Formmail
Script
Documentation
Shamash has installed a very powerful script which allows a webmaster to create a form that users can fill in. The results of that form is mailed to a person of your choice.
The purpose of this document is to explain how your html form can interact with
Shamash's formmail script. We will discuss both how to create simple forms
and how to take advantage of the advanced features in the formmail script
which Shamash has installed. This script
offers many ways to tailor the resulting confirmation web page
and offers options which allow the script to process the information entered
into your form.
Some of the special options available include:
- Requiring the user to fill out certain fields.
- Sorting variables alphabetically or in a particular order.
- After a form is sucessfully completed, redirecting the user to a different
URL or displaying a confirmation page that shows what was submitted.
- Displaying environmental variables such as the type of machine,
software and domain of the person filling out the form.
A few other very important notes:
This documentation is NOT an introduction to HTML FORMS.
Please look at this
Overview of Forms
or this one
to learn about how the <FORM> tag works (and its associated tags).
You may also look at this explaination of how
CGI script and HTML forms interact with one another.
-
The best way to learn how this script works it to take a look at the
documentation below and the Example HTML FORM.
This example form shows you how the script deals with all the different field
types.
The example page is as important to read as the explaination below
- The script on Shamash is very simple to use. There are only a few required
pieces of information that you must provide in your form in order for the
script to work with your form.
-
- Have the METHOD of your form point towards the formmail
script
Syntax:
<FORM ACTION="http://shamash.org/cgi-bin/fm.pl" METHOD="POST">
-
- You must have a field in your form which has a value of recipient.
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.xxx">
- Build the rest of your form.
Any form fields that appear in your script, except the specially defined fields
listed below, 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.
Look at the example page to see examples of
different types of form variables.
- If you want to have the person filling out the form specify his/her email,
and his/her realname, and if you want a subject on the form, add the following
configuration 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.
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">
-
If you want to use Special Function Fields which allow you, the form
writer, to require the user to fill out certain fields, redirect the page after
it is submitted, sort variables, consider environmental variables and print
configuration fields, then add the following special function fields.
-
- 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.address/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 require 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, 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 are
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 a request.
REMOTE_ADDR - Sends the IP address of the remote host making the request.
HTTP_USER_AGENT - The browser the client is using to send the request.
General format: software/version library/version
There are others, but these are a few of the most useful.
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 isn't always the
exact same order 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
deafult, 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">
-
If you want the script to display a resulting page
you can specify the title, return url and title,
background, bgcolor, text color, link color, vlink color, and alink color on
this resulting page. Please note, you can alternatly use the redirect command
to display a constant page. The resulting page, which used the commands
below, show the user what they entered in the form.
-
- 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.xxx/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:
<ul>
<li><a href="return_link_url">return_link_title</a>
</ul>
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="return_link_title" value="Back to Main Page">
-
- 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. Should not be defined if
redirect is.
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 visited link color of Blue:
<input type=hidden name="alink_color" value="#0000FF">
##############################################################################
# FormMail Version 1.5 #
# Copyright 1996 Matt Wright mattw@misha.net #
# Created on 6/9/95 Last Modified: 2/5/96 #
# Scripts Found at: http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/ #
##############################################################################
# If you run into any problems while trying to configure this scripts, help #
# is available. The steps you should take to get the fastest results, are: #
# 1) Read this file thoroughly #
# 2) Consult the Matt's Script Archive Frequently Asked Questions: #
# http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/faq/ #
# 3) If you are still having difficulty installing this script, send #
# e-mail to: scripts-help@tahoenet.com #
# Include any error messages you are receiving and as much detail #
# as you can so we can spot your problem. Also include the variable#
# configuration block that is located at the top of the script. #
# #
# Hopefully we will be able to help you solve your problems. Thank you. #
##############################################################################
# COPYRIGHT NOTICE #
# Copyright 1996 Matthew M. Wright All Rights Reserved. #
# #
# FormMail may be used and modified free of charge by anyone so long as this #
# copyright notice and the comments above remain intact. By using this #
# code you agree to indemnify Matthew M. Wright from any liability that #
# might arise from it's use. #
# #
# Selling the code for this program without prior written consent is #
# expressly forbidden. In other words, please ask first before you try and #
# make money off of my program. #
##############################################################################
Please note that you may only use this script from pages on the Shamash
system. If you would like to install this script on your system, and you have
cgi-bin access, you may
download the original perl script written by: Matthew Wright.
This page has been viewed
times since January 1, 1997.
Documentation adapted by: David Rosenthal and
Matthew Barr
Last modified: Thursday, 02-Oct-2003 13:07:54 EDT
Copyright © 1990-2008 Shamash: The Jewish Network. All rights reserved.
http://shamash.org
