sending an HTML document using mail() function

Lisa-Marie

Can anyone please tell me what the syntax would be to send an HTML or PHP doc to a user via email using the mail() function?

I can send a message using...

mail($emailAddress, $subject, $message);

but I only know how to send a string stored within $message

ei:

$message = "Hello $userName, your information has been sent.";

so how do I send an HTML document so that it will display in the user's screen once they open their email?????????????

Anyone? ...... Anyone?.... Anyone?

cgraz

<?

$msg = '

<html>

<head>
<title></title>

</head>

<body topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" rightmargin="0" bgcolor="#ffffff">

<table border="0" width="792" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
  <tr>
    <td width="1" bgcolor="#000000" rowspan="7"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td>
    <td bgcolor="#000000"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td>
    <td width="1" bgcolor="#000000" rowspan="7"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td height="90"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/temp_top.jpg" width="440" height="90">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/bg_top_mirror.gif" width="350" height="90"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td height="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/index.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/1.gif" border="0" width="70" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/about.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/2.gif" border="0" width="75" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/ourservices.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/3.gif" border="0" width="95" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/howwework.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/4.gif" border="0" width="100" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/faqs.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/5.gif" border="0" width="45" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/jhughes.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/6.gif" border="0" width="105" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/contact.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/7.gif" border="0" width="80" height="19"></a>
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/directions.html">
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/8.gif" border="0" width="70" height="19"></a>
<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/9.gif"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td height="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td height="10"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/graph_repeat.gif" width="790" height="10"></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td bgcolor="#000000"><img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/topbar/images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1"></td>
  </tr>
</table>


<table border="0" width="650" cellspacing="8" cellpadding="0">
  <tr>
    <td width="650">
<font face="arial, times new roman" size="2">Email info goes here</font></td>
  </tr>
</table>


</body>
</html>

';

// print the page for the user to see (if you want)
echo $msg;

$subject = "Subject";
$to_email = "visitor@theirsite.com";
$headers = "From: [email]you@yourdomain.com[/email]";
// these next two headers make it possible to send html email
$headers  = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1\r\n";

mail($to_email, $subject, $msg, $headers);


?>

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

Thanks cgraz,

I'll try it tonight.

cgraz

NP. I tested and it works great.

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

Can we place an HTML doc that contains PHP script within the variable as well?

cgraz

I've never done this before, you should probably just give it a try. You may need to use PHP's eval() function to evaluate the string as PHP code.

You should be able to. Try it, if it doesn't work, try using eval().

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

I tried using the eval() function, after storing the HTML document with PHP included, within the $messageBody variable but I still received this error below after submitting...

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING in d:\inetpub\wwwroot\PHP_Files\Platinum Project\tellAFriend.php on line 27

Here's my code:

<?
$messageBody = '
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> Tell a Friend PHP file </TITLE>
<BODY BGCOLOR = "FFFFFF">
<HR>REQUEST SUBMITTED</HR>
<BR>
Hello <?php echo $POST["userName"]; ?>
<BR>
Thank you for your interest in our company!
<BR>
<HR>Here is the information you gave us:<HR>
<BR>
Your name: <?php echo $POST["userName"]; ?>
<BR>
Your email address: <?php echo $POST["userEmail"]; ?>
<BR>
Your phone number: <?php echo $POST["userPhone"]; ?>
<BR>
The name of your friend: <?php echo $POST["prospectName"]; ?>
<BR>
<?php echo $POST["prospectName"]''s; ?> email address: <?php echo $POST["prospectEmail"]; ?>
<BR>
Our company URL has been successfully emailed to <?php echo $POST["prospectName"]; ?>
<BR>
';

$messageBody = eval($messageBody);
echo $messageBody; //print page for user to view

//variables to store form information
$userName = $POST["userName"];
$userEmail = $POST["userEmail"];
$prospectName = $POST["prospectName"];
$prospectEmail = $POST["prospectEmail"];

//variables to store site and owner information
$siteOwnerName = "Ryan Hache";
$siteOwnerEmail = "lisavr@netrover.com";
$webSite = "http://www.platinumdesigns.net/portfolio.html";

//variables to store email information
$subject = "Tell A Friend";
$headers = "From: $userEmail";
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1\r\n";

//additional messages
$userMessage = "Our company's URL has been successfully emailed to $prospectName at $prospectEmail";
$prospectMessage = "Hello $prospectName, $userName would like you to view this site! $webSite";
$siteOwnerMessage = "This is the site owner message";

//send mail
mail($userEmail, $subject, $userMessage, $messageBody, $headers);
mail($prospectEmail, $subject, $prospectMessage, $headers);
?>

I have no idea what I'm doing wrong

😕

cgraz

Try this:

<?

