Form2Email Setup Example

This sample should help you design a form you can use to request feedback from your website.

Use your browser's "Show Source" command to see the code for this form. Select and copy it, then paste it into a file that you can edit to suit your own purpose. Remember to insert the proper hidden field data.

Notes about the field names:

You can name your form's fields any way you want to. When the email is sent to you, each field will be on its own line, preceeded by the field name.

Certain field names are reserved names (also known as keywords) and are treated differently than other field names. Some of the reserved field names are required and if they are missing or incorrectly filled out, the form will not be processed. The table below lists the reserved field names, whether it is required or not, and the default value (when it exists) that is used if you do not supply a value. Each field name also includes a sample that you can copy and paste into your own form.

All reserved field names are case sensitive, and must be entirely in lower case, or the default value for that field (when available) will be used.

Note: If you put your hidden fields at the top, the performance of the form will be a little faster.

The reserved field names:

mailto: <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailto" value="yourname@your_domain">; Required. The 'mailto' field tells the form where to email the input. Without it, the user's data goes nowhere!; Important. The 'mailto' field must send to an address within your domain hosted by Autograph Systems. (The ability to send to an outside address would open up the mail server for spammers.) If you don't want to check the local email address, configure it to forward to the address you want form mail to go to.
Alternative: If you want to limit the ability of address harvesters to get your email address, you can break the address into two separate fields...: <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailto1" value="yourname">; Required. The user name portion of the 'mailto' field.; <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailto2" value="your_domain">; Required. The domain name portion of the 'mailto' field.
Note: mailto1 and mailto2 will not work unless both entities are present.

mailfrom: <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailfrom" value="yourname@your_domain">; <INPUT type="text" size="40" name="mailfrom">; Optional. The 'mailfrom' field defines who the email you receive is addressed from, and therefore who a reply email will be addressed to.
(If omitted, the default "matt@autsys.com"is used.); This field can be any email address, including the email address of the sender. If you want to be able to reply directly to the sender, make this field a regular text field so the user can enter their address.
Alternative: If you are using a hidden address (embedded in the form) and want to limit the ability of address harvesters to get your email address, you can break the address into two separate fields...: <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailfrom1" value="yourname">; Optional. The user name portion of the 'mailfrom' field.; <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailfrom2" value="your_domain">; Optional. The domain name portion of the 'mailfrom' field.
Note: mailfrom1 and mailfrom2 do not work unless both entities are present.

subject: <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="This is the subject of the email">; <input type="text" name="subject" size="40" value="enter subject here">; Optional. The 'subject' field defines the subject line of the email you receive. If omitted, the default "Form2Email Submission" is used.; This field can be supplied as a hidden field (all submissions will have the same subject line) or any other type of input field. If you want the user to be able to specify the subject of the email, make this field a non-hidden field.

server: <INPUT type="hidden" name="server" value="mail.server.com">; Optional. The 'server' field tells the form which mail server to send the data through. This is typically your email server here at Autograph Systems, but I suppose you could use another if you want to. If omitted, the default server "mail.autsys.com" is used.

mailtype: <INPUT type="hidden" name="mailtype" value="To">; Optional. the 'mailtype' field defines what type of addressing is used to send the email. "To", "CC", & "BCC" are legal values. If omitted, the default type "To" is used.

message: <INPUT type="hidden" name="message" value="Thank you, we value your feedback.">; Optional. The 'message' field is a simple message that appears on the web page after the user submits their data. This lets the user know their data was accepted. If omitted, the default message says "Your request has been received will be processed soon."

nextpage: <INPUT type="hidden" name="nextpage" value="nextpage.html">; Optional. The 'nextpage' field provides a way to redirect the user to a more elaborate page after they submit their form data. Note that if the form is in a frame, the next page stays in that frame. (There is no direct option to target a specific frame, so if you need to bail out of a frame, your 'nextpage' should be a simple page that redirects to the real page and includes a target parameter to the proper frame.); Important: Be sure to include the fully qualified path (http://...) for this value: after the form is submitted, the default directory will be '/cgi-bin/'. If omitted, the user will almost certainly end up with a 404 (page not found) error.; Note: If no nextpage field is specified and no doclose field is specified (See doclose below) a "Back" button is appended to the feedback page. This will give the user an obvious option to return to the page your form is on.; Note: even with a nextpage field specified, the message field is still displayed briefly, so you may want to include an appropriate message as well.

nextpagedelay: <INPUT type="hidden" name="nextpagedelay" value="1">; Optional. The 'nextpagedelay' field determines how long to wait before jumping to the page specified in the nextpage field. If omitted, the default value is 1 second.; This field is useless unless also accompanied by a nextpage field.

emailfeedback: <INPUT type="hidden" name="emailfeedback" value="no">; Optional. The 'emailfeedback' field enables you to also send a copy of the email submission back to the person who submitted it. For this to work, you must have a text input field named 'mailfrom' for the user to enter their email address.
The default value is "No" so no feedback is sent to the user. Any other value in this field will turn the feedback feature on.

doclose: <INPUT type="hidden" name="doclose" value="yes">; Optional. The 'doclose' field enables a "Close Window" button on the feedback page. Use this if you set up your form to post to a separate window (eg: target="_blank") so the user does not lose their place on your site.
The default value is "No" so no close button is presented to the user. Only the value "yes" will enable the "Close Window" button.; If you are opening a separate window, either for the feedback page or for the form itself, you should include this option in order to clean up the user's screen after they have used your form. if you are not opening a separate window, using this option will close the user out of your web site altogether! Use with caution.; Note: See also the section on "Go Back" in the nextpage field.

You can make any of these fields editable on the form, but if you do, exercise caution: you don't want to enable a form that allows anybody on the internet to send email in your name!

You should also consider including a direct email alternative in case somebody has trouble with your form. Here is an example:

Please note: Although it is most unlikely that you will experience any problems responding to this form, certain non-standard browsers will not respond properly. If you experience any difficulties, (or if you are not using a forms-capable browser) you may email your response to this form to this address.

This page is copyright 2002-2003 by Autograph Systems and is intended solely for the use of Sherwood Store customers who wish to provide feedback forms on their web sites. All Rights Reserved. All other uses are prohibited.