Web Hosting Support Manual

Formmail

Introduction | Optional Form Fields | .FormMail.conf

Introduction

To use Formmail, you need to create a form on one of your web pages and the formmail.pl script on the server will do the rest for you. The following examples are of using the global formmail.pl script, which you can choose to do if you so desire by using the same codes as below. A simple sample form is available for you to look at the code HERE.

The form action line should be

<FORM ACTION = "/cgi-sys/formmail.pl" METHOD = "POST">

formmail.pl will do all the programming work for you. You alter the behaviour of formmail by using hidden fields in your form.

There is only one form field that you must have in your form for FormMail to work correctly. This is the recipient field.

Note: In order for formmail.pl to work, it is required that you have a .FormMail.conf file in your home directory, this should be already installed in your home directory by default. If when you test your form you recieve an error : ".FormMail.conf file missing", then please refer to the .FormMail.conf section of this manual.

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@yourdomain.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.

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: 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: 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 the user will end up at:

<input type=hidden name="redirect"
    value="http://domain.com/file.html">

To allow the user to specify a URL he wishes 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 the user 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 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

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: 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://domain.com/file.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://domain.com/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="#000000">

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">

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.

.FormMail.conf

In order for formmail.pl to work, it is required that you have a .FormMail.conf file in your home directory. By default it should already be installed in tyour home directory. This file aids in the prevention of SPAM through your domain, thus preserving your bandwidth for legitimate users of your site. In addition, it enables you to enhance your forms and provide shortcuts that not only simplify your forms, but also enable you to hide your e-mail address from spiders and e-mail harvesters.

Before you are able to use formmail, you will need to create or edit your configuration file.

You will find the configuration file below these instructions. Simply select the text with your mouse, right click your mouse and choose 'copy'.
Once the text is copied, go to your Control Panel main menu, and click on the File Manager icon.
When the File Manager screen loads, type '.FormMail.conf' (without the quotes) in the text area to the left of 'Create/Edit file', and click 'Create/Edit file' with your mouse. NOTE: although you will not be able to see your configuration file in the File Manager, it is there. Because it begins with a 'dot' (.), it is considered hidden. You can always access it simply by typing the name in the text area manually.
When the page loads, right click your mouse and select paste. (If the file is not empty, you already have a configuration file, and can skip this step.)
After you paste the text, change the 'Size' to 90 so that it will be easier for you to read and edit. - Scroll through the text of the configuration file, being sure to update the values to suite your needs. At the very least, you will need to enter your domain name (without the 'www.') in between the 'allow_mail_to' lines, and put your e-mail address in between the 'postmaster' lines.

Sample .FormMail.conf file is below this line:

#### NMS Secure FormMail v2.20 2002/11/21 (Release 1.0)
####
#### *Configuration File*
#### If any values are not set properly, FormMail WILL NOT work.
####
#### Save this file in your home directory (/home/username/) named '.FormMail.conf'
####

# Set this to '1' if you receive any errors. They will
# Be displayed to the browser in a more verbose manner.

[DEBUGGING]
0
[/DEBUGGING]

# This address will receive bounced messages if any of the emails
# cannot be delivered, and should be set to your e-mail address.
#

[postmaster]
you@yourdomain.com
[/postmaster]

# A list of the email addresses that formmail can send
# email to. The elements of this list can be either
# simple email addresses (like 'you@your.domain') or
# domain names (like 'your.domain'). If it's a domain
# name then *any* address at the domain will be allowed.
#
# Also see NOTE below for aliases.
#
# NOTE: One address/domain per line
#

[allow_mail_to]
yourdomain.com
you@yahoo.com
[/allow_mail_to]

# A hash for predefining a list of recipients in the
# script, and then choosing between them using the
# recipient form field, while keeping all the email
# addresses out of the HTML so that they don't get
# collected by address harvesters and sent junk email.
#
# For example, suppose you have three forms on your
# site, and you want each to submit to a different email
# address and you want to keep the addresses hidden.
#
# In the HTML form that should submit to the recipient
# 'me@mydomain.com', you would then set the recipient
# with:
#
# <input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="me" />
#
# NOTE: If an alias is set for any e-mail address, then it is
# not required to be in the [allow_mail_to] block, it
# is automatically allowed.
#
# NOTE: One alias per line.
#

[recipient_alias]
me=>you@yourdomain.com
him=>you@yaoo.com,you@hotmail.com
[/recipient_alias]

# If this flag is set to 1 then an additional email
# will be sent to the person who submitted the
# form.
#
# CAUTION: with this feature turned on it's
# possible for someone to put someone else's email
# address in the form and submit it 5000 times,
# causing this script to send a flood of email to a
# third party. This third party is likely to blame
# you for the email flood attack.
#

[send_confirmation_mail]
0
[/send_confirmation_mail]

# The header and body of the confirmation email
# sent to the person who submits the form, if the
# [send_confirmation_mail] flag is set. In the
# example below, everything between the lines:
#
# [confirmation_text]
# and
# [/confirmation_text]
#
# is treated as part of the email.

# !!IMPORTANT!!
# Everything before the first blank line is taken as part of
# the email header, and everything after the first
# blank line is the body of the email.

[confirmation_text]
From: you@yourdomain.com
Subject: Your Form Submission

Thank you for your submission.
[/confirmation_text]

NOTE:

Secure Formmail - you can also call formmail securely using your own security certificate or our shared secure server. Please see the Secure Server page for details.