$messageBody = ' 
<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> Tell a Friend PHP file </TITLE> 
<BODY BGCOLOR = "FFFFFF"> <HR>REQUEST SUBMITTED</HR> 
<BR> Hello ';

$messageBody .= $_POST["userName"] . '
<BR> Thank you for your interest in our company! 
<BR> <HR>Here is the information you gave us:<HR> 
<BR> Your name: ';

$messageBody .= $_POST["userName"] . ' 
<BR> Your email address: '; 

$messageBody .= $_POST["userEmail"] . '
<BR> Your phone number: ';

$messageBody .= $_POST["userPhone"] . '
<BR> The name of your friend: '; 

$messageBody .= $_POST["prospectName"] . '<BR> ';

$messageBody .= $_POST["prospectName"] . '\'s email address: ';

$messageBody .= $_POST["prospectEmail"] . '
<BR> Our company URL has been successfully emailed to ';

$messageBody .= $_POST["prospectName"] . ' 
<BR>'; 

echo $messageBody; //print page for user to view 

//variables to store form information 
$userName = $_POST["userName"]; 
$userEmail = $_POST["userEmail"]; 
$prospectName = $_POST["prospectName"]; 
$prospectEmail = $_POST["prospectEmail"]; 

//variables to store site and owner information 
$siteOwnerName = "Ryan Hache"; 
$siteOwnerEmail = "lisavr@netrover.com"; 
$webSite = "http://www.platinumdesigns.net/portfolio.html"; 

//variables to store email information 
$subject = "Tell A Friend"; 
$headers = "From: $userEmail"; 
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n"; 
$headers .= "Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1\r\n"; 

//additional messages 
$userMessage = "Our company's URL has been successfully emailed to $prospectName at $prospectEmail"; 
$prospectMessage = "Hello $prospectName, $userName would like you to view this site! $webSite"; 
$siteOwnerMessage = "This is the site owner message"; 

//send mail 
mail($userEmail, $subject, $userMessage, $messageBody, $headers); 
mail($prospectEmail, $subject, $prospectMessage, $headers); 

?>

I broke up your $messageBody variable into pieces so you could see what i did. You're already in PHP tags, you don't need to <? echo $var; ?>

// message var

<? echo var; ?>

will produce a parse error. I fixed all that, and got rid of eval(). I don't think you'll need it. Give it a try and see what it does. You may need to fix parse errors here and there as this code isn't tested.

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

Thanx cgraz

I'll try it

cgraz

Ahh, the forum must've screwed this part up: I'll try without using [ p h p ] tags.

$messageBody .= $_POST["prospectName"] . ''s email address: ';

you need to escape that single quote right before s (the forum doesn't like this, so I'll use a dash, replace that dash with \ in your actual code.

.'-'s email address:

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

ok here's what I changed:

<?
//message body
$messageBody =
'<HTML><HEAD><TITLE> Tell a Friend PHP file </TITLE><BODY BGCOLOR = "FFFFFF"><HR>REQUEST SUBMITTED</HR><BR>Hello';
$messageBody .= $POST["userName"] .
'<BR>Thank you for your interest in our company!<BR><HR>Here is the information you gave us:<HR><BR>Your name: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["userName"] . '<BR>Your email address: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["userEmail"] . '<BR>Your phone number: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["userPhone"] . '<BR>The name of your friend: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . '<BR>';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . 's email address: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectEmail"] . '<BR>Our company URL has been successfully emailed to ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . '<BR>';

$messageBody = eval($messageBody);
echo $messageBody; //print page for user to view

but I still received this error below when trying to run it

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '<' in d:\inetpub\wwwroot\PHP_Files\Platinum Project\tellAFriend.php(15) : eval()'d code on line 1

maybe I should just get rid of the eval() function?

cgraz

Yeah, I don't think you'll need eval()

Check my last post

and got rid of eval(). I don't think you'll need it.

Should work just fine w/out it I think.

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

ok it worked, but hahahahaah...
when I checked my email I received the HTML file including all the tags!

