do form elements have to be in a form to be valid?

[tk403]

For instance, can I have

<li><a href=#>Value of My Car</a><input type="text"></li>

But not within <form> tags?

The idea is that the <input> field would be filled in with data coming from the server, calculated from other places.

[Schmoopy]

I don't personally know, but just write the code, then upload it to the HTML validator here: http://validator.w3.org/

And it should say whether it's valid or not.

Edit: Pretty sure it's valid, just made a mock-up version but the validator didn't pick it up as an error.

Also make sure you end the <input> tag with a / like this: <input type="text"/> or W3 will tell you you have errors, using doctype XHTML Transitional anyway.

[tk403]

Thanks! Yeah I'll remember to close the tag too.

[Medyman]

The INPUT element defines a form control for the user to enter input. While INPUT is most useful within a FORM, HTML 4 allows INPUT in any block-level or inline element other than BUTTON. However, old browsers such as Netscape 4.x will not display any INPUT elements outside of a FORM.

http://htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/forms/input.html