="f-title" type="text... />
Helpful text goes here
</label>
</div>
</form>
This way, the help text is associated with the relevant form control.
Owen
-----Original Message-----
From: Justin French [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 22 July 2004 15:25
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [WSG] semantic way to mark up form help?
Hi all,
I'm trying to decide on a nice semantic way to mark-up a short (usually
only a few words) block of help text in the context of a web form. I
currently use a label to label the input, and a paragraph or div to
mark-up the help text:
<form...>
<div class='formitem'>
<label for='f-title'>...</label>
<input id='f-title' type='text'... />
<p class='help'>This is the title of your news post, which does not
accept HTML input</p>
</div>
</form>
But logic tells me that in the above example, the <p> help text is not
associated with the form widget or the label at all. The only way I
can see this being done is by including the help text in the label, but
this will restrict me in terms of layouts.
Honestly, the most logical way I can see to do this is to have them in
three cells of a table row, since at least they'll be associated in a
row. <fieldset>'s would also be nice, but they're intended for
groupings of form elements, and using them for each text input seems
like a load of bloat.
I've been looking at many examples of "correct, semantic forms", but
can't see anything like this out there.
TIA
---
Justin French
http://indent.com.au
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