Using Form Fields in HTML Email

[Jado]

Hi

I would like to put together a html email for a survey we are conducting.

the email will include some static information like name and id number.

then I would like to include a form for the questions that will be asked,
and a button to send the completed form back to us.

my question is...

is it possible, when the button is clicked, not only to compile the form
fields but also include the static information, like name and id number?

I would like to achieve this as simply as possible, i.e.. not by using an
online database or php.

----------------
some other questions relation to the same problem....

is there a generic html command (like: mailto for forwarding an email?
i.e.. the recipient fills in the form, clicks a button, and the whole
email is forwarded back to us automatically adding a To: and Subject: ?

does anyone know of a cgi, php, perl script that can compile a html email
form static and form field information?
-----------------

it's probably obvious from this message that I have little html experience,
although I an familiar to programming.

any help pointing in the right direction would be appreciated

thanks

Jado

 

[WebcastMaker]

Hi

I would like to put together a html email for a survey we are conducting.

gogle "form mail free" you will be rewarded with tons of sites that
offer you exactly what you are looking for

 

[rf]

Hi

I would like to put together a html email for a survey we are conducting.

Oh dear. What about all those people who do not/can not recieve HTML emails?

the email will include some static information like name and id number.

then I would like to include a form for the questions that will be asked,
and a button to send the completed form back to us.

Forms are handled by browsers which send the form as an HTTP request to an
HTTP server.

Email clients are not browsers. They do not send things to HTTP servers.
They only know about mail servers. They also do not process forms.

my question is...

is it possible, when the button is clicked, not only to compile the form
fields but also include the static information, like name and id number?

Forms are not compiled. They are merely plonked on the end of a URL or into
the headers of an HTTP get request.

However, talking purely about HTML forms and browsers, you should look at
placing that static information inside some hidden form fields.

I would like to achieve this as simply as possible, i.e.. not by using an
online database or php.

Can not be done. The form has to be sent to an HTTP server somewhere. That
server must run a process to handle the form. This is most easily (and very
simply) done with PHP. You could also (again very simply) cause the PHP
process to format the data nicely and email it to you. All of this would be
about 10 to 20 lines of PHP.

Yes there is but is is so severely broken as to be unusable. It also only
works on browsers, not email clients.

i.e.. the recipient fills in the form, clicks a button,

Email clients do not allow one to "click buttons".

and the whole
email is forwarded back to us automatically adding a To: and Subject: ?

Not on an email client.

does anyone know of a cgi, php, perl script that can compile a html email
form static and form field information?

No. The browser does that. And forms are not compiled.

I was beginning to wonder

The operative thing is that HTML is for browsers. It is purely coincidental
that some email clients can *display* HTML. None of them, AFAIK, can
actually *do* anything with that HTML, as in process forms or process button
clicks. It's sort of like wanting Word (which can also display (and edit)
HTML) to send a form somewhere. It is just not going to happen.

any help pointing in the right direction would be appreciated

Put the form on a web page somewhere and send out a plain text email with
the URL of the page, pleading for the recipient to visit the page and fill
in the form.

 

[rf]

rf wrote, incorrectly:

[html emails containing forms]

It's sort of like wanting Word (which can also display (and edit)
HTML) to send a form somewhere. It is just not going to happen.

Bloody typical of Microsoft making all of its products to everything that
all of the others can do.

Word actually *does* process the form, well sort of.

Word does not actually do the processing but heaves the whole lot over to IE
for further consideration. At first glance it actually "looks" like word is
trying to be a browser

 

[Jado]

i see what you mean.

oh well, thanks for the help anyway.

Jado

rf wrote, incorrectly:

[html emails containing forms]

It's sort of like wanting Word (which can also display (and edit)
HTML) to send a form somewhere. It is just not going to happen.

Bloody typical of Microsoft making all of its products to everything that
all of the others can do.

Word actually *does* process the form, well sort of.

Word does not actually do the processing but heaves the whole lot over to IE
for further consideration. At first glance it actually "looks" like word is
trying to be a browser

 

[Jado]

Well actually no...

it looks like everything works fine as long as the email contains html
pointing to a live webpage!

i've tried it and it worked nicely.

Jado

i see what you mean.

oh well, thanks for the help anyway.

Jado

rf wrote, incorrectly:

[html emails containing forms]

It's sort of like wanting Word (which can also display (and edit)
HTML) to send a form somewhere. It is just not going to happen.

Bloody typical of Microsoft making all of its products to everything that
all of the others can do.

Word actually *does* process the form, well sort of.

Word does not actually do the processing but heaves the whole lot over

to

IE
for further consideration. At first glance it actually "looks" like word is
trying to be a browser

 

[Christine Forber]

Well actually no...

it looks like everything works fine as long as the email contains html
pointing to a live webpage!

i've tried it and it worked nicely.

Is this for your own use, for an intranet, or somewhere that you have
control over what email programs are used? I have Eudora set to view
emails as text only, so your form would not work for me at all, ever.

 

[Peter Lozzi]

::Sigh::

I am going to take a risk here, and probably be yelled at, etc... But
I am pulling my hair out, and I am QUITE CERTAIN the key to my problem
is right there, and in my grasp...

I am a novice using Macromedia Dreamweaver to design a website. I am
100% self taught, and think I have an okay grasp on nested tables and
putting together some coherent graphics.

I created a form. The form is located here:

http://www.vacavillemultimedia.com/contact.html

All I want to do is take the information the user puts in the field and
send it to me via email.

THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL I AM ASKING.

I have spent TWO WEEKS scouring the ends of the earth for a solution,
and I know it is RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE.

Here's what I know so far...

I need to use the <POST> method to have the HTML page send the info to
a CGI script that resides on the server, right? That CGI script does
*something* to the info, and viola, it ends up in my inbox, no? THATS
ALL I AM ASKING.

On the root level of my site (the same level as the index page) is a
folder (that was put there by the hosting company) with the label CGI.
I would imagine this is where I put the CGI script?

I have serched google 20 different ways to find information, a
tutorial, etc, on how to do this, and it's the ONE THING I CANNOT seem
to accomplish.

Like I said, this CANT be this hard, right? I know one of you can do
this in your sleep! PLEASE tell me what piece of the puzzle I am
missing...

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer...

Pete

 

[Neal]

::Sigh::

I am going to take a risk here, and probably be yelled at, etc... But I
am pulling my hair out, and I am QUITE CERTAIN the key to my problem is
right there, and in my grasp...
...
All I want to do is take the information the user puts in the field and
send it to me via email.

THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL I AM ASKING.

I have spent TWO WEEKS scouring the ends of the earth for a solution,
and I know it is RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE.
...
I need to use the <POST> method to have the HTML page send the info to a
CGI script that resides on the server, right? That CGI script does
*something* to the info, and viola, it ends up in my inbox, no? THATS
ALL I AM ASKING.
...
I have serched google 20 different ways to find information, a tutorial,
etc, on how to do this, and it's the ONE THING I CANNOT seem to
accomplish.

Like I said, this CANT be this hard, right? I know one of you can do
this in your sleep! PLEASE tell me what piece of the puzzle I am
missing...

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer...

You injecting Red Bull, man? You seem a little, well, over-emphatic. But
amusing.

I think you got an answer in another instance of this message on this ng,
though. So good for you. But lay off the sugar, please, it's not good for
you.