message content missing from email

[Awestruck]

When a user posts a message to my message board, an automatic email is sent to me so that I can read the message and delete it if it is offensive.

The posting page begins with a session that successfully collects the user id and inserts the user's psuedonym into the email.

The email arrives successfully but the message part is missing from the email as follows:

       lillythepink added the following message:

The message is inserted into the message board successfully, so I think I must be assigning it incorrectly for the email.

Here is the relevant part of the code hoping that you can spot the problem

<?php // The form for posting messages
include ( 'includes/header_post.php' ) ;
echo '<h2>Post a Quotation</h2>';
// Display the form fields
echo '<form action="process_post.php" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8">
<p>Choose the Subject: <select name="subject">
<option value="Category One">Category One</option>
<option value="Category Two">Category Two</option>
</select></p>
<p>Message:<br><textarea name="message" rows="5" cols="50"></textarea></p>
<p><input name="submit" type="submit" value="post"></p>
</form>';
include ( 'includes/footer.php' ) ;
//posting an entry into the database table automaticlally sends a message to the forum moderator 
// Assign the email components
$subject = "Posting added to message board";
$user = isset($_SESSION['uname']) ? $_SESSION['uname'] : "";
$message = $_POST['message'];
$body = "$user added the following message:\r\n$message";
mail("[e-mail]", $subject, $body, "From:[e-mail]\r\n");
?>

[bradgrafelman]

The code you posted will send the e-mail when you display the form. In other words, the user hasn't even had a chance to view the form (let alone fill it out and submit it) before the message has already been sent.

[Awestruck]

bradgrafelman;11034745 wrote:

The code you posted will send the e-mail when you display the form. In other words, the user hasn't even had a chance to view the form (let alone fill it out and submit it) before the message has already been sent.

Many thanks bradgrafelman for your prompt reply. I see the problem now, but as a raw beginner I would appreciate some help. It seems that an if clause would stop the email being sent until the message has been entered. Please would you suggest some code that will do the trick.
Best wishes
Awestruck

[bradgrafelman]

You didn't tell us which file contains the code you posted above, however I'm guessing it isn't "process_post.php". Since that file's purpose appears to be to process the POST'ed data, it would probably make more sense to move the code that sends the e-mail into that file.

[Awestruck]

Thanks and my apologies for not posting the code that processed the message board postings. I tried moving the email into the process file but it just messed up. I have restored the files to the original code and would be most grateful for your advice on how to insert the appropriate email code into the process_post.php file which is as follows:

<?php 
// Start the session
session_start();
// Include the login functions to check for errors
require ( 'login_functions.php' ) ;
// If users are not logged in, redirect them
if ( !isset( $_SESSION[ 'member_id' ] ) ) { load() ; }
//Connect to the database
    require ( 'mysqli_connect.php' ) ;
// Has the form been submitted?
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST')
{
// Check that the user has entered a subject and a message
  if ( empty($_POST['subject'] ) ) { echo '<p>You forgot to enter a subject.</p>'; }
  if ( empty($_POST['message'] ) ) { echo '<p>You forgot to enter a message.</p>'; }
   if ( !empty( $_POST['message'])) 
  { 
  $message = mysqli_real_escape_string( $dbcon, strip_tags(trim( $_POST['message'] )) ) ; 
  }
// If successful, insert the post into the database table
  if( !empty($_POST['subject']) &&  !empty($_POST['message']) )
  {
 //Make the insert query
    $q = "INSERT INTO forum(uname, subject, message, post_date) 
          VALUES ('{$_SESSION['uname']}', '{$_POST['subject']}','$message',NOW() )";
    $result = mysqli_query ( $dbcon, $q ) ;
// If it fails display an error message
    if (mysqli_affected_rows($dbcon) != 1) { echo '<p>Error</p>'.mysqli_error($dbcon); } else { load('forum.php'); }
// Close the database connection
    mysqli_close( $dbcon ) ; 
    }
 } 
// Create a link back to the forum page.
//echo '<p><a href="forum.php">Forum</a>' ;
//include ( 'includes/footer.php' ) ;
?>

[bradgrafelman]

When posting PHP code, please use the board's [noparse]

..

[/noparse] bbcode tags as they make your code much easier to read and analyze.

What did the code look like after you attempted to implement the code that sent the e-mail? What does "it just messed up" actually mean? Did you have error_reporting set to E_ALL and display_errors (or log_errors) set to On?

[Awestruck]

Sorry, but I could not find a toolbar button that allowed me to use the PHP tags. Looking at the toolbar again I still cannot see how to select PHP tags.
When I said "messed up"" I meant that the data including the message was inserted into the database table but no email arrived. Assuming that I once more remove the email instruction from the post.php code, please would let me know what I should enter into the process_post.php file, and where it should be located in the file so that an email is sent.

[Weedpacket]

You can always simply type "[noparse]

...

[/noparse]" to get [noparse]

...

[/noparse] - see the FAQ for similar constructs.
Or if you insist on toolbar battons you can forego the "quick reply" textarea and choose "go advanced" to get the full editor.