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FormMail
FormMail is a universal WWW form to E-mail gateway. There is only one required
form input tag which must be specified in order for this script to work with
your existing forms. Other hidden configuration fields can also be used to
enhance the operation of FormMail on your site. FormMail is Copyright
1995-1997 by Matt Wright.
This is the same script we use on
our "Contact Us"
form.
You can download it Here
To call the script:
<form method="POST" action="/cgi-bin/formmail.pl">
<input type=hidden name="recipient" value="email@YourDomain.com">
</form>
Form
Configuration
The action of your form needs to point towards this script (obviously), and
the method must be POST or GET in capital letters. Version 1.6 of 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.
Necessary 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. Most likely you
will want to configure this option as a hidden form field with a
value equal to that of your e-mail address. |
| Syntax: |
<input type=hidden
name="recipient" value="email@your.host.com"> |
Optional Form Fields
| Field: |
subject |
| 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 |
| 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, I 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 |
| 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 |
| 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://your.host.com/to/file.html"> |
| To allow them to specify a URL they
wish to travel to once the form is filled out: |
<input type=text
name="redirect"> |
| 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. |
| Syntax: If you want to require that
they fill in the email and phone fields in your form, use a syntax
like: |
<input type=hidden
name="required" value="email,phone"> |
| To use a customized error
page, see 'missing_fields_redirect' |
| 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"> |
| There are others, but
these are a few of the most useful. |
| 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://your.host.com/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: •return_link_title |
| 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://your.host.com/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://your.host.xxx/image.gif"> |
| Field: |
bgcolor |
| Description: |
This form field allow you to specify a
bgcolor 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.
Some of the possible uses of this script
1.You want to have a form that will be mailed
to you, but aren't sure how to write the CGI script for it.
2.You are the webmaster of your site and want to allow users to use forms, but
not to have their own cgi-bin directories, which can cause security risks to
your system. You can set this script up and then allow all users to run off of
it.
3.Want to have one script to parse all of your html forms and email to you.
If at any time you find your self
having problems please send support an e-mail.
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