Here's a form that demonstrates helpers to create a variety of form inputs:
<%= form_for(@review) do |f| %>
<%= f.error_messages %>
<p>
<%= f.label :name %><br />
<%= f.text_field :name %>
</p>
<p>
<%= f.label :clarity %><br />
Poor <%= f.radio_button :clarity, "1" %>
Good <%= f.radio_button :clarity, "2" %>
Excellent <%= f.radio_button :clarity, "3" %>
</p>
<p>
<%= f.label :soundness %><br />
<%= f.select :soundness, [['Unsatisfactory', 1],
['Marginal', 2],
['Satisfactory, 3],
['Good, 4],
['Excellent, 5]] %>
</p>
<p>
<%= f.label :genre %><br />
<%= f.select :genre, ['Comedy', 'Drama', 'Thriller'] %>
</p>
<p>
<%= f.check_box :late %> Late
</p>
<% end %>
The rails API provides documentation for model-based form helpers. This documentation presents helper examples where the model name is explicitly listed as the first argument. For example:
text_area(:post, :body, :cols => 20, :rows => 40)
where 'post' is the name of the object and 'body' is the name of the attribute. However, you are likely to use the helper this way:
<%= form_for(@post) do |f| %>
<%= f.label :body %><br />
<%= f.text_area :body, :cols => 20, :rows => 40 %>
<% end %>