Question

I want to create a login form on a single HTML page to display with JQuery (I am new to the technology).

I am wondering whether I should use a <div> and hide/display it, or use a <form> and hide/display it. The info will be sent to a servlet with Ajax.

If I use a <div>, what should I use as a substitute for <input> available in forms?

If I use a <form>, I believe I have to provide an action, which is annoying, since I use a single page. Is there a way to dodge this issue?

What is the recommended login method to use in this case, <div> or <form>?

Answer 1

You should use the <form> tag because it is semantically correct (the users are filling out a login form).

You can let action="" on the form, and prevent the form from trying to submit with the onsubmit property:

$("form#myForm").submit(function() {
    // do your ajax here

    return false; // prevents the default action
});