HTML Button — Types, Attributes, and Common Patterns

<!-- Standard form submit button -->
<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
  <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" />
  <input name="email" type="email" required />

  <!-- type="submit" is the default for buttons inside a form -->
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

<!-- Button that doesn't submit a form (for JS handlers) -->
<button type="button" onclick="alert('Clicked!')">
  Click me
</button>

<!-- Button with custom action via formaction (HTML5) -->
<form action="/api/save" method="POST">
  <input name="content" />
  <button type="submit">Save</button>
  <button type="submit" formaction="/api/publish">Publish</button>
</form>

<!-- Disabled button -->
<button type="submit" disabled>Sending…</button>

Use `<button>` over `<input type="submit">`. Same functional behavior, but `<button>` can contain rich HTML (icons, spans for styling, accessible labels) while `<input>` is restricted to a `value` attribute. Modern conventions universally prefer the `<button>` element.

The `type` attribute decides the button's behavior inside a form. `type="submit"` (the default) triggers form submission. `type="reset"` clears all form fields back to their initial values. `type="button"` does nothing by default — use it when you want a JavaScript-only action without triggering submit.

The default type for a button inside a form is `submit`. This trips up developers: a button that says 'Show more' that's inside a form, without `type="button"`, will accidentally submit the form when clicked. Always set `type="button"` explicitly for non-submit buttons.

HTML5 added the `formaction`, `formenctype`, `formmethod`, `formnovalidate`, and `formtarget` attributes that let an individual submit button override the form's corresponding attributes. Useful for forms with multiple submit destinations (Save Draft vs Publish), or a 'Save without validation' option.

<button> over <input>. Set type explicitly. Disable during async submit.