You can include any of these anywhere between the <form> and
</form> tags. They're all optional except "to" (and if your
e-mail address is the default address in the script, even that's
optional).
These variables are all case sensitive. The mail-related "email", "to",
"to_name", "cc", "subject", "first_name", "last_name" and "name" fields are
all lowercase letters. The other variables are capitalized as noted below.
Mailing the Data
"to"
First, put your e-mail address in the "to" field, so the script can
mail the data to you.
<input type="hidden" name="to" value="you@your.org">
You can mail the data to more than one address, like this.
<input type="hidden" name="to" value="you@your.org, other@your.org">
If you want to do everything as simply as possible, you can stop reading
right now, because "to" is the only script control field you really need.
You can also include a "to_name" field, so the recipient can see your name
as well as your e-mail address.
<input type="hidden" name="to_name" value="Your Name">
"cc"
Another way to mail the results to more than one person is to use the "cc"
field.
<input type="hidden" name="cc" value="other@your.org, someone@your.org">
You can also include a "cc_name" field, so the recipient can see the cc:
name(s) as well as the e-mail address(es).
<input type="hidden" name="cc_name" value="Tom A., Dick B., Jane C.">
There is no bcc field.
"subject"
The "subject" variable is optional. If it's included on the form, it
overrides the DefaultSubject that the script otherwise uses. The default
is something generic-sounding like "Web Form Data".
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="My Own Subject Line">
"SubjectField"
<input type="hidden" name="SubjectField" value="name,phone">
"SubjectField" copies whatever the user enters as the contents of a
specified form field (or fields) onto the message's subject line.
You can use "SubjectField" with or without using "subject." If you use
them both, then the SubjectField data will follow the fixed "subject"
data. For example, if the "subject" for a particular form is "XYZ
Request" and the variable subject fields are name and phone, the
message's complete subject line would be
XYZ Request - John Doe - (800) 555-1212
"SkipBlankFields"
<input type="hidden" name="SkipBlankFields" value="yes">
"SkipBlankFields" lets you avoid wading through lots of blank fields in
form data from long forms that may contain hundreds of fields but few
required fields.
This is optional. If you don't want to use this feature, remove the
above hidden line from the form. Whether or not it's used, unchecked
checkboxes will not appear on the form results. (However, checkbox
fields can be required in the Required field.)
"MailLastNameFirst"
<input type="hidden" name="MailLastNameFirst" value="yes">
"MailLastNameFirst" is optional. If you include this field on the form, the
mail sent by the script comes from "Johnson, Bob" instead of "Bob Johnson."
If you don't want to use this feature, remove the above hidden line from the
form.
This works only if the form includes fields named "first_name" and
"last_name", and both fields are filled out. These field names must be
in lowercase, and must include the underscore.
If one but not both of the specially named first_name and last_name
fields is on the form (or both are on the form but only one is filled
out), the user's e-mail address will be "Johnson" or
"Bob" .
If neither "first_name" nor "last_name" is on the form (or neither is
filled out), the user's e-mail address will be bob@some.com.
Responding to User Input
"Required"
"Required" can apply to any of the data fields that the user fills
out. The script won't accept the form unless the user puts something
(anything) in the required fields. The script doesn't validate the
data from any field except "email", which it checks minimally. In any
other field, the user can enter "qwerty" and the script will accept
it.
For select boxes, you can use value="required" as the value of an empty
option. This is equivalent to value="" but works with more browsers.
<select>
<option value="required">Pick one
<option value="Some value>Some value
<option value="Other value>Other value
</select>
If the form contains a field named "email", the script automatically
uses it as part of the mail header. The special "email" field name is
case sensitive. The "email" field isn't required, unless you include it
in the Required list. If it's not required and not filled out, then the
script uses the MailtoAddress on the form or the DefaultTo address
in the script for "From:" when it mails you the form results.
It's a good idea to use required fields sparingly. Users dislike them,
especially if they ask for "none of your beeswax" information. Ask yourself,
"Would the data be completely and utterly useless without this field, or
not?"
