dgow13

August 30, 2010

Here's the example:
<?php
// multiple recipients
$to  = 'aidan@example.com' . ', '; // note the comma
$to .= 'wez@example.com';

// subject
$subject = 'Birthday Reminders for August';

// message
$message = '
<html>
<head>
 <title>Birthday Reminders for August</title>
</head>
<body>
 <p>Here are the birthdays upcoming in August!</p>
 <table>
   <tr>
     <th>Person</th><th>Day</th><th>Month</th><th>Year</th>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td>Joe</td><td>3rd</td><td>August</td><td>1970</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td>Sally</td><td>17th</td><td>August</td><td>1973</td>
   </tr>
 </table>
</body>
</html>
';

// To send HTML mail, the Content-type header must be set
$headers  = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . "\r\n";

// Additional headers
$headers .= 'To: Mary <mary@example.com>, Kelly <kelly@example.com>' . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'From: Birthday Reminder <birthday@example.com>' . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'Cc: birthdayarchive@example.com' . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'Bcc: birthdaycheck@example.com' . "\r\n";

// Mail it
mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);
?>
In this example you'll notice that there are two main differences: first of all, they created a variable, $message, that includes HTML tags. You'd place your images within that string, within the <body></body> tags like you would a normal HTML page. Secondly, they included two headers within a $headers variable that indicates that the message is HTML rather than plain text.

In order to insert images into your email message, you'll need to modify the code that processes your form. Your $email_message variable will need to change to add HTML code and add the image, and your $header variable will need to include the MIME version and content type like the above example shows.

Here is the page I am working on... Click here>.

August 30, 2010

that reminds me about mailchimp email templates:

http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/html_email_templates/

then again why not to use mailchimp for the ecards?

Also, could be an idea to use Flash based website(if you'll find it attractive for the commercial use):the scrapblog.Using Flash has it own advantages ( like choice of fonts for the ecard and so on).

In general, look for shopping cart solution with an ecard as an option.

Here is the page I am working on... click here >. The Mailchimp program is not close to what I need.

August 26, 2010

Does this type code go on the thank you page?

August 26, 2010

Where does the image go? My form code doesn't look anything like their example.

August 26, 2010

Example #4 doesn't make sense. Here is the code from both pages.

The e-card page:

</span>

<br />

Recipients Email:<br />

</span>

<br />

From:<br />

</span>

<br />

Sender's Email<br />

</span>

<br />

Occasion: <br />

<option>Happy Birthday</option>

<option>Happy Anniversary</option>

<option>Just Missing You</option>

<option>Happy Mother's Day</option>

<option>Happy Father's Day</option>

<option>Congratulations</option>

</select><br />

<br />

Your Message:<br />

</span>

</span>

<br />

<br />

</form>

</div>

The thank you page:

<?php

//php form data to email code//

$toName = $_REQUEST['toName'];

$toEmail = $_REQUEST['toEmail'];

$fromName = $_REQUEST['fromName'];

$fromEmail = $_REQUEST['fromEmail'];

$occation = $_REQUEST['occation'];

$message = $_REQUEST['message'];

$headers = "From: $fromEmail";

$email_message = "To: {$toName}\n\rEmail: {$toEmail}\n\rFrom: {$fromName}\n\rSenders Email: {$fromEmail}\n\rOccation: {$occation}\n\rMessage: {$message}";

mail('$toEmail,$occation,$email_message,$headers);

?>

August 25, 2010

You have a couple options:

-- try to find a pre-existing solution

-- code it yourself, learning as you go

-- find another developer who takes care of the coding, and you pass any costs along to the client

-- or tell your client that the specific functionality they are asking for isn't something you can do unfortunately

The code for emailing the message is working just fine. I need to find a way to include the image or graphic a long with the message. I have tried finding the code for it but, without any luck. Any other suggestions?

August 19, 2010

I provided the links because they explain how to do the coding/sending of the HTML emails, which you'll need if you want to send out ecards with stylized text and graphics. Coding HTML emails can be a bit tricky since you have to go back to the "old" style of web design for the sake of compatibility with as many email clients as possible, which means using tables (no floats), inline styles, etc.

You can look around for a CMS that might do this... I don't know of any off the top of my head. There may be plugins for Drupal of another larger CMS that might give you the ability, but you may end up having to hand code it.

I'm just not good with coding. I know a little php. I used the video tutorials on php to design a contact form to email for myself and my clients. Works great but, that's about it. I just started learning css to use on the websites I design... don't laugh, I'm slow but, willing to learn as much as I can.

August 19, 2010

I would hope that it wouldn't be that hard then... You'd just need to create a system where a user would select the card image that they like and enter some text that would appear along with it. At the end of that process, you'd use PHP to create a HTML email. The top part of the email would be the image, the bottom part would include the text.

