Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (Full Version)

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WantToLearn -> Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/11/2007 17:51:43)

http://www.ctrfx.com

Email Contact Forms—almost every website needs one, but almost nobody gets excited about creating them. FrontPage had some nice wizards and tools that made it quick and easy to create contact forms, but these amenities are noticeably absent from Expression Web. Furthermore, if you want to take advantage of Master Pages and most of the other cool stuff in EW, you’ll need to use ASPX pages, which means your contact form will have to be written using ASP.NET 2. If you are not a .Net developer, this can be daunting and even if you are a developer, creating contact forms is still a tedious task.

I couldn’t find any tool or “wizard” that would allow me to easily create an ASP.NET 2 contact form so I decided to create my own; it is available for free at http://www.ctrfx.com. It’s an online tool so there’s nothing to download or install. You simply select the form fields that you want and enter some info about the email address where the form results will be sent. In seconds, it will then generate the necessary code for a complete email contact form, including the back-end ASP.NET 2.0 code, the HTML form fields, field validators, a customizable confirmation message (displayed after the form is submitted), a basic security test to minimize form SPAM, and more. No programming knowledge is required. You then insert the script into your ASPX page and customize the form to fit the look and feel of your website. My favorite part is that once the code has been generated and inserted into your page, you can add, edit, and remove form fields from within Expression Web without having to modify the script or regenerate the code. This can be especially helpful if you need to add a lot of custom form fields.

Here is a live demo so you can get an idea of the type of form it will create.

I hope it will be helpful. Let me know what you think, if you find any bugs or have any suggestions, etc.



Tailslide -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/12/2007 2:32:07)

It doesn't have any labels on the form inputs which hampers the accessibility plus can you get rid of the inline CSS?



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/12/2007 10:40:45)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tailslide

It doesn't have any labels on the form inputs which hampers the accessibility plus can you get rid of the inline CSS?


Great suggestions! I'll try to make those changes.



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/14/2007 16:16:17)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tailslide

It doesn't have any labels on the form inputs which hampers the accessibility plus can you get rid of the inline CSS?


UPDATE: It now generates form labels and no inline CSS.



BobbyDouglas -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/14/2007 16:44:38)

Wow, that looks very nice! [:)]

It would be great if there was a way to add custom fields on the generator script, as opposed to using the ones you provide, or requiring the user to use EW to add new ones.



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/14/2007 19:51:43)


quote:

ORIGINAL: BobbyDouglas

Wow, that looks very nice! [:)]

It would be great if there was a way to add custom fields on the generator script, as opposed to using the ones you provide, or requiring the user to use EW to add new ones.


Thanks.

Custom fields generated on the fly would be nice. I'll look into it. Maybe for version 2... [;)]



Tailslide -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 2:36:28)


quote:

ORIGINAL: WantToLearn


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tailslide

It doesn't have any labels on the form inputs which hampers the accessibility plus can you get rid of the inline CSS?


UPDATE: It now generates form labels and no inline CSS.


Now that's what I call listening to your market!!



Avick -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 7:06:56)

I'm getting the following error when I try to run the form on my local PC. All other ASPX pages work OK

Compiler Error Message: CS1002: ; expected

quote:


Line 5: <!-- script -->
Line 6: <script runat="server">
Line 7: Protected Sub SubmitForm_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Line 8: If Not Page.IsValid Then Exit Sub
Line 9:




I know its not much to go on but thats all I have.

I have a master page and a page called sitemail.aspx

I pasted the form where i wanted it to be and the script just above it on the same page. sitemail.aspx
I then put the script in the master page and still the same problem.

When I post it out to the webserver I get:
<!-- Web.Config Configuration File -->

<configuration>
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="Off"/>
</system.web>
</configuration>

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong!!!!



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 9:56:08)

Alan,

Check your page directive to make sure the language is set to VB (visual basic) and not C# (c sharp). Right now, my form generator only creates VB code and the error you are getting is a C# syntax error so that's the first thing to check.

The page directive is just a line of declarative code near the top of every ASPX page and it looks something like this: 

<%@ Page Language="VB" Title="Untitled Page" %>


Notice the Language="" attribute. If yours looks like the following... 

