Do most people understand what * means when filling online forms

You could also use forms that display a "help box" next to the currently selected text box that your visitors are going to fill in.

Like for example when the come to the area where the need to fill in their email it would say "eMail is required".
For examples on what I mean, use the weebly.com built in forms to see for yourself, they are very user friendly. =)

 

I never suggested leaving it out, just wondering if everyone that see's an asterix understands what it means near form fields.

 

I can suggest one thing which may be really useful, when dealing with the asterisks.

Add some onclick :

• When a user clicks on the asterisk, a popup window appears, with all the info needed
• When a user clicks on the same, it'll just automatically scrool down to the explanation (don't forget a "back to top" button)

Or some onmouseover hover) :

• When a user hovers the asterisk, a popup window appears, with all the info needed
• Or something 4th, dunno what to put (out of ideas)

You can also add some cursor: help; for both.

Hope it helps