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lilblackgirl
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formmail - 4/13/2004 14:15:53
I know nothing about perl scripting, but i've been having recent issues with formatting the results of a form on a client's contact page and i found this and some good reviews. Has anyone ever used it before and how simple is it to get it to work? It seems fairly straight forward, but i'm not sure. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.
formmail script
thanks,
Lil
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LoriL1212
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RE: formmail - 4/13/2004 15:49:49
I use Matt's formmail on all my sites.
It is really one of the easiest ones to set up - and is very reliable.
What help do you need - I would be happy to get you going.
< Message edited by LoriL1212 -- 4/13/2004 15:50:47 >
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LoriL1212
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RE: formmail - 4/13/2004 16:58:55
You would refrence the file as so:
<FORM METHOD="GET" ACTION="/cgi-bin/formmail.pl">
my field: <INPUT name="myfieldname">
<INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
Here is the HTML read me that may be a bit less intimidating.
http://www.scriptarchive.com/formmail.html
Let me know if you need any help.
**edited to add URL - I am moving way to fast today!
< Message edited by LoriL1212 -- 4/13/2004 17:07:58 >
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Nigel
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RE: formmail - 4/14/2004 4:39:21
You may want to check with your web host as many provide these scripts free of charge with the minumum of input from you. Where they do the whole process takes just a few minutes.
I know what you mean about the Formail Readme file - it looks daunting but only about 1 page if that is relevant to what you need.
Nigel
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lilblackgirl
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RE: formmail - 4/15/2004 10:21:13
Lori,
The page has been set up and we've confirmed that the client is receiving the email, but the response page to the form is pretty bland looking and unfortunately, i was told that the response couldn't be directed to the response page i've set up for the original form i built. but i was told that i could format the .pl script for color, fonts, content, etc. If you could assist me in figuring out how to to this, i'd really appreciate it. Can i just paste the code for my response page in the .pl script and have it formatted? or can i just specify colors and fonts, etc.? The response page basically spits out a page with what the user just placed in the form. To be honest, i don't think they care that much to be told what they just stated, but who knows.
I attached a pic of the response page for reference. The response page i built is here: response page
thanks for any help you can offer,
Lil
Thumbnail Image
 Attachment (1)
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Nigel
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RE: formmail - 4/15/2004 13:06:57
Hi Lil,
This might help a bit but I don't think it answers all of your questions:
http://www.scriptarchive.com/readme/formmail.html#form_config
Try a google search on 'formatting formail' - it might help. Someone has almost certainly asked the same question before.
If your on a windows server you can use aspmail which lets you send your form results in html - maybe you can do this with formail as well - I'm not sure.
Nigel
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lilblackgirl
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RE: formmail - 4/15/2004 13:41:54
That looks like it's exactly what i need Nigel. It looks like there's a 'redirect' option that will allow me to redirect to another page instead of display the results of the form. Thanks much!
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Nigel
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RE: formmail - 4/15/2004 14:34:06
Hi Lil,
Yes there is - I can give you an example of a working script if you want. I didn't realise you didnt have the redirect working.
I've used this script for competition entries for a golf club. The details are emailed to the club and the script sends an autoresponse to the email address given on the form.
You can also use Frontpage to do this by sending the form results to an email address. Thats probably the quickest but your customer needs Frontpage extensions installed on the server for it to work.
Nigel
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lilblackgirl
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RE: formmail - 4/15/2004 15:23:47
Well, that's where the problem started. the only thing i use FP extensions for is on forms, but the host is having issues trying to get them to work correctly, which is why we set up the formmail script. The problem is, when the user fills out the form and clicks the submit button, they are shown the page that i've attached (further up in this post) which is downright ugly and doesn't fit the format of the site. Plus, if i were the one who just filled out the form, I wouldn't really care to be shown what i just typed. By then it's to late to do anything about it and the page is ugly. I have a response page (basically a thank you for filling out the form) which is what i'd like to display when the user clicks submit. Unfortunately, the admin for the host sent me the .pl file to let me make changes, but didn't give me any ideas as to what could or could not be changed in the script to display that thank you page or format the ugly response page. I'm afraid i'm going to change something in the script and F it up. Thus the reason for the redirect to the thanks page need.
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ellipisces
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RE: formmail - 4/15/2004 16:19:07
You can format the confirmation page to look exactly like the rest of the site. Sometimes I set the confirmation page up to display the info and then use a re-direct on that page to send them back to (Home, Forms, wherever they came from, etc...). When doing this it is always a good idea to inform them of what is going on, i.e.
"You will be sent back to the Main page in 3 seconds, thank you for your input"
quote:
but the host is having issues trying to get them to work correctly I know I've told you this before, Get a new host! There is no excuse for this but, lack of experience or expertise. Suggestion: It's right over there on the left, Outfront Hosting. Inexpensive, and you absolutely will not find better tech support.
http://www.outfront.net/hosting/outfront_hosting.asp
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Nigel
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RE: formmail - 4/16/2004 7:17:42
Hi Lil,
If you use a frontpage form its very easy to set the redirect to the nice page you want.
Click in the Form then right click and select Form Properties.
When the small window opens click on Options
You will see tabs to set the email address to send the form to and for the confirmation page you want the user to be directed to after clicking on the submit button.
You will need publish this through Frontpage to get it to work properly as it used frontpage components.
Hope this helps.
Nigel
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lilblackgirl
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RE: formmail - 4/16/2004 9:54:22
Nigel,
Again, this is what caused the problem initially. The FP extensions aren't set up correctly on the server (and they can't figure out why), but b/c they aren't, i'm not able to publish, thus causing the issue with the form. So, they set up the perl script to allow the form results to email to the client. I found the redirect comment and added it straight into the HTML of the page. Nothing needed to be adjusted in the script which makes me happy, but after messing with it for a while, i'm realizing that the script isn't that difficult (at least from my end to make adjustments), so i got the redirect set up and when the user clicks 'submit', it now takes them to the correct thank you page that i created! Wahoo! fixed!
thanks all for the help on this,
Lil
Lori, did you fall of the face of the earth? Guess she's busy.
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Nigel
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RE: formmail - 4/17/2004 8:09:39
Lil,
I forgot about your problems with the extensions - sorry.
Glad to here you got it working though. There's always more than one way.
Nigel
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Printable Version 
I guess a question that comes to mind is how is the file referenced in my HTML code? Is it similar to the way a style sheet is referenced or do i need to build the form and then place comments throughout it to make it work? And then i just place the .pl file in the CGI_BIN folder on the server and it does all the work for me? And forgive me if what i'm saying here is off. I'm at work and i'm trying to remember the bit that i glanced at for memory.
- there's a table in there thats messing up the layout of the site that i can't find 
