Form to Email?

russellbcv

I can design a form pretty easily but what I cannot do is make it so that when somebody enters their details this forwards to a designated email.

For this to work what do I need?

I am running Apache, MySQL and PHP - is there anything else?

Your help would be much appreciated.

drew010

Just read about the [man]mail[/man] function. that will allow you to send stuff to your email.

russellbcv

Hi - I have been testing this form to email script all night and I cannot get it to work - I get headers but no content and no email as been sent?

Error Log>
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: sender_name in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 4
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: sender_email in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 5
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: message in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 6
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: sender_email in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 11
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Warning: mail() [<a href='function.mail'>function.mail</a>]: "sendmail_from" not set in php.ini or custom "From:" header missing in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 13
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: sender_name in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 26
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: sender_email in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 29
[Wed Mar 16 22:49:34 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: message in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 32

Does this look ok?

$msg = "E-Mail Sent from www site\n";
$msg .= "Sender's Name:\t$sender_name\n";
$msg .= "Sender's E-Mail:\t$sender_email\n";
$msg .= "Message:\t$message\n\n";

$to = "enquiries@midastelecom.ws";
$subject = "Web Site Feedback";
$mailheaders = "From: www.midastelecom.com <> \n";
$mailheaders .= "Reply-To: $sender_email\n\n";

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

<html>
<head>
<title>Simple Feedback Form Sent</title>
</head>
<body>

<h1>The following e-mail has been sent:</h1>

<p><strong>Your E-Mail Address:</strong><br>
<? echo "$sender_email"; ?>

<p><strong>Message:</strong><br>
<? echo "$message"; ?>

</body>
</html>

drew010

what is the html of the form that posts to that script.

russellbcv

Hi - this is the html

<title>Simple Feedback Form</title>
</head>
<body>

<p><strong>Your E-Mail Address:</strong><br>
<input type="text" name="sender_email" size=30></p>

<p><strong>Message:</strong><br>
<textarea name="message" cols=30 rows=5 wrap=virtual></textarea></p>

</form>
</body>
</html>

drew010

ok it looks like register_globals is off so you will need to switch all your variable names from $sender_name to $_POST['sender_name'] on the process form stuff. also the from header isnt in the right format. try From: you@yoursite.com and also, in the headers, use a \r\n instead of \n

russellbcv

Hi - would this work?

$sender_name = $POST['sender_name'];
$sender_email = $POST['sender_email'];
$message = $_POST['message'];

$to = "enquiries@midastelecom.ws";
$subject = "Web Site Feedback";
$mailheaders = "From: you@yoursite.com <> \r\n";
$mailheaders .= "Reply-To: $sender_email\r\n";

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

<html>
<head>
<title>Simple Feedback Form Sent</title>
</head>
<body>

<h1>The following e-mail has been sent:</h1>

<p><strong>Your E-Mail Address:</strong><br>
<? echo "$sender_email"; ?>

<p><strong>Message:</strong><br>
<? echo "$message"; ?>

</body>
</html>

russellbcv

Excellent - with those changes I get a confirmation message (but no email ???)

Is there anything else I need to do?

The following e-mail has been sent:

Your Name:
russ cox

Your E-Mail Address:
rcox@midastelecom.ws

Message:
test

russellbcv

Error Log>

[Wed Mar 16 23:24:02 2005] [error] PHP Notice: Undefined variable: msg in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 12

[Wed Mar 16 23:24:02 2005] [error] PHP Warning: mail() [<a href='function.mail'>function.mail</a>]: "sendmail_from" not set in php.ini or custom "From:" header missing in c:\Apache\htdocs\send_simpleform.php on line 12

Could there be a problem with the php.ini file??

drew010

$message = $POST['message'];
i think should be
$msg = $POST['message'];
and yeah if you are on windows you will need to change the sendmail from value, and also you will need to have a smtp server setup. IIS comes with one if you are using a professional version of xp or win2k.

russellbcv

Yes, I am using windows - change the sendmail from value?

In work we are using Microsoft Exchange Server for our emails - I can access my work mails using the IP address. Would this do the trick and act as a smtp server?

At home I am using XP Home Edition

drew010

if you know the smtp server of your work exchange server you might be able to use it if you set the from value in php.ini to your work address, otherwise they will deny it for relaying messages.

russellbcv

Yes I know the smtp server details.

At present the from value in php.ini is :-

[mail function]
; For Win32 only.
SMTP = ip address
smtp_port = 25

; For Win32 only.
sendmail_from = enquiries@midastelecom.ws

Would this work?

drew010

yeah you can try it.

russellbcv

I have but nothing happens?

I remotely controlling the web server and files but no email is being sent?

russellbcv

My IT Manager says we do SMTP AUTH, so you will have to include a username and password ??

Do you know what he is talking about?

drew010

you can try a test mail.

<?php

$res = mail("you@yoursite.com", "test", "message here");

if ($res) {
  echo "Messaged was piped to sendmail.";
} else {
  echo "Message wasnt even piped to sendmail.";
}

?>

then see if you get a message, even if it says message was piped, it doesnt mean it sent

russellbcv

I get :-

Message wasnt even piped to sendmail.

drew010

it might not work after all if they use auth. its not set for php to send authentication info. is this going to be the webserver you use for the public site too? cause there is nothing wrong with your code, only that the webserver on your xp machine doesnt have a mail server.

russellbcv

Yes this is also going to be the webserver for the public site.

are there any free downloadable mail servers I can use?