Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
Allie O.
11,601 PointsValue attribute in check boxes and radio buttons
I think I missed the description of the value attribute. Why are they needed for check boxes and radio buttons? And are they required?
Thanks!
1 Answer
Dave McFarland
Treehouse TeacherHi Allie O.
Values are REALLY important for checkboxes and radio buttons. Web forms are all about collecting information from users and sending that information to be processed by a web server (for example, storing the user's response in a database). The value property represents the information that will be sent to the server. Without it, the checkbox or radio button won't have any information to send, and the server won't have any data to store in the database for those fields.
With text fields, the value is supplied by the user typing into the field -- but users can't type a value into a radio button or checkbox, they can only pick one. So, for example, look at this HTML:
<input type="radio" name="vehicle" value="bike">I ride a bike to work
<input type="radio" name="vehicle" value="car">I drive a car to work
If the user checked the first button, "bike" would be submitted to the server as the value for "vehicle." A web server could then store that response in a database.
Allie O.
11,601 PointsAllie O.
11,601 PointsAh, it makes much more sense now. Thanks a lot for clearing it up!