PHP form is not working

Question

I am trying to make an extremely simple form but it is not working for me. The point is a form where people write only their names and surnames, press "send" and done. I have writen the code below:

<form method="post" action="index_rost.php">

        <p>
          <label>name</label><br>
          <input name="name" placeholder="name here"><br><br>

          <label>surname</label><br>
          <input name="name2" placeholder="surname here"><br><br>

        </p>
        <p>
          <input id="submit" name="submit" type="submit" value="send it!"><br>
        </p>

            <?php
                $name = $_POST['name'];
                $name2 = $_POST['name2'];
                $from = 'website.se'; 
                $to = '[email protected], [email protected]'; 
                $subject = 'new person is coming';


                $headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0" . PHP_EOL;
                $headers .= "From: $from". PHP_EOL;
                $headers .= "Content-type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 ". PHP_EOL;

                $body = "<strong>From:</strong><br><br> $name $name2<br><br> <strong>Count on me, I want to come!</strong>";


                if ($_POST['submit'] && $name != '' && $name2 != '') {
                        if (mail ($to, $subject, $body, $headers)) { 
                        echo '<p>Your name has been sent</p>';
                    } else { 
                        echo '<p>You need to fill up all fields</p>'; 
                    } 
                }

            ?>

      </form>

What happens is that besides no e-mail is sent to me, I get the error message (the one specified here: else { echo '<p>You need to fill up all fields</p>'; } ) instead of the success message that I specify on the code. Can some one give me a hint of what is wrong?

Thanks very much in advance!

What isn't working? Can you give us an error message? We've going to need more information! — Pez Cuckow
– Pez Cuckow, Commented Jan 19, 2014 at 15:23
The one I specified here: else { echo '<p>You need to fill up all fields</p>'; } — viriato
– viriato, Commented Jan 19, 2014 at 15:23

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

3

From http://php.net/manual/en/function.mail.php

mail() returns TRUE if the mail was successfully accepted for delivery, FALSE otherwise.

It is important to note that just because the mail was accepted for delivery, it does NOT mean the mail will actually reach the intended destination.

You are getting a false back from mail() which means that the message is being rejected by whatever PHP is set up to use.

You can temporarily use the following to enable all errors and print those errors to the screen to give you an idea of what is failing.

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', true);

PHP will throw a notice such as the following which you can use to debug:

NOTICE (5): Unexpected Error: mail() [<a href='function.mail'>function.mail</a>]: Failed to connect to mailserver at "ip " port portip, verify your "SMTP" and "smtp_port" setting in php.ini or use ini_set() (# 2).

Please remember, just because mail is accepted for delivery does not mean that it will arrive.

edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 19, 2014 at 15:26

Pez Cuckow

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7 Comments

viriato Over a year ago

I just did that and I get the "Undefined index" errors on the lines $name = $_POST['name'];, $name2 = $_POST['name2']; and if ($_POST['submit'] && $name != '' && $name2 != '') {

jeroen Over a year ago

@viriato See the first part of my answer.

viriato Over a year ago

@PezCuckow sure: "Notice: Undefined index: name in /customers/7/9/7/forall.se/httpd.www/index_rost.php on line 228 Notice: Undefined index: name2 in /customers/7/9/7/forall.se/httpd.www/index_rost.php on line 229 Notice: Undefined index: submit in /customers/7/9/7/forall.se/httpd.www/index_rost.php on line 242"

Daniel W. Over a year ago

undefined index are warnings/notices, no errors. BEcause before you submit the form, the POST are not set

Pez Cuckow Over a year ago

You can ignore the undefined index errors for now (though you should probably fix that see @jeroen's post), what error are you getting from mail when you submit the form?

|

Pez Cuckow · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-19 15:33:10Z

1

Currently when you just load the form (and before you submit anything) your entire code block is being run.

You should wrap your whole mail section in a block that is only exectuted when a POST request is made:

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST')
{
   $name = $_POST['name'];
   // ...

}

That way you will not get any warnings about unset indices, etc.

About the mail problem, the mail() function returns false, so your message is not accepted for delivery. That could be any number of things on the server setup, but it could also be something simple, like you not specifying a valid e-mail address.

You should try changing:

$from = 'website.se';

to:

$from = '[email protected]';

edited Jan 19, 2014 at 15:33

Pez Cuckow

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answered Jan 19, 2014 at 15:28

jeroen

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4 Comments

viriato Over a year ago

But how do I do if I want to have a name only on $from?

jeroen Over a year ago

@viriato You would need to set up an address that automatically deletes the mails, like [email protected].

viriato Over a year ago

I meant a name, like a name of a website or my own name

jeroen Over a year ago

@viriato That would probably be something like Your Name <[email protected]>

Tobias · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-19 15:43:16Z

0

Well it's pretty easy what is happening. I just formated it properly and... look what you're doing:

if ($_POST['submit'] && $name != '' && $name2 != '') {
    if (mail ($to, $subject, $body, $headers)) { 
        echo '<p>Your name has been sent</p>';
    } else { 
        echo '<p>You need to fill up all fields</p>'; 
    } 
}

All fields are set correctly, but mail() returns false.

Correct code would be:

if ($_POST['submit'] && $name != '' && $name2 != '') {
    if (mail ($to, $subject, $body, $headers)) { 
        echo '<p>Your name has been sent</p>';
    } else { 
        echo '<p>Mail could not be sent</p>'; 
    } 
} else { 
    echo '<p>You need to fill up all fields</p>'; 
}

edited Jan 19, 2014 at 15:43

answered Jan 19, 2014 at 15:29

Tobias

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3 Comments

viriato Over a year ago

Sorry, could you develop a little more? I don't understand where is my mistake...

Tobias Over a year ago

Your message is not echoed if the form is empty, but if your mail could not be sent.

Daniel W. Over a year ago

the question is, WHY can't the mail be sent

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