Creating Forms for your Web Site: | STAFFWEB Northwestern University Library

MailForm is a universal WWW form to E-mail gateway adapted from the original FormMail script by Matt Wright. There is only one required form input tag which must be specified in order for this script to work with your existing forms. Other hidden configuration fields can also be used to enhance the operation of MailForm on your site. The action of your form needs to point towards a script on the library's web server, and the method must be POST or GET in capital letters

Many of the optional elements utilize "Hidden Form Fields" which are easily inserted within Dreamweaver. You can insert hidden fields within your form using Dreamweaver (Insert -> Form Object -> Hidden Field). If you view "invisible elements" within Dreamwever you will see a hidden form element icon appear at the insertion point as shown below.

Hidden Element tag as shown within a Dreamweaver page (If View Invisible elements is turned on)

To create your own form for use on the NUL site (please note these instructions may have changed since you last saw them):

Create a form in Dreamweaver.
Add the two required tags (Action & Recipient) and other optional elements as described below.
Send a request to the Virtual Help Desk with the recipient email address you're using in the form. This email address needs to be authorized in order to receive mailform email.
Put your completed form on the NUL web server using Dreamweaver once the email address has been authorized.
Test your form to make sure it works. You may wish not to link to the page until you can verfiy that it works.

Required Form Fields:

Field

action

Description

This form field allows you to specify the action the Form should take when the submit button is clicked. You can insert Hidden fields within your form using Dreamweaver (Insert -> Form). Once your form is defined you can use the Property Inspector to add the action tag shown below.

Syntax

<FORM method="post" action="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/mailform.cgi">
Dreamweaver Form Action Tag

Other than the Form Action, there is only one form field that you must have in your form, for mail form to work correctly. This is the recipient field

Field	recipient
Description	This form field allows you to specify to whom you wish for your form results to be mailed. Create a hidden form field with a value equal to that of the e-mail address you want the form information sent to.
Syntax	<INPUT type=hidden name="recipient" value="refdept@northwestern.edu">

Optional Form Fields:

Field	email
Description	This form field will allow the user to specify their return e-mail address. If you want to be able to return e-mail to your user. You include this form field and allow them to fill it in. This will be put into the From: field of the message you receive. If you want to require an email address with valid syntax, add this field name to the 'required' field.
Syntax	<input type=text name="email">

Field	realname
Description	The realname form field will allow the user to input their real name. This field is useful for identification purposes and will also be put into the From: line of your message header.
Syntax	<input type=text name="realname">

Field

subject

Description

The subject field will allow you to specify the subject that you wish to appear in the e-mail that is sent to you after this form has been filled out. If you do not have this option turned on, then the script will default to a message subject: WWW Form Submission.

Syntax

If you wish to specify what the subject is use a hidden field with the value as your subject:
<input type=hidden name="subject" value="Your Subject">

To allow the user to choose a subject create a text field with a name subject:
<input type=text name="subject">

Field

redirect

Description

If you wish to redirect the user to a different URL, rather than having them see the default response to the fill-out form, you can use this hidden variable to send them to a pre-made HTML page.

Syntax

To specify the URL they will end up at use an absolute URL for the value:
<input type=hidden name="redirect" value="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/help/thanks.html">

To allow them to choose a URL they wish to travel to once the form is filled out:
<input type=text name="redirect">

Field

required

Description

You can now require for certain fields in your form to be filled in before the user can successfully submit the form. Simply place all field names that you want to be mandatory into this field with a comma separator. If the required fields are not filled in, the user will be notified of what they need to fill in, and a link back to the form they just submitted will be provided.

Syntax

If you want to require that they fill in the email and phone fields in your form, so that you can reach them once you have received the mail, use a syntax like:

<input type=hidden name="required" value="email,phone">

Field

env_report

Description

Allows you to have Environment variables included in thee-mail message you receive after a user has filled out your form. Useful if you wish to know what browser they were using, what domain they were coming from or any other attributes associated with environment variables. The following is a short list of valid environment variables that might be useful:

REMOTE_HOST - Sends the hostname making a request.
REMOTE_ADDR - Sends the IP address of the remote host makingthe request.
REMOTE_USER - If server supports authentication and script is protected, this is the username they have authenticated as. *This is not usually set.*
HTTP_USER_AGENT - The browser the client is using to send therequest.
There are others, but these are a few of the most useful. For more information on environment variables, see:
http://www.cgi-resources.com/Documentation/Environment_Variables/

Syntax

If you wanted to find the remote host and browser sending the request, you would put the following into your form:

<input type=hidden name="env_report" value="REMOTE_HOST,HTTP_USER_AGENT">

Field

sort

Description

This field allows you to choose the order in which you wish for your variables to appear in the e-mail that FormMail generates. You can choose to have the field sorted alphabetically or specify a set order in which you want the fields to appear in your mail message. By leaving this field out, the order will simply default to the order in which the browsers sends the information to the script (which is usually the exact same order as they appeared in the form.) When sorting by a set order of fields, you should include the phrase "order:" as the first part of your value for the sort field, and then follow that with the field names you want to be listed in the e-mail message, separated by commas. You can include spaces and line breaks in the field without it messing up the sort. This is helpful when you have many form fields and need to insert a line wrap.

