Tutorials
The following is a collection of tutorials on the use of various Web technologies that are used by the University.
Name: Form Mail
Version: 1.9
URL: /cgi-bin/webform.pl
Description: Form Mail is a Web form to e-mail script, which will process the results of any form and send them via e-mail to the specified user. This script has many formatting and operational options, most of which can be specified through the form, meaning you don't need any programming knowledge.
Instructions:
Necessary Form Fields -
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="youremail@slu.edu">
Optional Form Fields -
subject
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">
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email
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, it is strongly suggested that you include
this form field. 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">
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realname
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">
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redirect
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="www.slu.edu/page.html">
To allow them to specify a URL they wish to travel to once the form is filled out:
<input type=text name="redirect">
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required
You can now require certain fields to be completed 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">
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env_report
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 a 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">
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sort
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 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 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...">
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print_config
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 the body of
the message. The config fields that you wish to have printed should be
in the value attribute of your input tag 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">
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print_blank_fields
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">
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title
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">
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return_link_url
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 main page.
Syntax:
<input type=hidden name="return_link_url" value="www.slu.edu/page.html">
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return_link_title
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">
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missing_fields_redirect
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="www.slu.edu/error.html">
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background
This form field allow you to specify a background image that 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="www.slu.edu/image.gif">
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bgcolor
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">
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text_color
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">
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link_color
Changes the color of links on the resulting page. Works in the 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">
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vlink_color
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">
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alink_color
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">
User Defined Form Fields -
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:
<input type=text name="favorite_color">
Example Form:
<form action="/cgi-bin/webform.pl"
method="Post">
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="my_email_address@slu.edu">
<input type="hidden" name="required" value="name,email,message">
<input type="hidden" name="sort" value="order:name,email,message">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Requests/Comments">
<input type="hidden" name="print_config" value="subject">
<input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="http://www.slu.edu/response.html">
<br>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica" size="2">Name:</font>
<input type="text" name="name" maxlength="75">
<br>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica" size="2">Email:</font>
<input type="text" name="email" maxlength="75">
<br>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica" size="2">General
Requests / Comments:</font>
<br>
<textarea name="message" cols="40" rows="10"
wrap="virtual"></textarea>
<br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"> <input
type="reset" value="Reset">
</form>
