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Formmail.pl

Formmail allows you to use a form to receive email from your users. That is, you set up a form on your site, users fill it out, and click Submit. Formmail.pl is the script that automatically processes the form and sends it to you in email format. It's a very handy, useful feature.

Formmail is the behind the scenes processor. It does not create a form for you to use. If you need a form, you can use our very simple feedback form or our standard feedback form as a starting point. These forms include the basic form declarations you will need to get your form to work with Formmail. (Even if you use the forms as they are, make sure to modify the HTML code so that the code in the <form> tags uses your email address.)

Set Up Your Form
While the Control Panel help will show you more formmail variables, here's a basic form declaration that you can use if you just want to get started fast:

<form action="/cgi-sys/formmail.pl" METHOD = "POST">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Form Name">
<input type=hidden name="recipient" value="Your Email Address">
<input type=hidden name="redirect" value="Page to Send Visitors to After They Submit the Form (Use the full URL)">

The variables here are the values in red in Lines 1 - 3.

• Form Name in Line 2 is the subject you will see when someone sends you a request through formmail.


• Your Email Address in Line 3 is the email address to which you want the email sent. (All recipients must be added to your FormMail.conf file. See instructions below.)


• Page to Send Visitors to After They Submit the Form (Use the full URL) in Line 4 is the page to which you want the person redirected after they've submitted the form. This would typically be a "thank you" page that thanks the person for submitting their information.

Here's an example of the form declaration filled out:

<form action="/cgi-sys/formmail.pl" METHOD = "POST">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Info Request Form">
<input type=hidden name="recipient" value="sales@harrismedia.com">
<input type=hidden name="redirect" value="http://your_domain.com/thank_you.html">

Edit Your .FormMail.conf File
The next final step is to edit the .FormMail.conf file in your home directory (one directory up from your main directory, your_domain-www) to indicate which recipients are allowed. This file prevents spammers from abusing your formmail script.

You can download your .FormMail.conf file via FTP, edit it in a text editor like Notepad, and upload it in ASCII format. 

You can also edit it through the File Manager in your Control Panel. Although you will not be able to see the .FormMail.conf file in the File Manager, it is there. Because it begins with a 'dot' (.), it is considered hidden. You can access it by typing the file name in the text area. 

To edit your .FormMail.conf file in the File Manager:

• Log into your Control Panel and click on the File Manager icon.
   
• When the File Manager screen loads, type .FormMail.conf in the text area to the left of 'Create/Edit file', and click 'Create/Edit file' with your mouse. (Remember the initial 'dot' in '.FormMail.conf'.)
   
• When the page loads, change the 'Size' to 90 so that it will be easier for you to read and edit. 
   
• Scroll through file and update these values: Enter your domain name (without the 'www.') in between the 'allow_mail_to' lines. Put your email address in between the 'postmaster' lines. This will allow you to send the form feedback to any email address set up on your domain. If you would like to send the form feedback to addresses outside your domain, add those email addresses in between the 'allow_mail_to' lines. 
   
• Once your changes have been made, click the 'Save' button.

You can find more detailed instructions by clicking the FormMail icon in your Control Panel.

If you have any trouble editing your .FormMail.conf file, please contact support for assistance.

Upload and Test Your Form
Upload your form to the server. Check the form in your browser, do a test submission, and then check your email for the submitted form. Make any modifications until you're happy with the way things are working.

Note: For security reasons, we do not allow Matt's Archives formmail.pl script on our servers.

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