Methods In Submitting A Form

[wcology]

what's a simple way to make a button work in a form of "sign up"? I made a form that a user can put in his/her name and email address then clicking the "submit" button and nothing happens.now an ideal thing is to get the email address of the person who is trying to sign up, then use a pre-set email to email that person a pre-set message. how do i do that in a form?

[jeffman]

If you are not communicating with a server-side script, written in something like PHP, then nothing will happen. The form is just a small part of the process you are describing.

[wcology]

i think i have PHP... how do i script something like that?or how do most online sign up forms work?

[smerny]

Most of them use a server side scripting like PHP which checks the information that was input to see if it's valid and then checks the database to make sure that person/name doesnt already exist... and then saves that information into the database.You'll want to make sure you have PHP and MySQLHere is the PHP tutorial:http://w3schools.com/php/default.asp

[wcology]

ok here's a slightly different situation, say i have this on the page:what would the code be if by clicking the submit button it will start mailto function with <a href="mailto:*email address here*?body=*preset text here* then *input from box1* *input from box2* "> ?so how do i make the button copy the inputs and put them into the body of the email?

[inktherapy]

I think you still need a serverside scripting, a DB or a language connector that will communicate with your email. HTML or Javascript alone are not sufficient to carry a task like the one you are planning.

[thescientist]

ok here's a slightly different situation, say i have this on the page:what would the code be if by clicking the submit button it will start mailto function with <a href="mailto:*email address here*?body=*preset text here* then *input from box1* *input from box2* "> ?so how do i make the button copy the inputs and put them into the body of the email?

mailto relies on the person having Outlook or some other client-based email program. However, most people have web based email (yahoo, hotmail, gmail, etc) and thus this method will leave them out in the cold. As previously posted you DO need PHP to best carry out this task, although mySQL/databases are only required if you plan on doing anything with that person's info past just getting an email of it. Take a look in the PHP forums here, the mail() is probably one of the most popular pieces of PHP code out there, so you should find an easy example here or on Google.