[ HTML forms, add area on click ]

I'm not sure how to ask what I'm looking for to search how-tos. I am building a form and one of the entries requires users to list an appliance, its voltage, watts, amps, phase, etc.

I'd like a simple row with "X" columns providing the text areas for one appliance and then the ability to click a link to 'add another appliance' using jquery/html.

I like using placeholder text to save space on the page. I can get all this set up just fine for a single entry like 'name' however I don't know how to implement an 'add entry' row. All of the data is stored via PHP in MySQL.

So A: What is the name of this type of form section. B: What is it called when we want to let the user add a row to this section?

I love making things harder than they really are. It's my specialty. I guess :)

EDIT: http://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_form_submit Using this format with 5 columns per entry (though it will all be on one line/row) I'd like to have an "add entry" link which generates a new blank entry option.

#elecNeeds input[type=text], textarea {
font-size: 12px;
font-style: italic; 
width: 15%;
height: 20px;
padding: 10px;  
color: #212323;
background: #E3E3E3;  
background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
border: 2px #000 solid;
margin-bottom: 10px;
position: relative;
behavior: url(/js/PIE.htc);

    }

    <div id="elecNeeds">
    <input type="text" name="appliance" placeholder="Type of Equipment">
    <input type="text" name="voltage" placeholder="Voltage">
    <input type="text" name="watts" placeholder="Watts">
    <input type="text" name="amps" placeholder="Phase">
    <input type="text" name="notes" placeholder="Notes">
    <br />  Add an appliance
    </div>

Answer 1

I don't know what's it called, but you probably want this - http://jsfiddle.net/uPWkf/1/

<form method="post" action="#" id="myForm">
    <div id="nameFields">
        <label>Watt <input type="text" name="watt0" /></label>
        <label>Volt <input type="text" name="volt0" /></label>
        <label>Amp <input type="text" name="amp0" /></label><br/><br />
    </div>
    <input type="submit" value="submit" id="submit" />
</form>
<a href="#" onclick="return false;" id="addRow">Add New Row</a>

and the JS

var i = 1;

$("#addRow").click(function() {
    $("#nameFields").append('<label>Watt <input type="text" name="watt' + i + '" /></label><label>Volt <input type="text" name="volt' + i + '" /></label><label>Amp <input type="text" name="amp' + i + '" /></label><br/><br />');

    i++;
});


$('#myForm').submit(function() {
    var values = $('#myForm').serialize();
    alert(values);
});

Answer 2

I think You need to use $(selector).append('<code>'); function. For example:

<a href="#" class="add">Add</a>
<table class="my_fuits">
    <tr>
        <td>Fruit</td>
        <td><input type="text" name="fuits[]" /></td>
    </tr>
</table>

and js(jQuery) code:

$(document).ready(function(){

    // add one more row
    $(".add").live('click',function(){
        $(".my_fuits").append('<tr><td>Fruit '+$(".my_fruits input").length+'</td><td><input type="text" name="fuits[]" />[<a href="#" class="remove">X</a>]</td></tr>');
        return false;
    });

    //  remove row
    $(".remove").live('click',function(){
            $(this).parent().parent().remove();
            return false;
    });
});