Our UNIX web hosting accounts have access to
a useful form-to-email script called cgiemail.
The cgiemail script resides in the server's
cgi-bin directory and does not have to be installed within your
own account. Merely reference cgiemail as illustrated as
illustrated in the following HTML form action:
- <form method="post"
action="/cgi-bin/cgiemail/mailtemp.txt">
This code calls the preinstalled script cgiemail
which is in the server's cgi-bin directory once the web page
visitor clicks the "submit" button. The script cgiemail
in turn calls a text file (or template) called mailtemp.txt.
The template defines the format by which the submitted form
content is to be sent via email.
You can create the template in a basic text
editor beginning with the following two lines:
To: username@yourdomain.com
Subject: Information Request
Substitute the desired recipient email
address and subject above. Next, you will need to add ALL field
names within the HTML form to the template in a form similar to
the following:
To: username@yourdomain.com
Subject: Information Request
Name [name]
Address [address]
Phone [telno]
As long as each form field name is contained
within brackets ("[ ]") within the template, the email
should be sent successfully and contain all submitted data. We
suggest you use all lowercase field names within your HTML form
and template. Be sure to upload the template in ASCII transfer
mode.
If you want a specific web page to load when
the email is successfully sent, such as a thank you note, add the
follow code to your HTML form:
- <input type="hidden"
name="success" value="http://your_domain.com/thanks.html">
Substitute the URL of the file you wish to
load after form data is submitted. The field name in this case
MUST be "success", but does not need to be added to the
template.
*** Helpful Tip ***
When you receive the submitted form content via email, you will
see that the return address is one that is associated with
yourfavorite.com. In some instances, you may want to reply
directly to the person that completed the form.
First, add a field to the HTML form (e.g.
"email" to prompt the visitor for his/her complete email
address. Next, add the field name to the corresponding template in
the following manner:
To: username@yourdomain.com
From: [email]
Subject: Information Request
The cgiemail script will insert the address
entered in the field named email. When the emailed form
is received it will be tagged with this return address.
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