Internet users vary in experience from novice to seasoned regarding their online skills. In addition, their technical knowledge is equally varied. Regardless of a
person's skill set or knowledge, there is something that everyone who has ever been online has done at some point in time. In fact, this is something
that a vast majority of internet users do every time they get online: fill out forms.TIP: If you hover over the 'submit' button on a form, you should be able to see a small information box pop up with the email address of the form recipient. This box usually appears in the lower left corner of your screen.
At first glance, this topic may seem mundane or elementary, but just be careful to not take for granted this widespread, essential internet tool. It is easy to internalize a quick, seemingly innocuous activity when it is repeated sometimes several times daily. We view it as a necessary function of the internet, which by now has become a central source of activity for many people. This universal act of using forms is at least one way every individual user online can share an experience.
"...right themselves by abolishing the forms"
- Thomas Jefferson
Do you ever think about what happens when you put information, even something as routine as a login ID, on the internet? What about more sensitive information, such as a social security number, your address, or the names of your children? When it comes to moving information on the internet, the method, whatever it may be, must be trusted to protect that information. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to use the system (in this case, forms) at all, and the best protection might in fact be to abolish the system altogether.
TIP: Look to see that the web address for the form begins with "https". The 's' means 'secure'. While this may not be 100% effective, any site which has no 's' should alert you to not provide sensitive information.
When it comes to internet safety, it makes sense that egregious, hurtful activity be punished by law. In fact, the public demands it. The matter is so important that our government has dedicated an administrative branch to the subject.
The taxpayer-funded Federal Trade Commission (FTC) dedicates an entire department to the protection of computers and, specifically, the internet. The FTC Computer and Internet link details some of the ways that the organization watches out for such activity as internet scams, phishing, and tax related identity theft.
For more information, the FTC offers When it comes to internet safety, it makes sense that egregious, hurtful activity be punished by law. In fact, the public demands it. The matter is so important that our government has dedicated an administrative branch to the subject.
The taxpayer-funded Federal Trade Commission (FTC) dedicates an entire department to the protection of computers and, specifically, the internet. The FTC Computer and Internet link details some of the ways that the organization watches out for such activity as internet scams, phishing, and tax related identity theft.
as an online system to quickly and efficiently find helpful information about internet related crimes."It is present in the infinity of forms"
- Michael Jackson
When you began your online day, where did you log in first? Usually one of the first forms filled out every day is by people who have email, people who bank online, or people who shop online. Any time you sign up for any account online, whether it is a free account, such as
, or a commercial account, such as
, you use forms to
deliver information about yourself to another person, business, or entity. Forms are where the tires meet the road regarding the movement of
information on the internet.TIP: If you use the 'tab' key, you can jump forward from place to place within the form. If you go too far, hold the 'shift' key down, then tap your 'tab' key to go backward.
'Form' is such an innocent looking word. Short. Sweet. Descriptive. But are forms themselves so plain? With just a bit of html learning, anyone can customize their own forms. With this in mind, there are about as many forms as there are people who create them. Depending on their use, forms span the spectrum from plain to elaborate.
Plain forms are usually login forms, requiring only an ID and password. They usually have one or two buttons, 'submit' and 'cancel'.
From there, the form may be built with any number of features, depending on the uses for the form. Elements such as radio buttons, drop-down boxes, text areas and check boxes create a precise information gathering environment for the recipient of the data provided. It is common for online forms such as job applications to utilize a complex variety of these elements in order to gather and organize information in a recognizable and useful way. Rest assured that no matter how complex and frustrating a form can be to fill out, it was probably much more frustrating for the web designer to create!"The most anarchical of all forms"
- George Orwell
Surely in this digital rogue world of crime and malice there lie populations of bandits devoid of law and order. Anonymous forums are, in my opinion, the "most anarchical of all forms," followed closely by chat rooms, with open social forums not far behind.
TIP: If you know what selections are in a drop down box, press the first letter of the selection when you are on the selection area. This is helpful if you want to enter your state, for example. If there is more than one selection with the same starting letter, pressing the letter again will toggle you through the choices.
While formality and regularity may come to mind when we think of online forms, another set of words may define how we interact on the internet in socially personal ways. An even different set of words can describe interaction in an anonymous forum, like
. And still another set of words may be employed when we use specialized social media, such as
.
Whether the reason for using a form online is the formality of completing an application, or as informal as socializing with your friends on 
, the relay of this information still takes place in the form of, well, a form! If you have not thought of these things for awhile, or if you never knew any of this information to begin with, remember this article the next time you log into your email. That simple little box with a couple of form elements has more power than just about any other tool on the internet.
Stephen L. Wilson
Smashwords Author/Publisher
Smashwords Home Page
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@wilsonstephenl
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