<input type="hidden" name="Required" value="last_name,first_name,email">
"email"
This is the user's e-mail address. This field must have the exact name
"email" (case sensitive) if the script is to send a message to the user.
You can make "email" a required field or not. Even if it's not required, the
script checks the address for a typical Internet mail address format,
because it uses the address to send a duplicate copy of the data to the
user. If the address isn't in the usual format, the script won't accept it.
"BlurbFilePath"
This defines one or more text files that are mailed to whoever filled out
the form. Appended to the first file is a record of the data that the user
entered on the form. You can specify different blurb text files for each
form. Give the full file paths. (Theses are not URLs). The blurb files don't
have to be in an HTML directory, but must be world readable.
<input type="hidden" name="BlurbFilePath" value="/web/arts/yourdir/thanks.txt">
or
<input type="hidden" name="BlurbFilePath" value="/web/arts/yourdir/thanks.txt,/web/arts/yourdir/whatnext.txt">
No default blurb is sent, in the absence of a specific blurb text file defined
for each form.
"first_name"
"last_name"
"name"
If the user fills out the "first_name" or "last_name" fields, the
script includes them as part of the user's e-mail address.
If the form includes a "first_name" field and the user fills it out, the
script uses that for the salutation for the mail blurb.
In te eabsence of first_name or last_name, the script will use the
"name" field, if present, for the user's name in the e-mail address.
The script doesn't use "name" in the salutation for the blurb. If
there's no "first_name", it skips the salutation.
Generic Thanks Page
When the user presses the submit button, the script by default displays
a generic thanks page. It lists the data entered on the form and
indicates where the script mailed the results. If the form includes an
"email" field and the user fills it out, the script mails a duplicate
copy of the data to the user.
All of the following variables are optional, and apply only to the
default generic thanks page. You probably won't need to use them.
"ReturnLinkURL"
"ReturnLinkTitle"
The generic thanks page includes a link back to the form, with the title
"Return to the Form." You can substitute a link to any other page, like this.
These variables are only for the generic thanks page, not for your own
HTML echo page or a redirected page (see below).
<input type="hidden" name="ReturnLinkURL" value="/rec/curling/">
<input type="hidden" name="ReturnLinkTitle" value="The Curling Page">
"MailtoPrompt"
"MailtoName"
"MailToAddress
The default e-mail link is to the "to" address on the form. If you want to
display a different mailto link, you can do it like this.
<input type="hidden" name="MailtoAddress" value="other@your.org">
<input type="hidden" name="MailtoName" value="Betty B. Boomer">
The default prompt for the mailto link is "Questions:" but
you can change that too, with this line:
<input type="hidden" name="MailToPrompt" value="For more info:">
HTML Echo Page
You can define your own HTML echo page for each form. You can use the
echo page to say something appropriate to the user after submitting the
form, or simply to display your own images and links on a nicer looking
page.
"EchoFilePath"
<input type="hidden" name="EchoFilePath" value="/somedir/you/public_html/thanks-sample.html">
"EchoFilePath" is optional. If it's omitted, the script displays a
generic thanks page when the user presses the submit button. To use your
own HTML echo page, specify its file path from the base of the file
system (not relative to the Web server's document directory). This is a
file path, not a URL.
You can use .html or .htm as a file extension for your echo page. The
script won't read files with other than these file extensions, unless
you add more file extensions in the script's config section. According
to the script, if an HTML file anywhere on your server is world
readable, it must be all right to display it. You can't use any file
path that starts with a dot (.)
You can design your HTML echo page however you like. Include your own
mailto and return links.
If you want the script to display the user's input data on your echo page,
include the following comment line in the file, where you want the user
data to appear.
<!--ECHO DATA HERE-->
Redirection to Another Page
"RedirectURL"
To display a page on another server when the user presses the submit
button, you can use the RedirectURL variable. It's not possible to echo
user data from the form onto a redirected page.
<input type="hidden" name="RedirectURL" value="http://www.any.org/page.html">
If the page is on your server, you can shorten this to a relative URL.
<input type="hidden" name="RedirectURL" value="/somedir/hi.html">