How to make an HTML form work on a static page

Why the form does nothing

A form submission is an HTTP request to the address in action. On a static host there is no program at that address — only files — so the request fails (often 405 Method Not Allowed) or reloads the page. JavaScript in the page can collect the values, but it has nowhere to store them that you can see.

Option 1 — A form backend (recommended)

Copy<form action="https://formspree.io/f/YOUR_ID" method="POST">
  <input name="email" type="email" required placeholder="Your email">
  <textarea name="message" required></textarea>
  <button>Send</button>
</form>

Sign up, create a form, paste its endpoint into action, and submissions arrive by email and in a dashboard. Most services include spam filtering and a free tier of around 50 submissions a month.

Option 2 — Straight into Google Sheets

Create a Sheet → Extensions → Apps Script, add a doPost(e) function that appends e.parameter values as a row, deploy it as a web app ("Anyone" can access) and use the web-app URL as the form action (or fetch() it with mode: "no-cors"). Free and you own the data; set-up takes ten minutes.

Option 3 — Embed a Google Form

Build the form in Google Forms and paste its Send → <> embed iframe into your page. Zero code, but it looks like Google Forms.

Option 4 — mailto: (simplest, least reliable)

<form action="mailto:you@example.com" method="post" enctype="text/plain"> opens the visitor's email app with the fields filled in. It only works if they have a mail app configured — fine for internal pages, poor for public ones.

Quizzes and calculators do not need a backend

If the form only calculates or scores something on the page — a quiz, a price calculator, a BMI tool — prevent the submit and handle it in JavaScript (form.addEventListener('submit', e => { e.preventDefault(); … })). Everything stays in the browser and works perfectly on static hosting.