Sending Data from Web Forms via Email
University Information Technology has a script called "formmail" to
simplify the transfer of information from HTML Forms in Web pages to email.
This document contains instructions on how to use this script to email form
information to a target address. Do not use this method
to transmit confidential or financial information. If you need to do so contact
Web Services for advice on university policy regarding such information.
The current version of formmail includes anti-spam measures. Spam is defined
as unwanted bulk email. These features make it very difficult for spammers
to use your form to send spam. This does not protect your address from being
captured by spammers. It only prevent use of the form to do it.
- Your form must reside on a rochester.edu server. If you are not and are
part of the University of Rochester community contact and
explain your situation. Your form will not work unless it is part of our
network of servers or registered with us. Any University of Rochester server
is allowed to call this program.
- Your target email address, the recipient, must be within the rochester.edu
mail server network. If the recipient is not on a University of Rochester
server contact and
explain your situation. Your form will not work unless the mail recipient
is part of our network of mail servers or is registered with us. Any University
of Rochester mail server is allowed to receive mail from this server.
To get started, here is what you need:
- A form page with the program call embedded in it
The form can be found below in this document,
well commented with directions using html tags (i.e.<!Insert
comment here>). Please read the directions carefully. There
is some special notation you must follow. You would insert this
form in your page along with any instructions you feel are needed.
- Knowledge of forms html code
This is assumed below. You can find further documentation online and
from many
Internet references available, or any a good HTML "how
to" book.
A sample is included below.
This page is where you acknowledge
the form user for sending the message
and perhaps tell them when they may
expect a response. You should modify
it to look similar to your other
pages using headers and backgrounds etc.
The title and headers should relate
to the use you are putting the page
to. You should have at least a back
button to return users to the form
or some other appropriate page. This
page should live in the same folder/directory
as the form html page. However, as
long as you specify the address correctly
in the form page, it can live anywhere.
There are many optional
built-in fields available
which suggest novel and flexible uses for your forms to email usage.
We recommend that you review the options as they can make your form
friendlier and open the door to a more useful utility for you and
the use
Any other form fields that appear in
your script will be mailed to the
target address 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. You
may use any name for your fields that is
not in use as a built-in or begins
with an "*".
If you have any questions please contact WebHelp at .
Sample HTML Form Page Code
<html>
<head><title>Put the title of you page here.</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Put the title of you page here.</h1>
<p>Here is where any instructions would appear as well as other needed
information.</p>
<! The following is the call to the CGI and must be exactly this code.
DO NOT EDIT THE CONTENT OF THIS TAG!>
<form method=post action="http://www.rochester.edu/ur-cgi-bin/ALL/formmail">
<! All fields with * are field names reserved for the form-to-mail
program. These tags must only be used as the program intends. You cannot
change their purpose. All other field names are decided by you, the form
builder. You can add as many fields as you need as long as they are each
an unique name. Note that, for example, "*email" and "email" are distinct
field names.>
<! The value in the next line is where the mail generated by
the CGI
based on the form input will be sent. PUT YOUR TARGET EMAIL ADDRESS IN
PLACE OF target@ats.rochester.edu>
<input type=hidden name="*recipient" VALUE="target@ats.rochester.edu">
<! You should have something in this value field to identify
the
content of the email that is to be sent by the CGI.>
<input type=hidden name="*subject" VALUE="Forms to E-mail Demo">
Examples of user defined fields: <BR>
What you want: <INPUT TYPE=text NAME="want"> <BR>
What you don't want: <INPUT TYPE=text NAME="donnot"> <BR>
<!Here are some fields that ought to be required. We stipulate this
below.>
<BR>
Name: <input type=text name="name"> <BR>
E-mail Address: <input type=text name=NAME="*email"> <BR>
<! Here is how you specify fields that you want to require
the user to
fill out before the form will be mailed to you. This example requires the
two fields "name" and "*email" to be filled in.>
<input type=hidden name="*required" VALUE="name,*email">
<! The next line causes your "thank you" page to appear after
the
message is sent. You can put whatever you wish in that file as a response
and thank you. This file should be in the same folder/directory as this
page. YOU MUST EDIT THE PATH PART OF THE NEXT LINE TO MATCH THE ACTUAL
LOCATION OF THE RESPONSE PAGE.>
<input type=hidden name="*redirect" VALUE="/full-path-to-your-page/thanks.html">
<!NOTE:
You must use the FULL path of your page. e.g. /ITS/web/thankyou.html>
<!These are the standard control buttons. You should not edit
them.>
<input type=submit VALUE="Send">
<input type=reset VALUE="Clear Form">
</form>
<! Be sure to include appropriate copyright notices and last
updated
date as well as any other required data here in the footer.>
</body>
</html>
Sample Response Page
<html>
<head>
<title>Thank you for your submission/mail/input/feedback etc.</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Thank you for your submission/mail/input/feedback etc.</h1>
<p>Here is where you put back buttons, explanations or whatever
you feel is
appropriate. Be sure top include copyright and other requires components.
All URL's on this page must use the full path to the target file.
Example: "/ATS/webserv.html" If you use just "webserv.html" the program
will be unable to locate the file.</p>
</body>
</html>
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