What I need to send is an HTML doc without tags, as it would appear in my browser.

I think I'll start pulling my hair out now

cgraz

You simply made a mistake in your parameters for mail() that I didn't notice earlier

From PHP.net --

bool mail ( string to, string subject, string message [, string additional_headers [, string additional_parameters]])

mail($to, $subject, $msg, $headers);

You're using:

mail($userEmail, $subject, $userMessage, $messageBody, $headers);

when it should be

mail($userEmail, $subject, $messageBody, $headers);

😉

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

woooo--hoo

it worked!

thanx cgraz!

now all I have to do is make it look pretty!

Lisa-Marie

I have yet another question cgraz

Have you ever used CSS - cascading style sheets?

if so, have you ever implemented them with your HTML and PHP script?

The HTML doc that I am emailing (which is working perfectly by the way) is ignoring my style sheets.

Would you be able to help out with this one as well, or no?

cgraz

yeah. post your code.

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

Thanks cgraz

Here it is...

//tellAFriend.php
<?
//message body
$messageBody =
'<HTML><HEAD><link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "mystyle.css" />';
$messageBody .=
'<TITLE> Tell a Friend PHP file </TITLE></HEAD>';
$messageBody .=
'<CENTER><H1>Tell a Friend Request Complete</H1></CENTER><HR></HR>';
$messageBody .= '<P id="1">Hello ' . $POST["userName"] .
'<BR>Thank you for your interest in our company!<BR>';
$messageBody .=
'<BR>Our company' . '\'s URL has been successfully emailed to ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . ' at ' . $POST["prospectEmail"];
$messageBody .=
'<BR>Here is the information you gave us:<BR>Your name: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["userName"] . '<BR>Your email address: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["userEmail"] . '<BR>Your phone number: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["userPhone"] . '<BR>The name of your friend: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . '<BR>';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . '\'s email address: ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectEmail"] . '<BR>Our company' . '\'s URL has been successfully emailed to ';
$messageBody .= $POST["prospectName"] . '<BR></P>';

echo $messageBody; //print page for user to view

//variables to store form information
$userName = $POST["userName"];
$userEmail = $POST["userEmail"];
$prospectName = $POST["prospectName"];
$prospectEmail = $POST["prospectEmail"];

//variables to store site and owner information
$siteOwnerName = "Ryan Hache";
$siteOwnerEmail = "lisavr@netrover.com";
$webSite = "http://www.platinumdesigns.net/portfolio.html";

//variables to store email information
$subject = "Tell A Friend";
$headers = "From: $userEmail";
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1\r\n";

//additional messages
$prospectMessage = "Hello $prospectName, $userName would like you to view this site! $webSite";
$siteOwnerMessage = "This is the site owner message";

//send mail
mail($userEmail, $subject, $messageBody, $headers);
mail($prospectEmail, $subject, $prospectMessage, $headers);
?>

//mystyle.css
body{background-image:url("light_blue_1.jpg")}
H1{font: bold italic 40px times}
P{font: bold italic 20px times}
P{text-align: right}
*#1{text-align: left}

//tellAFriend.html
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "mystyle.css" />
<TITLE>Tell a Friend</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<CENTER>
<H1>Tell a Friend Request Form</H1>
</CENTER>

<TR>
<TD>
<P>User email:</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<input type="text" name="userEmail" size=26>
</TD>
</TR>

<TR>
<TD>
<P>User Phone Number:</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<input type="text" name="userPhone" size=10>
</TD>
</TR>

<TR>
<TD>
<P>Prospect's Name:</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<input type="text" name="prospectName" size=26>
</TD>
</TR>

<TR>
<TD>
<P>Prospect's Email:</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<input type="text" name="prospectEmail" size=26>
</TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>

</FORM>
</CENTER>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Okie doke
😉

cgraz

here's the problem

the path in the href is relative to where the html file is bein executed. For example, in the href you used, mystyle.css, that assumes mystyle.css is in the same directory as the file being executed. if it was stylesheet/mystyle.css, that would mean that from where you are, you go into the stylesheet folder and the file is mystyle.css

Anyways, to make a long story short, use a full path.

Cgraz

Lisa-Marie

mmmhhhhmmmm

I saved mystyle.css in the same directory as the other files though.

So I'm not sure why it couldn't find the file?

What if I tried to email the http file to you? How would the style sheets show up in your email?