Stop form refreshing page on submit

Insight into halting form refresh

Regardless of form submissions, achieving desirable page behavior to enhance the user experience is indispensable. Disrupting form's default page refresh is crucial for constructing a seamless experience. This section covers various techniques and key aspects to master this art.

The might of event listeners

Default the first line of defence, attaching an event listener to a form's submit event:

const form = document.getElementById("myForm");
form.addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
  event.preventDefault(); // "Hold on form, refresh isn't your cup of tea"
  // Optional: Stuff in a function to process form data further
});
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• Stressing on the placement of this script, it should be either at the end of the body or executed after the DOM is fully loaded, failing to do so might result in unsuccessful procure of the form.
• Run a null check before adding the event listener as a best practice, in case the element doesn't exist.

Taking control with button element

Another effective approach might be switching out the submit button with a normal button. This allows more leeway in managing the submission procedure:

<form id="myForm">
  <!-- All the fancy fields -->
  <button type="button" id="submitForm">Submit</button>
  <!-- "Who needs a submit type, when you have me?" -->
</form>


document.getElementById('submitForm').addEventListener('click', submitForm);

function submitForm() {
  // Validate and process form data here
  // "I do what I want, when I want"
}


Using a button of type button simply challenges the traditional submit behavior.

Unleashing AJAX's potential

Predominantly for asynchronous data exchange between client and server, AJAX is a powerhouse for form submission:

$('#myForm').on('submit', function(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  $.ajax({
    type: 'POST',
    url: 'submit-path',
    data: $(this).serialize(), // Ready-to-go serialized form input for transmission
    success: function(response) {
      // React to a victorious response here
    }
  });
});


AJAX not only breathes life into form data and sends it to the server but also receives and handles a response in turn updating selective parts of your webpage.

Underlining form validation

Before hitting the road with form data, you might want to ensure it's all clean:

form.addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  if (validateForm()) {
    // Now ready to set out with AJAX or other methods
  }
});

function validateForm() {
  // Your validation procedures call this home
  return true; // False if deemed invalid
}


Remember:

• Validation checks prelude form submission.
• Great UX involves clear feedback on validation faults.

Tricky stumbling blocks and their solutions

Having faced a few roadblocks myself, here's a secret cheat sheet:

• If event.preventDefault() still feels refresh is within its territory, console inspection for errors should be your obvious rescue.
• Keep a check on event listeners at loggerheads with one another.
• Ensure no other scripts are attempting a coup against your event.preventDefault().