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General discussion

Web Building

Jul 16, 2007 9:45PM PDT

Hi There I am thinking of building a web site for a School Reunion Club which I have been running for quite a few years and publishing it on my free web space my isp gives me. I have been testing or learning various web building programs to see which is easiest for me etc Serif Web, Dreamweaver and Fusion 9. I seem to get on well with Fusion 9. When I get to building forms for people to submit their details or say sign a guest book this is where i come unstuck. I have been told I need another program ?scripting? that sorts this info out and sends it to me for vetting. Is there any free programs out there that do this, will I need to have any other programs as well. Is there a site out there that will walk you through the linking of these forms to your isp and on to me. As I am on a very low income I could not possibly pay for companies to do any of this for me. Am I being unrealistic is, what I am suggesting possible without paying or not. Your replies will be much appreciated.Many Thanks Tony B.

Discussion is locked

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I found a form
Jul 17, 2007 4:19AM PDT

... a while back when I was looking for the same thing. This script is easy and can literally be used for ANY kind of messages... whether it's contacting, signing up, providing feedback, etc

It will give you the requirements (which aren't that high at all for a standard webhost) to run the script successfully:

* http://www.scriptsearch.com/details/3402.html

"Works well with any kind of HTML form; will send any form to your e-mail address or multiple addresses. It also sends out a thank you, if you wish. Includes image-based validation to prevent spam."

(There are multiple versions of this, but I use one by the same author. This is the latest one, and although I use an older version... it looks promising.)

It's free btw.

~Sovereign

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Confused
Jul 21, 2007 9:34PM PDT

Hi There I want to thank you for telling me about the form handler. Unfortunately not having any "script" knowledge and looking at the instructions for using it I am totally confused. The instructions says to "Edit the file (mail.php) with a Text Editor" which I opened in a free download called "Crimson Editor" the next line says and I quote "After Ver 1.8 of the scrip, you need to edit the config.php", does this mean edit the config.php as well as mail.php or instead of??. Looking in mail.php I cant find any of the items listed so I assume I should just edit the config.php only, am I correct in this??
If I am correct, looking at the config.php I am still a bit confused with some of the things I need to input and what to do with it when I have finished all the input as well. Unfortunately I am a bit slow with thing like this I am getting a bit long in the tooth as they say. I was wondering if you would be good enough to walk me through setting up this form. I will totally understand if you haven?t the time. If not you perhaps you know someone that has.
Kindest Regards Tony B.

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Alright
Jul 22, 2007 4:34AM PDT

1. Look in mail.php ... you can open it with notepad. Around the 6th line it tells you what version you have, and you should have version 1.9.4

2. I'm assuming that you are using this walkthrough right here http://www.scriptsearch.com/cgi-bin/jump.cgi?ID=3402 and this is where you got confused.

3. Based on the walkthrough, we want to edit config.php only not mail.php.

4. Here are the things you want to edit:

$subject = "Simple PHP Form Mailer";
[What the email will be called in the subject line when you receive it]

$mail_to = "kalinga@domain.com";
[This is where the message will go once the user hits send]

$from = "kalinga@domain.com";
[If you create a form where there is no option for the user to enter their email address (which means you can't reply to them) it will show the email address you enter here as the sender... you can make this the same email address as the previous field (mail_to) above]

$error_repote = 0;
$error_page = "error.html";
$send_page = "thankyou.html";
$error_msg = "Sorry, Error Sending Email!";
$ok_msg = "Thank you, Email was Sent!";
[OK, if you keep the top line ZERO (0), you have to enter an error_page and send_page value (a valid html page), because whether the forms fails or succeeds, it will forward the user to either a confirmation or error page. If you change the value to ONE (1) you don't have to bother with the forwarding pages, because it will just pop up the message(s) you define in error_msg and ok_msg]

$blank_error = "Sorry, cant send if the form is blank !";
[This is the error message that will show when someone tries to submit a blank form (nothing filled in)]

$image_error = "Sorry, Image Validation Failed !";
[The message that shows up if the imagine validation is not correct... basically if they enter the wrong code]

$email_error = "is not a valid e-mail address !";
$field_error = "field is blank, this is a mandatory field !";
[The first line checks whether the user entered a valid email address... if they didn't, the email_error message will display. The second line is if they leave ANY OTHER field (besides email field) blank that you set as mandatory.]

$form_names = array("name", "email", "comm");
[Here is where you set which field are mandatory. When you setup the contact form, each field HAS to have a unique name... in this line you enter all the field names that are required by you.]

$img_validate = 0;
[Turn image validation on or off... ONE (1) is on and ZERO (0) is off. Remember that if you turn it on, it requires probably some extra steps that can be found here http://onetforum.com/formmailer/img_validate_howto.txt]

$send_reply = 0;
[This line is if you automatically want to send the user who used your contact form an auto-reply. ZERO disables auto reply and ONE enables it.]

$reply_email_subject = "Thank your for using Simple PHP Form Mailer";
$reply_email_from = "kalinga@domain.com";
$reply_email_form_name = "Simple PHP Form Mailer";
[These are only require is you have send_reply enabled]

PS: The reply_email.txt file is the message you define that is going to be sent to the user automatically.

OK, once you've set all the variables... create a HTML page with a contact form, at least a name field, email field and message field and try it out. Remember that based on the configurations all the files config.php, mail.php, reply-email.txt (if you have it enabled), and img_include.php (if you have that enabled), error.html & thank you.html (if you chose to forward the user to a page once form has been submitted) HAVE to be in the same folder as your contact form page.

Hope this helps.

~Sovereign

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Easy Do-It-YourselfI
Jul 24, 2007 3:23PM PDT

If you're looking for a website that will do it for you. (Everything) Try out "Woof," at http://www.woof.com. It creates the form for you, and generates the code; leaving it up to you to where you want to paste it. Hope tis helps! Happy

~Richard

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My Bad...
Jul 24, 2007 3:26PM PDT

...I mentioned the wrong website! Sad It can actually be found at http://www.wufoo.com! And it's [obivously] called Wufoo! Happy

Sorry 'bout that! Happy

~Richard

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Form Thanks
Jul 24, 2007 8:30PM PDT

Hi Richard Thanks for the info. I will be looking at this site when I come back from a few days away. I hope it's as easy as you say. I must say a place that will make a form for you for free sounds like a wonderfull Idea to me as I would like to get the site up and running reasonably soon, but somewhere along the line I would like to learn a bit more about building forms, but in the short term this looks like a great idea.
Kindest Regards Tony B.

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Looks Good and a bit clearer
Jul 24, 2007 8:22PM PDT

Hi Thanks for the info on that form setup it looks a lot easier now you have explained it a bit clearer. I will try to see if I can get it working. I will let you know how I get on. It might be a while as I am going away now for a few days.
Thanks Once again Tony B.

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There is always a catch
Jul 28, 2007 3:22AM PDT

With form generator websites... either you are limited with something, or there is advertisement involved. With the walkthrough I've provided, all your doors are wide open.

~Sovereign