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Using Formmail

How To Use Formmail On Your Website

Formmail allows you to create sophisticated forms without CGI scripting. To use Formmail, create a form with any decent web page creation software. The form action line should be

<form method="POST" action="/cgi-bin/formmail.pl">

This is the path to your cgi-bin which holds the formmail.pl script. FormMail offers many new ways to code your form to tailor the resulting HTML page and the way the script performs. Below is a list of form fields you can use and how to implement them.

 
 
Mandatory Form Fields
 
 
There is only one form field that you must have in your form, for FormMail to work correctly. This is the recipient field.
Field:recipient
Description:This form field allows you to specify to whom you wish for your form results to be mailed. The field must contain a valid email address for the form to work. Most likely you will want to configure this option as a hidden form field with a value equal to that of your email address. If you would like the submitted form results copied to more than one recipient then you can separate multiple email addresses with commas.

NOTE: The recipient email addresses must all be hosted by H4A Hosting in order for this form to work.


 
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="recipient" value="email@yourdomainname.co.za">
 
 
 
Optional Form Fields
 
 
Field:subject (use recommended)
Description:The subject field will allow you to specify the subject that you wish to appear in the e-mail that is sent to you after this form has been filled out. If you do not have this option turned on, then the script will default to a message subject: WWW Form Submission
Syntax:If you wish to choose what the subject is:
<input type=hidden name="subject" value="Your Subject">

To allow the user to choose a subject:

<input type=text name="subject">
 
 
Field:email (use recommended)
Description:This form field will allow the user to specify their return e-mail address. If you want to be able to return e-mail to your user, we strongly suggest that you include this form field and allow them to fill it in. This will be put into the From: field of the message you receive. If you want to require an email address with valid syntax, add this field name to the required field.
Syntax:
<input type=text name="email">
 
 
Field:realname (use recommended)
Description:The realname form field will allow the user to input their real name. This field is useful for identification purposes and will also be put into the From: line of your message header.
Syntax:
<input type=text name="realname">
 
 
Field:redirect (use recommended)
Description:If you wish to redirect the user to a different URL, rather than having them see the default response to the fill-out form, you can use this hidden variable to send them to a pre-made HTML page.
Syntax:To choose the URL they will end up at:
<input type=hidden name="redirect" value="http://www.yourdomainname.co.za/to/file.html">
 
 
Field:required
Description:You can now require for certain fields in your form to be filled in before the user can successfully submit the form. Simply place all field names that you want to be mandatory into this field. If the required fields are not filled in, the user will be notified of what they need to fill in, and a link back to the form they just submitted will be provided.

To use a customized error page, see missing_fields_redirect

Syntax:If you want to require that they fill in the email and phone fields in your form, so that you can reach them once you have received the mail, use a syntax like:
<input type=hidden name="required" value="email,phone">
 
 
Field:env_report
Description: Allows you to have Environment variables included in the e-mail message you receive after a user has filled out your form. Useful if you wish to know what browser they were using, what domain they were coming from or any other attributes associated with environment variables. The following is a short list of valid environment variables that might be useful:
REMOTE_HOST - Sends the hostname making the request.

REMOTE_ADDR - Sends the IP address of the remote host making the request.

REMOTE_USER - If server supports authentication and script is protected, this is the username they have authenticated as. *This is not usually set.*

HTTP_USER_AGENT - The browser the client is using to send the request.
Syntax:If you wanted to find the remote host and browser sending the request, you would put the following into your form:
<input type=hidden name="env_report" value="REMOTE_HOST,HTTP_USER_AGENT">
 
 
Field:sort
Description:This field allows you to choose the order in which you wish for your variables to appear in the e-mail that FormMail generates. You can choose to have the field sorted alphabetically or specify a set order in which you want the fields to appear in your mail message. By leaving this field out, the order will simply default to the order in which the browsers sends the information to the script (which is usually the exact same order as they appeared in the form.) When sorting by a set order of fields, you should include the phrase "order:" as the first part of your value for the sort field, and then follow that with the field names you want to be listed in the e-mail message, separated by commas.
Syntax:To sort alphabetically:
<input type=hidden name="sort" value="alphabetic">

To sort by a set field order:

<input type=hidden name="sort" value="order:name1,name2,etc...">
 
 
Field:print_config
Description:print_config allows you to specify which of the config variables you would like to have printed in your e-mail message. By default, no config fields are printed to your e-mail. This is because the important form fields, like email, subject, etc. are included in the header of the message. However some users have asked for this option so they can have these fields printed in the body of the message. The config fields that you wish to have printed should be in the value attribute of your input tag separated by commas.
Syntax:If you want to print the email and subject fields in the body of your message, you would place the following form tag:
<input type=hidden name="print_config" value="email,subject">
 
 
Field:print_blank_fields
Description:print_blank_fields allows you to request that all form fields are printed in the return HTML, regardless of whether or not they were filled in. FormMail defaults to turning this off, so that unused form fields aren't e-mailed.
Syntax:If you want to print all blank fields:
<input type=hidden name="print_blank_fields" value="1">
 
 
Field:title
Description:This form field allows you to specify the title and header that will appear on the resulting page if you do not specify a redirect URL.
Syntax:If you wanted a title of 'Feedback Form Results':
<input type=hidden name="title" value="Feedback Form Results">
 
 
Field:return_link_url
Description:This field allows you to specify a URL that will appear, as return_link_title, on the following report page. This field will not be used if you have the redirect field set, but it is useful if you allow the user to receive the report on the following page, but want to offer them a way to get back to your main page.
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="return_link_url" value="http://www.yourdomainname.co.za/main.html">
 
 
Field:return_link_title
Description:This is the title that will be used to link the user back to the page you specify with return_link_url. The two fields will be shown on the resulting form page as:
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="return_link_title" value="Back to Main Page">
 
 
Field:missing_fields_redirect
Description:This form field allows you to specify a URL that users will be redirected to if there are fields listed in the required form field that are not filled in. This is so you can customize an error page instead of displaying the default.
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="missing_fields_redirect" value="http://www.yourdomainname.co.za/error.html">
 
 
Field:background
Description:This form field allow you to specify a background image that will appear if you do not have the redirect field set. This image will appear as the background to the form results page.
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="background" value="http://www.yourdomainname.co.za/image.gif">
 
 
Field:bgcolor
Description:This form field allow you to specify a background color for the form results page in much the way you specify a background image. This field should not be set if the redirect field is.
Syntax:For a background color of White:
<input type=hidden name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF">
 
 
Field:text_color
Description:This field works in the same way as bgcolor, except that it will change the color of your text.
Syntax:For a text color of Black:
<input type=hidden name="text_color" value="#000000">
 
 
Field:link_color
Description:Changes the color of links on the resulting page. Works in the same way as text_color. Should not be defined if redirect is.
Syntax:For a link color of Red:
<input type=hidden name="link_color" value="#FF0000">
 
 
Field:vlink_color
Description:Changes the color of visited links on the resulting page. Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if redirect is.
Syntax:For a visited link color of Blue:
<input type=hidden name="vlink_color" value="#0000FF">
 
 
Field:alink_color
Description:Changes the color of active links on the resulting page. Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if redirect is.
Syntax:For a active link color of Blue:
<input type=hidden name="alink_color" value="#0000FF">
 
 
Any other form fields that appear in your script will be mailed back to you and displayed on the resulting page if you do not have the redirect field set. There is no limit as to how many other form fields you can use with this form, except the limits imposed by browsers and your server.
 
 
 

Example Formmail Form

Below is some example HTML code that creates a very basic form. The example below includes all of the most important parameters for the form to function. The example below, will submit the completed form results to help@host4africa.co.uk, with a subject in the email of "Website Contact Page".

 
  .... begining of your webpage ....
 
   <form action="/cgi-bin/formmail.pl" method="post">
     <center>
       <input type=hidden name="recipient" value="help@host4africa.co.uk">
       <input type=hidden name="subject" value="Website Contact Page">
       <font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
         <b>
           Your Name: <input type="text" name="realname" value="">
           <br>
           Your E-Mail Address: <input type="text" name="email" value="">
         </b>
         <br>
         Comment Details: <textarea name="Details" cols="50" rows="10"></textarea>
       </font>
       <p>
       <input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Send Us Your Details">
       <input type="reset" name="Reset">
     </center>
   </form>
 
  .... rest of your webpage ....
 

The output of the above HTML code will resemble the output below.

 
Your Name:
Your E-Mail Address:

Comment Details: