Changing from single page to multipage form

I assume PHP? Do I need to change the html page to PHP?

[brizad]

I have a 26 field form that I have been thinking of making multi-page so it doesn't look so intimidating to my clients.

Right now I just use a simple mailform.pl program and an html page. The multi-page form scripts that I have been able to find generally use PHP or JS. I don't know anything about either one so I am wondering how to proceed?

If I use a PHP form don't I have to change my page to /form.php instead of /form.html? I am concerned about how that will effect the search engines.

If I have to change to a PHP extension, can I just have the one PHP page and keep the rest of my HTML pages?

Wouldn't using a JS form be easier given the circumstance? I could just use an external JS file and keep the HTML page.

I read that JS forms allow you to go back and forth to other pages in the form without erasing all of your previously input info. (I hate to go back on page to change a field and it is all erased!)

Also it looks like the JS forms allow you to do some "if" variables. Like if a person picks "A" they get different fields than if they picked "B". This would really be helpful for my application. (Maybe PHP does this too?)

Thanks for your help!
B

[henry0]

I will use PHP
Keep in mind that some people do disable JS

you may also force and HTML doc to parse PHP
by adding in an " .htaccess " file

RemoveHandler .html .htm
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .htm .html

if you decide to go that route
then post in PHP forum

regards

Henry