FormMail Notes

The version of FormMail used on OMNIport servers is a derivative work based on versions 1.6 through 1.9 of Matt Wright's FormMail script. See the links at the bottom of this page for copyright and source code information.

The following excerpt was derived from Matt's README file for version 1.9. The information presented here is that which is needed to use the script on your OMNIport hosted website.


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. Version 1.6 of FormMail contains a few minor bug fixes, optimized code and more comments. The biggest change in this version is that by default, form fields are now sorted as they appear in the form. Error pages were also beautified a little and two new configuration fields were created. Read the History for a more complete list of changes. Versions 1.7-1.9 were issues for security fixes, and also fixed a problem causing selected servers to end the FormMail process before the e-mail was sent. Although the fixes from 1.7 to 1.9 were somewhat minor, they fixed major SPAM security holes and therefore the version numbers were increased dramatically to reflect this change.


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 1.5 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">

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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">

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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">

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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">

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Field:       required

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       env_report

Version:     1.3 & Up

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.
             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:

            http://www.cgi-resources.com/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">

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Field:       sort

Version:     1.4 & Up

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.  Version 1.6 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,
                                                   name3,etc...">

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Field:       print_config

Version:     1.5 & Up

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">

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Field:       print_blank_fields

Version:     1.6

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">

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Field:       title

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       return_link_url

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       return_link_title

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       missing_fields_redirect

Version:     1.6

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">

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Field:       background

Version:     1.3 & Up

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.com/image.gif">

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Field:       bgcolor

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       text_color

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       link_color

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       vlink_color

Version:     1.3 & Up

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">

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Field:       alink_color

Version:     1.4 & Up

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. 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.


Links:


Please send suggestions and comments to: OMNIport WebMeister
Thank you ... enjoy!
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