Form-to-mail scripts for website?

[Mr. Rey]

Any recommendations for a form to mail script that's compatible with StableHost's PHP?

Is there such thing of a universal form to mail script?

[kpmedia]

It depends on what you want to do with the form.

I use this form for a lot of projects: http://www.appnitro.com. It's not free -- but at $49 it's also not an unfair price! The $99 10-site license is a better deal. Or the $199 unlimited license, which is what I have. It's a drag-and-drop interface, and it works well on several types of PHP environments (php-fpm, DSO, FastCGI, CGI, ISAPI, SuPHP), including the setup Stablehost uses.

This is about as universal as it gets.

There are a number of plugins for CMS, like WordPress or Joomla, but I still prefer to use the MachForm form. It's not too hard to simply embed the PHP form inside a CMS page template. You won't find a free form that is this easy, or works as well as MachForm.

[Mr. Rey]

Hey KP,

I work with Dreamweaver, and I coded (css) my form - it's a simple contact us (name, email, message) form. Got any other suggestions for this kind of basic set up?

I forgot to ask. Doesn't Stablehost have their own I can use or is that just the PHP connection that I put in my html (head)?

[kpmedia]

As a host, Stablehost doesn't provide website content, which is what a script like this would be.
Yes, the server runs PHP -- likely suPHP, but don't quote me.

Though some things are available in the Softaculous installer, I tend to suggest people shy away from those "automagically" installed applications and instead learn to install it on their own -- especially because you can generally better secure it with a manual install.

The biggest issue with Dreamweaver "forms" is that you're only creating the look of the form, and none of the functionality. For this reason, DW has always been useless for interactive content. (I used it from 1999 to 2009, and have since abandoned it completely.)

Be sure to read the official Adobe.com docs, too: http://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/k...eamweaver.html

The biggest weakness with such basic forms is that it relies on using a no-authorization sendmail method. Quality forms allow for SMTP connection, which must be authorized with a user/password login from the form script to an email account (sendmail@mydomain.com), to further ensure the form actually arrives at your inbox, as well as to prevent spam/abuse. As of the most recent version, cPanel now has a built-in mechanism to completely block poorly sent email methods, and a lot of hosts are surely going to adopt it, if they didn't already have custom settings in place. I enabled it just yesterday on my primary cPanel VPS, because the update was finally pushed to the main release channel. So more and more, you'll find older willynilly sendmail methods to not be allowed -- including the method used by a basic Dreamweaver form. Therefore I'd suggest using a more mature mail form now, instead of having to redo one later.

I'd still suggest MachForm, even if you embed it inside a Dreamweaver page.

[Mr. Rey]

I thought that I could just create the form in Dreamweaver and then attach a PHP script to it for functionality.

How do you enable the cPanel update?

[kpmedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Rey

I thought that I could just create the form in Dreamweaver and then attach a PHP script to it for functionality.

It can work with way ... in theory. Which version of Dreamweaver are you using?
In fact, if you want to RAR or ZIP a copy of that page for me, I could test it from my own Stablehost account.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Rey

How do you enable the cPanel update?

This is something the server admins do for their own needs. It's not something a user (hosting customer) can access, or even request be implemented or not implemented. I enabled it on my VPS because I'm the server admin, and what it's setup for my needs (which includes a few users). The only way to fully control something like this is to run your own server.

[Mr. Rey]

CS 5.5

This would be the first time I've RAR or ZIP a webpage. Can you send me instructions?

[lordsmurf]

What OS platform are you on? Mac, Windows?

And then what archive software do you have installed, if any? WinRAR, WinZip, UnRarX (Mac), 7-zip, something else?
Remember that Mac and Windows have built in zip/unzip, and have for about a decade now.

Instructions vary widely, depending on what you have.

[Mr. Rey]

Hey Lord Smurf,

Windows.

I think I have the built in zip/unzip.

[kpmedia]

In Windows, just right-click on the file or folder, go to Send To, and then select Compressed (zipped) Folder
Pay attention to where the file is. (I won't know.)

Note: I'm looking at my Windows 7 system right now, so it may vary a bit on XP, Vista, or whatever other version you may have.

Then attach it. Follow the instructions, if needed: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/news...ly-upload.html

[Mr. Rey]

Hey KP,

Am I supposed to attach the whole website's file from Dreamweaver? Or just the contact page and script?

[admin]

If you still need help with creating your forms, just let us know. Thanks.

I'm skimming here, but you'd want to zip/rar up the entire site folder for analysis. Why? Well, in most case, a script refers to other files, which themselves refer to other files. Hence the easy thing to do is send the whole site, rather than hunt down the script files one by one (called dependencies).

You likely got the site all up and running by now, but thought I'd offer my help just in case.

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