How do I create a contact form?

lostdesign · 25-08-2010 8:55pm #1

Hi guys, I have built a number of simple html websites mainly using the design tab of dreamweaver and they all work very well. At the minute I am doing a redesign for a friend of mine who wants a contact form on their site and not just a mailto link which is what I usually use because of my lack of knowledge!

I have done a bit of research and everything seems to be pointing me towards a PHP contact form but I haven't a clue where to start. I have a very very small understanding of scripting and I usually learn things by finding something that works and editing it for what I want it to do.

So I am wondering if someone could point me in the right direction to either download a good php contact form script that I could edit or suggest a link for a good online tutorial that I could follow. I have done some searching myself but am aware I could easily get a dodgy script so hoping you could point in the right direction.

I don't expect you guys to give up the code you developed yourself but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Plebs · 25-08-2010 10:27pm

lostdesign wrote: »

Hi guys, I have built a number of simple html websites mainly using the design tab of dreamweaver and they all work very well. At the minute I am doing a redesign for a friend of mine who wants a contact form on their site and not just a mailto link which is what I usually use because of my lack of knowledge!

I have done a bit of research and everything seems to be pointing me towards a PHP contact form but I haven't a clue where to start. I have a very very small understanding of scripting and I usually learn things by finding something that works and editing it for what I want it to do.

So I am wondering if someone could point me in the right direction to either download a good php contact form script that I could edit or suggest a link for a good online tutorial that I could follow. I have done some searching myself but am aware I could easily get a dodgy script so hoping you could point in the right direction.

I don't expect you guys to give up the code you developed yourself but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Use jQuery on client side to filter/prompt user.

Send a message from your browser to PHP like this:

contactForm.php:

<html>
<form>
Email: <input id="email"></input>
</form>
</html>

<script>
$('#email').click(function(){send2server();});
function send2server(){
   var email=$('#email').val();
   var url="http://www.myserver.com/formHandler.php?email="+email;

   //open the url using XMLHttpWebRequest
}
</script>

Use PHP on the server side to verify and process the information sent.

formHandler.php:

<?php
//grab the variable:
$email=$_GET['email'];

//make sure $email is valid here
if(isValidEmail($email)){
   //valid email address: store in database, etc.
   storeInDatabase($email);
}
//etc.

?>

lostdesign · 26-08-2010 10:32am

Thanks Plebs, will give it a shot!

How do I create a contact form?

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