Syntax

To sort alphabetically:
<input type=hidden name="sort" value="alphabetic">

To sort by a set field order:
<input type=hidden name="sort" value="order:name1,name2,name3,etc...">

Field	print_config
Description	print_config allows you to specify which of the config variables you would like to have printed in your e-mail message. By default, no config fields are printed to your e-mail. This is because the important form fields, like email, subject, etc. are included in the header of the message. However some users have asked for this option so they can have these fields printed in the body of the message. The config fields that you wish to have printed should be in the value attribute of your input tag separated by commas.
Syntax	If you want to print the email and subject fields in the body of your message, you would place the following form tag: <input type=hidden name="print_config" value="email,subject">

Field	print_blank_fields
Description	print_blank_fields allows you to request that all form fields are printed in the return HTML, regardless of whether or not they were filled in. FormMail defaults to turning this off, so that unused form fields aren't e-mailed.
Syntax	If you want to print all blank fields: <input type=hidden name="print_blank_fields" value="1">

Field	title
Description	This form field allows you to specify the title and header that will appear on the resulting page if you do not specify a redirect URL.
Syntax	If you wanted a title of 'Feedback Form Results': <input type=hidden name="title" value="Feedback Form Results">

Field	return_link_url
Description	This field allows you to specify a URL that will appear, as return_link_title, on the following report page. This field will not be used if you have the redirect field set, but it is useful if you allow the user to receive the report on the following page, but want to offer them a way to get back to your main page.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="return_link_url" value="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/media/index.html">

Field

return_link_title

Description

This is the title that will be used to link the user back to the page you specify with return_link_url. The two fields will be shown on the resulting form page as shown below

<ul>
<li><a href="return_link_url">return_link_title</a>
</ul>:

Syntax

<input type=hidden name="return_link_title" value="Back to Main Page">

Field	missing_fields_redirect
Description	This form field allows you to specify a URL that users will be redirected to if there are fields listed in the required form field that are not filled in. This is so you can customize an error page instead of displaying the default.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="missing_fields_redirect" value="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/errors/error.html">

Field	background
Description	This form field allow you to specify a background image that will appear if you do not have the redirect field set. This image will appear as the background to the form results page.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="background" value="http://www.library.northwestern.edu/Assets/image.gif">

Field	bgcolor
Description	This form field allow you to specify a bgcolor for the form results page in much the way you specify a background image. This field should not be set if the redirect field is.
Syntax	For a background color of White: <input type=hidden name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF">

Field	text_color
Description	This field works in the same way as bgcolor, except that it will change the color of your text.
Syntax	For a text color of Black: <input type=hidden name="text_color" value="#000000">

Field	link_color
Description	Changes the color of links on the resulting page. Works in the same way as text_color. Should not be defined if redirect is.
Syntax	For a link color of Red: <input type=hidden name="link_color" value="#FF0000">

Field	vlink_color
Description	Changes the color of visited links on the resulting page. Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if redirect is.
Syntax	For a visited link color of Blue: <input type=hidden name="vlink_color" value="#0000FF">

Field	alink_color
Description	Changes the color of active links on the resulting page. Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if redirect is.
Syntax	For a visited link color of Blue: <input type=hidden name="alink_color" value="#0000FF">

Field	cc
Description	This form field will allow you to send a copy of the users form data to another address instead of putting multiple addresses in the recipient field. This will be added to the e-mail as a Cc: field.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="cc" value="webmaster@infosheet.com">

Field	cc_visitor
Description	This form field will allow you to send a copy of the users form data to the email address specified by the visitor in the email field. This could be helpful to confirm orders so the visitor has a copy of what was submitted. This tag will not work in conjunction with the cc field above. This will be added to the e-mail as a Cc: field.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="cc_visitor" value="1">

Field	bcc
Description	This form field will allow you to send a blind copy of the users form data to another address instead of putting multiple addresses in the recipient field. This will be added to the e-mail as a Bcc: field.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="bcc" value="webmaster@infosheet.com">

Field	courtesy_reply
Description	This field initiates an automated courtesy reply to the user to thank them for filling out your form!
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="courtesy_reply" value="yes">

Field	courtesy_reply_texta
Description	The first line of your courtesy reply text
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="courtesy_reply_texta" value="Thank you for taking the time...">

Field	courtesy_reply_textb
Description	The second line of your courtesy reply text
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="courtesy_reply_textb" value="Call us if you need anything...">

Field	courtesy_who_we_are
Description	Tell the visitor who you are in the courtesy reply footer
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="courtesy_who_we_are" value="The Byte Shop">

Field	courtesy_our_url
Description	If you want to put your url in the footer of the reply
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="courtesy_our_url" value="http://www.infosheet.com">

Field	courtesy_our_email
Description	If you want to put your mailto in the footer of the reply
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="courtesy_our_email" value="bsietz@infosheet.com">

Field

append_db

Description

Appends field values to a flat-file database.

If you wish to append the form fields to a flat file database, just specify the filename as the value of this field. The value should specify the path and file to hold the data. This will not work unless enabled by IT staff. Please coordinate with DLSD.

Syntax

<input type=hidden name="append_db" value="./formdata/InfoSheet.dat">

Field	db_fields
Description	Specify exactly which fields are appended to the database. Any field not specified in db_fields will not be appended to the database.
Syntax	<input type=hidden name="db_fields" value = "realname,email,homephone">

Any other form fields that appear in your script will be mailed back to you and displayed on the resulting page if you do not have the redirect field set. There is no limit as to how many other form fields you can use with this form, except the limits imposed by browsers and your server.

Some of the possible uses of this script are:

You want to have a form that will be mailed to you, but aren't sure how to write the CGI script for it.
You are the webmaster of your site and want to allow users to use forms, but not to have their own cgi-bin directories, which can cause security risks to your system. You can set this script up and then allow all users to run off of it.
Want to have one script to parse all of your html forms and mail them to you.

This documentation and implementation have been utilized from the FormMail CGI script
# FormMail Version 1.6 #
# Copyright 1996-1997 Matt Wright mattw@worldwidemart.com #
# Created 06/09/95 Last Modified 05/02/97 #
# Matt's Script Archive, Inc.: http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/ #