<%@ Page Language="C#" Title="Untitled Page" %>


...then change the C# to VB and then try it.


Let me know if this helps.



Avick -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 12:48:58)

That fixed it.
Works just great.

Its really a wonderful form. You should be very proud of yourself!



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 13:51:42)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Avick
That fixed it.
Works just great.


Awesome! Glad to hear it works now. This could be a common "gotcha" for others as well so I added this info to the instructions on the website. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.


quote:

ORIGINAL: Avick
Its really a wonderful form. You should be very proud of yourself!



Thanks. I hope it is helpful.



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 18:26:55)

I added 5 more ready-to-go form fields to choose from: Title, Organization, Fax, Website, and a drop down list box of the 50 U.S states. If anyone can think of other common form fields, just let me know and I’ll try to add them.



caz -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 18:48:42)

What about a dropdown from where you could send an email to one or more targets?



Avick -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 19:18:59)

I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for a script like this.
Most form handlers are php based. As I (now) only use asp, vb, and MS servers this is a major leap forward.

You have all the fields that are required in any form now that you added Title, Organization, Fax, Website.



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/15/2007 20:31:40)


quote:

ORIGINAL: caz

What about a dropdown from where you could send an email to one or more targets?


I'm not quite sure what you mean. Can you point me to an online example of this?



BobbyDouglas -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/16/2007 0:30:30)

quote:

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Can you point me to an online example of this?

I think caz means a way to specific multiple recipients..



Avick -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/16/2007 4:48:03)

I have done this by sending the mail to a mailing list. The mailing list will then send the information to as many people as you like.

I do this with all my forms. It means you no longer have to change the script and risk messing up the form.
If you want to change the email address where the information is being sent all you have to do is change the mailing list and not go anywhere near the website!!



caz -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/16/2007 8:50:21)

Thanks Bobby I did mean that. A similar question was raised in this thread:

Sending email to multiple recipients

and given the problems it raises it would be good to have a simple solution from Want To Learn's form because not everyone maintains mailing lists, or are very comfortable with scripts.

It would be so much easier to point enquirers to this form in much the same way that we point to Mike Cherim's PHP form as a secure and accessible solution. [:D]



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (5/16/2007 11:03:50)

I think I understand now. I was confused partly because my form generator already allows you to send the results to one or more email addresses. But you're talking about having an option of sending the results to a specific email based on a user selected category, etc. That makes sense now. hhmm... that might be a little tricky but I'll see what I can do.



papajo -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (6/12/2007 16:45:44)

This has got to be the most useable script i've encountered. Thanks Joe.



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (6/12/2007 17:30:35)


quote:

ORIGINAL: papajo

This has got to be the most useable script i've encountered. Thanks Joe.


You're very welcome, papajo. Glad you found it helpful.



pointsi -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (8/10/2007 5:39:52)

In FP, it was easy to setup a form to send data to both an email address and publish it on a webpage in your "_private" folder (in a .htm/.csv file, for example).

Can you advise how to get an EW form to send data to a webpage? Or perhaps update your generator to allow for that?



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (8/10/2007 11:53:33)


quote:

ORIGINAL: pointsi

In FP, it was easy to setup a form to send data to both an email address and publish it on a webpage in your "_private" folder (in a .htm/.csv file, for example).

Can you advise how to get an EW form to send data to a webpage? Or perhaps update your generator to allow for that?


If your web server has the FrontPage Server Extensions, I believe EW still supports the ability to send the data to a file in the _private folder like FP used to.

Short of that, it would probably require some custom server-side programming.

I do provide custom ASP.NET programming solutions like this, so if you are interested, you can contact me here.

Hope this helps.



alathea -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (8/14/2007 17:50:56)

I have generated the code, and haven't made any changes yet...but the txt string for the validation question won't appear when I render the page in local host. There is the "Anti Spam Question" string, and the box to type an answer, but no question.

I have pasted it into Visual Web Developer as is...could it be something as simple as shut down VWD 2005 and restart it? Ive been staring at it for about 2 hours now at work, and i'm just starting asp.net. I hope its something obvious.....


