[RESOLVED] mailform...

[Zifweb]

I'm script-illiterate, and was wondering how exactly I could get a form on a webpage to be automatically mailed to a fixed email address every time it's submitted. I have the javascript in the HTML, I just don't know what I'd need server-side for it to work.

If I got it right, I'd need a CGI script for this to work, right?

If so, could anyone point me in the right direction as to where I could get a script that would do that? Or a tutorial or something that tells me how to make one?

The form I'm going to use is extremely simple, just name, email and comment fields, with a fixed subject line.
Exact javascript follows:

<!-- Begin
function checkFields() {
missinginfo = "";
if (document.form.name.value == "") {
missinginfo += "\n - Name";
}
if ((document.form.from.value == "") ||
(document.form.from.value.indexOf('@') == -1) ||
(document.form.from.value.indexOf('.') == -1)) {
missinginfo += "\n - Email address";
}
if(document.form.comments.value == "") {
missinginfo += "\n - Comments";
}

if (missinginfo != "") {
missinginfo ="_____________________________\n" +
"You failed to correctly fill in your:\n" +
missinginfo + "\n_____________________________" +
"\nPlease re-enter and submit again!";
alert(missinginfo);
return false;
}
else return true;
}
// End -->

And in the body:

<form name=form onSubmit="return checkFields();">

<input type=hidden name=to value='some@thing.com'>
<input type=hidden name=subject value="Feedback">

<pre><font>
Name: <input type=text name="name" size=30>
E-mail: <input type=text name="from" size=30>

Comments:</font>
<textarea rows=3 cols=40 name="comments"></textarea>
<input type=submit name="submit" value="Submit Form!">
</pre>
</form>

Well, hope someone can help me out with this...

[Phil Karras]

I'll give you a link (maybe two?) to a place where I've answered this type of question before.

If you don't have the ability to write the Perl/PHP whatever to send the email then there are programs out there to do that. The link(s) will tell about those places & programs available.

Some are even free:

[color=b;ue]Hints: Sending Form Results by Email [/color]
http://www.jsworkshop.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=28

[Zifweb]

ok.. thanks for that... and now the next question:
I'm hosting this webpage on my own computer, and was wondering what is needed to support scripts and so on (ie. do I need a specific program). Right now all I have is IIS running, it's a windows (2k) system.

Oh, and I also noticed that pretty much all those scripts refer to a "sendmail" program from Unix. Is there a similar alternative for Windows? The smaller (and easier) the prog the better, although a form-post URL check (ie. checks that the form is posted from one or more specific URLs and rejects all others) would be a must. Even if MS Exchange does the job, I rather not use it due to it's size and all the options and possibilities that would really just waste valuable space and resources (and lets not forget, money too).

Probably in a couple of months I'll be getting an extra comp to run the webserver/etc. on, but for now it's also my workplace. That one will be Linux, so I was wondering if "sendmail" is also a standard part of Linux, or otherwise if it (or similar) is available somewhere.

In all cases I'm looking for free programs/scripts/etc. as I am but a poor student with very big debts, so paying for these (unless it's VERY cheap) is not a possibility.

[Phil Karras]

I believe sendmail is a part of Linux as is Perl but I don't know for sure.

And if they are not I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find free versions to use.

Sorry can't answer about Windows I haven't ever put together a server, just been around when others have. So, I don't really know.

[DaiWelsh]

Zifweb,

activestate has an excellent perl implementation for windows.

I have nver tried sendmail on windows myself, but there are products at download.com e.g. here that may do what you need.

Note also that checking refering url is not adequate as spam protection, since the referring page information is sent by the client (e.g. the browser) and so can easily be spoofed. The best protection against spamming is not to allow the user of the form to set both the content and the to address for the mail.

HTH,

Dai