website forms

[hobsdv]

hi i need an email form for my site that has required fields and when the customer submits i get the email and they are taken to another page can anybody tell me how to go about this html form would be ideal

[Corey Bryant]

I would recommend using a server side language to confirm the fields. Some people use JavaScript but JavaScript can be turned off and is not as effective as server side.

What server side language are you using?

[hobsdv]

sorry to sound daft but what is server side language

[JPnyc]

Well HTML forms are basically all there are, unless your site is flash. But that's just to make the actual form that one sees, with text boxes, etc. To validate (meaning to make some inputs mandatory) you'll need javascript, and to have it emailed to you without use of any email programs on their system, you'll need to use a serverside scripting language, i.e. PHP, VBscript, Java (servelets or JSP) or some kind of cgi script. What language does your host support?

[Corey Bryant]

A server side language is usually ASP, PHP, .NET. if you are on a Windows platform, you probably can use ASP and .NET with Jmail, CDOSYS, ASPEMail, ASPMail, to process (email) the form. We use ASP ourselves and validate using ASP in case JavaScript is disabled.

If you are on an *NIX platform, you will probably use PHP.

[DeanS]

Hobsdv. It is very simple to have a form which sends you mail and sends the client to a confirmation page. You need to find a hosting company who can assist you with setting it up? It involves uploading a perl file (FormMail.pl), setting some options (changing the script to only accept from your domain name), and setting up your form(telling your form where the script is). Very easy and would take you about 30mins to get operational. Alternatively you can look at similar options at www.hotscripts.com

Regards
Dean

[TipPro]

Just a word of warning. Be careful of any form mail scripts you write or 'borrow' off the Internet. If security isn't built into the script a hacker could use your script to send out tons of spam from your Web server.

[Fxdome]

Hello,

You can try Phorm at http://www.phorm.com/

Good Luck