Thanks to any and all.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
Dim lbl As Label = Me.FormContent.FindControl("labelq")
If lbl IsNot Nothing Then
Dim rq(3) As String
rq(0) = "Is fire hot or cold?"
rq(1) = "Is ice hot or cold?"
rq(2) = "Is water wet or dry?"

Dim ra(3) As String
ra(0) = "hot"
ra(1) = "cold"
ra(2) = "wet"

Dim rnd As New Random
Dim rn As Integer = rnd.Next(0, 3)
lbl.Text = rq(rn)
ViewState("hf1") = ra(rn)
End If
End If
End Sub
</script>
------------------------------------------------------------------
<label for="TextBoxQ">
Anti-Spam Question:
<asp:Label ID="LabelQ" runat="server" Width="162px"></asp:Label>
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBoxQ" runat="server" Columns="8"></asp:TextBox>
</label>
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator12" runat="server" ControlToValidate="TextBoxQ"
Display="Dynamic" ErrorMessage="Please answer the anti-spam question." SetFocusOnError="True"
CssClass="ValidateMessage" ForeColor="">* Required</asp:RequiredFieldValidator>
<br />
<asp:ValidationSummary ID="ValidationSummary1" runat="server" ShowMessageBox="True"
ShowSummary="False" CssClass="ValidateMessage" ForeColor="" />



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (8/16/2007 15:46:07)

Hello alathea, and welcome to the forums.

There are too many variables to say for sure what might be causing this behavior. If you send me the complete code for your page, I can run some tests and try to identify the problem. You can contact me at http://www.ctrfx.com/about/contact.aspx



oboboy -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (10/3/2007 22:02:40)

I get the following error after submitting the Form: Due to technical difficulty, your message may NOT have been sent.

HAve any idea why I get the error?



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (10/4/2007 10:53:57)

quote:

ORIGINAL: oboboy

I get the following error after submitting the Form: Due to technical difficulty, your message may NOT have been sent.

HAve any idea why I get the error?


Email contact forms can be a tricky thing. Because there are so many factors involved, I really can’t say what the problem is but I can show you how to display the real error message. I wrote the code so that by default any cryptic error message would be replace by the generic "Due to technical difficulties the form has not been sent". To see the real error message, you need to make a slight modification to the ASP.NET in your page. First, locate the following code in your page: 
Catch
	Me.YourForm.ActiveViewIndex = 2
End Try


Second, replace the above code in your page with the following code: 

Catch ex As Exception
	Me.YourForm.ActiveViewIndex = 2
	Response.Write("<span style='color:red'>" & ex.Message & "</span>")
End Try

Now try using the form. After submitting the form, the real error message should appear at the top of the page in red letters. Hopefully the message will then give you a clue as to what the problem might be.

Hope this helps.



Marie High -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (10/7/2007 11:03:56)

Hi, I am new to Out Front and the forums. I switched my site over to Out Front on Friday.
I am in the process of revising my site and am doing it via Expression Web. My current site is done in FrontPage, so I have a lot to learn.

I would like to add a contact form to the new template, but am not familiar enough yet to know exactly where I should insert your code.

<<<<<<<<The generated form and script must be placed in an ASP.NET page (.aspx) and deployed to a windows web server that supports ASP.NET 2.0 (not just ASP or ASP.NET or ASP.NET 1.1, but ASP.NET 2.0).>>>>>

I found the ASP.NET controls on the tool bar in the upper left frame of the page, but when you click on the + sign, it expands to a lot of different items.

Can you point me in the right direction as to what to click on to insert your code in the proper place.

I am sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am not the brightest bulb in the pack when it comes to understanding all of this new stuff.

Marie



WantToLearn -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (10/10/2007 11:29:54)

Hi Marie,

Don't feel bad if you are even a little confused; web design and development can be quite complex. I don't have time now but I just wanted to let you know I've seen your questions and I'll try to give some answers later.




onlyme -> RE: Free Contact Form Generator for Expression Web (11/24/2007 10:37:25)

Thank you for the contact form! I've spent way too long trying to get this to work and your form is so easy to get done! Thank you!

One question - I noticed that your programming requires a username and password for SMTP authentication. I'd rather not put that information into the programming of a page that can be seen by others. Is there an alternative?

Thanks again!



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