How good a form builder are you ?

It also makes one wonder at what HTML Editor the form builder used that allows such coding errors to go unnoticed and uncorrected. It's also clear that many form builder creators don't check their page designs for W3C coding standards compliance. If they did, the errors their HTML Editor allows or creates, a good validator would find.

Of course designing the form and adding it to a webpage is just part of the challenge. The form is of no use without being connected to an autoresponder or a script that collects and processes the information that a visitor enters into the form.

The collection and processing of form entry details is also something that can create hidden problems the form builder may be completely unaware of. If the form code is not properly designed someone viewing the page source code can learn enough about the processing script you are using to hijack your form script.

When someone hijacks your form processing script what happens is that they start using it to send SPAM email. This means they can be using your web hosting resources and your form script to send 1000's of SPAM emails that come from your domain, without you even be aware of it.

The only time you are likely to find out this is happening is if you start getting complaints either from recipients of the SPAM, or from your web host who also receives complaints or becomes aware of the high volume of email you're sending.

It's a situation that can get your web hosting account suspended, your website taken down and leave you trying to prove your innocence with your web host.

Your choice of processing script can also have a big impact on how easy your form is to hijack. Many of the free form mail scripts available on the internet have big security holes which make them vulnerable to these types of hijacking attacks.

If you don't have any type of monitoring for hacker activity on your website you would never know how common this sort of hacker activity is. I for one did not believe how many people set out to deliberately find ways to hack into different areas of a web site until I started my own website monitoring.

In just one month after starting my own hacker monitoring I had scores of different people probing one of my sites for formmail a well used form processing script, that I don't even use.

If you were aware of all these factors and take steps to avoid them, you can count yourself as a good form builder. If not you may like to read the continuing part of this article about how to be a better form builder.

In the " better form builder guide " I cover form design and how to make your forms more attractive, in less time, be more functional and more secure.

Making Your Website Better for You