From Bugs to Breakthroughs

For Module 5, I created an IT Support Request Form using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The purpose of this assignment was to create my own HTML form and use JavaScript to validate and examine the information entered by the user. I decided to make an IT support form because it relates to my interests and provides a realistic example of how forms can be used on a website.

The form allows a user to enter their first and last name, email address, type of technical issue, priority level, and a description of their problem. I also included a checkbox asking the user to confirm that the information they entered is accurate. JavaScript is used to check each of these fields when the user clicks the submit button. If information is missing or entered incorrectly, the page displays a message explaining what needs to be corrected. Once all of the requirements are met, the user receives a message confirming that the request was successfully validated.

One challenge I experienced during this module was getting the new Module 5 page to work correctly on my live website. At first, the Module 5 button appeared on my homepage, but clicking it resulted in a 404 Not Found error. I initially checked whether the problem was related to browser caching and even tested the website in an Incognito window. After checking the files in my website’s File Manager, I found that the issue was related to the naming of the Module 5 HTML file. My previous module files used capitalized filenames, such as Module2.html, Module3.html, and Module4.html, while the new page was named module5.html. After changing the filename and updating the link so they matched correctly, the page loaded successfully.

This experience showed me that web development involves more than simply writing code. Small details such as filenames, capitalization, file locations, and links can determine whether a webpage works correctly. It also gave me more experience troubleshooting a website by testing different possibilities and narrowing down the cause of an error. Overall, this module helped me better understand how HTML forms and JavaScript validation work together while also improving my ability to troubleshoot problems when publishing files to a live web server.