how to set the return address on an email?

ShawnD

so far this is my page to contact me

<html>
<body bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<div align="center">
  <form action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF; ?>" method="POST">
  <table width="650" cellspacing="1">

<tr>
  <td>
    What is the topic of your concern?
  </td>
  <td>
    <input type="text" name="title" value="<?php echo $HTTP_POST_VARS['title']; ?>">
  </td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>
    What is your name?
  </td>

  <td>
    <input type="text" name="name" value="<?php echo $HTTP_POST_VARS['name']; ?>">
  </td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>
    What is your email address?
  </td>

  <td>
    <input type="text" name="email" value="<?php echo $HTTP_POST_VARS['email']; ?>">
  </td>
</tr>


<tr>
  <td valign="top">
    Post your concern here:
  </td>
  <td valign="top">
    <textarea rows="30" cols="50" name="message"><?php echo $HTTP_POST_VARS['message']; ?></textarea>
  </td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td>
  </td>
  <td>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="email now">
  </td>
</tr>

</form>
</div>

<?php

$body = $HTTP_POST_VARS['email']."
"."
".$HTTP_POST_VARS['message'];

$to = $_GET['to'];
$to = "shawnd@hotmail.com";

if (!empty($HTTP_POST_VARS['email']))
mail($to, $HTTP_POST_VARS['title'], $body)

?>

</body>
</html>

now to start off, this code does work with the mailing and the everyting like that..

now, how would i have the mail set itself to the email address which the client enters?
oh and when i get emails with things like ' or " they always show up as \' or \" and i know why but i dont know how to fix it... anybody know how to fix that one?

notice that shawnd@hotmail.com is NOT my real email address so don't bother trying to spam it :rolleyes:

Duey

these many reasons for your little " ' problems it can most likely be fixed by using htmlspecialchars()
or htmlentities()
as for your other problem lots of info here about the mail()

intenz

Uhm...

stripslashes();

And...

mail( 'to', 'subject', 'text', 'Return-Path: [email]foo@bar.com[/email]' );

You get the point?

ShawnD

i did something wrong here i guess because it doesn't set a return address

oh and where do i put stripslashes?

here is the code i have now... it doesn't remove the slashes (which isn't a big deal really)

<?php

$body = $HTTP_POST_VARS['name']."
".$HTTP_POST_VARS['email']."
"."
".$HTTP_POST_VARS['message'];

$return_path = $HTTP_POST_VARS['email'];

stripslashes($body);

$to = "shawndarichuk@hotmail.com";

if (!empty($HTTP_POST_VARS['name']))
mail($to,$HTTP_POST_VARS['title'],$body,'Return-Path: $return_path')

?>

philipolson

Instead of return path use From:

"From: foo@example.com"

And btw, this will NEVER work because of the single quote usage. Variables aren't parsed in single quotes.

print 'literally prints $foo';
print "but i print value of $foo";

ShawnD

when i have this, it works

mail($to,$HTTP_POST_VARS['title'],$body);

when i have this, it doesn't work

mail($to,$HTTP_POST_VARS['title'],$body,"From: $HTTP_POST_VARS['email']");

syntax problems?

philipolson

Yep, syntax problem, change it to:

mail($to,$HTTP_POST_VARS['title'],$body,"From: {$HTTP_POST_VARS['email']}");

There are several ways to use arrays in strings, the above is one of them. Or don't put it in the string and do:

mail($to,$HTTP_POST_VARS['title'],$body,"From: ". $HTTP_POST_VARS['email']);

BTW, you should validate the data and in the VERY least make sure it's not empty first.

ShawnD

you mean make sure there isn't an empty email address? oh i do 🙂

if (!empty($HTTP_POST_VARS['email'])) 
   {
   mail($to,$HTTP_POST_VARS['title'],$body,"From: {$HTTP_POST_VARS['email']}");
   echo("<p align=\"center\"><font size=\"10\">sending <img src=\"pics/face-woot.gif\"><br><br></font></p>");
   }

😉

philipolson

Btw, consider writing:

echo("<p align=\"center\"><font size=\"10\">sending <img src=\"pics/face-woot.gif\"><br><br></font></p>");

echo '<p align="center"><font size="10">sending <img src="pics/face-woot.gif"><br><br></font></p>';

It's a little prettier that way 😉

ShawnD

pfffft nah, i like brackets better because i don't get all lost in " and ' marks 😉
i hate puntuation 🙁

philipolson

Not sure how that's related but whatever makes you happy. My point was a ton of \" looks like poop 🙂

Btw, it looks like you're trying to create a script to work with register_globals off and work before PHP 4.1.0 too, you should use $HTTP_SERVER_VARS['PHP_SELF'] as $PHP_SELF only exists if register_globals = on.