How can you avoid form submission errors?

1 Validate input data

One of the main sources of form submission errors is invalid input data. This can happen when users enter incorrect, incomplete, or malicious data in your form fields. To prevent this, you should validate the input data before sending it to the server. Validation can be done on the client-side using HTML attributes, CSS pseudo-classes, and JavaScript events. For example, you can use the required, pattern, and min attributes to specify the rules for your input fields. You can also use the :invalid and :valid pseudo-classes to style your input fields based on their validity. And you can use the onsubmit event to check the validity of the form before submitting it.

2 Handle server errors

Another source of form submission errors is server errors. These can happen when your server is down, overloaded, or unable to process the request. To handle these errors, you should use a try-catch block in your server-side code and send a meaningful response to the client. You should also use the status code and the status text properties of the XMLHttpRequest object to check the status of the response on the client-side. For example, you can use the 200 status code to indicate a successful response and the 500 status code to indicate a server error. You can also use the alert or console.log methods to display the status text on the client-side.

3 Prevent multiple submissions

A third source of form submission errors is multiple submissions. This can happen when users click the submit button more than once, refresh the page, or use the back button. To prevent this, you should disable the submit button after the first click, use a nonce or a token to verify the uniqueness of the request, and redirect the user to a confirmation page after the submission. Disabling the submit button can be done using the disabled attribute or the setAttribute method in JavaScript. Using a nonce or a token can be done using a hidden input field and a session variable. And redirecting the user can be done using the header or the location methods in PHP or JavaScript.

4 Provide feedback and confirmation

A fourth way to avoid form submission errors is to provide feedback and confirmation to the user. Feedback and confirmation can help the user understand what is happening, what is expected, and what is achieved. Feedback and confirmation can be provided using various elements and techniques, such as progress bars, spinners, messages, modals, and notifications. For example, you can use a progress bar to show the percentage of completion, a spinner to show the loading state, a message to show the error or success status, a modal to show the details or options, and a notification to show the outcome or action.

5 Test and debug your code

A final way to avoid form submission errors is to test and debug your code. Testing and debugging can help you identify and fix any bugs, errors, or issues in your code. Testing and debugging can be done using various tools and methods, such as browsers, validators, inspectors, consoles, breakpoints, and logs. For example, you can use the browser to view and interact with your web application, the validator to check the syntax and semantics of your HTML and CSS code, the inspector to examine and modify the DOM and the styles, the console to execute and monitor the JavaScript code, the breakpoint to pause and resume the execution, and the log to record and track the events and errors.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?