Form Configuration
The action of your form needs to point towards this script, and the
method must be POST in capital letters. GET is no longer allowed:
<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION=http://www.whidbey.net/cgi-bin/FormMail.pl>
London Perl Mongers Version 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"> |
A note about Form Fields
Fields have two basic types, Input and Hidden. Input fields are the visible boxes on your page and can have almost any name that suits except as noted below. Hidden fields instruct FormMail to use built in functions.
See the Misc section for customer created fields.
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"> |
| Note: |
This form field works best when used together with print_config and realname |
| 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.
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.
There are others, but these are a few of the most useful. For more information
on environment variables, see:
The
CGI Resource Index: Documentation: Environment Variables |
| 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. LPM Version allows a
little more flexibility in the listing of ordered fields, in that you can
include spaces and line breaks in the field without it messing up the sort.
This is helpful when you have many form fields and need to insert a line
wrap. |
| 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 realname, email and subject fields in the body of your
message, you would place the following form tag:
<input type=hidden name="print_config" value="realname,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:
|
| 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"> |
| Misc: |
_ |
| Description: |
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.
You may want to use some other types of fields as listed below. These are just example fields. You can put any name on them you choose.
|
| Syntax: |
For a text input Box:
<input type=text name="mybox" maxlength=16>
~~The maxlength is optional.~~ |
|
| Syntax: |
For a large text area:
<textarea name="address" rows="4" cols="40" wrap=on align=bottom> </textarea> |
|
| Syntax: |
For a radio button:
<ol>
<li> <input type="radio" name="paymethod" VALUE="cash" CHECKED> Cash.
<li> <input type="radio" name="paymethod" VALUE="check"> Check.
</ol>
|
|
| Syntax: |
For a Check Box:
<input type=checkbox name="big box"> |
Some of the possible uses of this script
-
You want to have a form that will be mailed to you, but aren't sure how
to write the CGI script for it.
-
You want to have one script to parse all of your html forms and mail them
to you.
|
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