A couple links:

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/code-html-email-newsletters

http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/html_email_templates/

http://php.net/manual/en/function.mail.php (take a look at example #4)

The only thing I'm concerned about is the use of the PHP mail() function. I would be worried that if you start using that function too much, the web host might wonder if you are sending out spam. I'm not sure what the alternatives are on that, and I could be completely wrong on this, but it's worth doing some research.

Thanks for the articles. Not really what I'm looking for. Your idea at the top of your response is more inline with what I want to accomplish. What about using a CMS?

August 19, 2010

This concept fall in the line of business like printing sites such as business cards, t-shirts, etc. A fully automated program will not come cheap and coding it yourself will require a chunk of time.

I could ask my programmer what it would require in time and cost to accomplish this.

If cost is an issue and you don't have a whole lot of time then you can use a simple method where the eCard is set as a background and the input field is layed on top of that. Your client would then receive the submission from the customer that has the text they wish to include on the eCard...apply it to the cards and send to customer.

I Googled this last night for about 2 hrs and looked at different samples. Most of the ecards I saw had the card separate from the text. The text was included in the email at the bottom of the ecard. To me this is just fine. I'm still not sure how to do that.

August 19, 2010

I have a client who I designed a website for. They have ecards that they designed and now want to sell them on their site. They want the visitor to be able to type a few line on an area of the ecard and then email it to the recipient. Can someone point me in the right direction?

August 17, 2010

As I said, whatever you are comfortable with. In my case, I'd figure that $25 is worth knowing that my method of editing the site wasn't going anywhere (and I could probably remove the Unity branding and put my own branding in place), and if I was to offer that to clients, I'd include that $25 when estimating the cost of a project. Depends on your clients too. If you have a client who will complain over a $25 charge for the ability to edit the website easily, then it isn't a good fit.

Besides, it saves me the time of doing maintenance, which isn't my favorite job, and saves the client money, since they don't have to pay for me to do maintenance.

Most of my clients don't have a lot of money or choose not to want to spend it. I charge them $25.00 per month for hosting and maintenance. I have no problem spending money as long as I can get a return but, most of them are going to have admin privileges and still want me to help them upload and fix what they mess up. Just a matter of time. I have already prepared for that. Also, with PageLime they have an option where I can self host, brand everything with my logo and colors and upload it to my server, with unlimited websites. They are going to email me the price. That would be more the direction I would like to go.

August 17, 2010

Ultimately it depends on what you are most comfortable with. Most likely, PageLime will work fine for you. I probably would suggest Unify though -- same basic idea, except you can host it on your own server.

I looked at Unify but it cost about $25.00 for one license / one website. Each time I want to do this with a client I have to buy another license. Not cost effective for myself or my clients.

August 17, 2010

I'm totally agree with you, this is why I stick to my idea to create an Admin panel for the user to make changes and to have persistance data.

I would prefer to as you are doing and have complete control but, I am not sure how to go about it. I am more of a web & graphic designer. I would welcome any suggestions.

Thanks

August 17, 2010

Thanks for your suggestions. I looked at the sites you provided. I really liked CushyCMS but couldn't get it to read my ftp server info for some reason. I googled to find other options and found PageLime CMS. It is very easy for my client to understand and use. Thanks again

August 16, 2010

I have been building websites for clients and then maintaining their sites monthly for a fee. I now have one client who wants admin privileges to make changes to text, calendar and a few photos. I have never done this so can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

July 11, 2010

I finally had time to review those video tutorials you suggested... excellent. Just what I needed. Worked great and now I have the validation I wanted for my contact form.

I must say... all of your videos are really user friendly, easy to understand and follow along with for those of us that are not experts. Well worth the monthly cost of being involved in the university. Thank again.

June 29, 2010

Still getting blank page. The script is on the thank you page and not really associated with the contact us page. To me, if a field is not filled in, once you hit submit it has no idea that you haven't filled in all the required fields. I would think, what little knowledge I have about script, that the required info needs to be on the page that is getting filled out.

June 29, 2010

Ok, but I'm not sure how to do that. I haven't done a lot of php... more of a web & graphic designer, not so much writing script. I am trying to learn every chance I get.

June 28, 2010

Ok. I copied and pasted your suggestion in the correct place, it's where I thought it should actually go, but it did not work. When I leave the first name area blank on the contact us page and then click "Submit", it brings up a blank page.

Here is the updated code:

<?php

//php form data to email code//

if (!isset($_REQUEST['first_name'] && $_REQUEST['last_name'] && $_REQUEST['email'] &&

$_REQUEST['phone'] && $_REQUEST['radio'] && $_REQUEST['message'])) {

$errormessage = 'Please fill in the required fields';

} else {

$first_name = $_REQUEST['first_name'];

$last_name = $_REQUEST['last_name'];

$email = $_REQUEST['email'];

$phone = $_REQUEST['phone'];

$radio = $_REQUEST['radio'];

$message = $_REQUEST['message'];

$headers = "From: $email";

$email_message = "First Name: {$first_name}\n\rLast Name: {$last_name}\n\rEmail: {$email}\n\rPhone: {$phone}\n\rInterested In: {$radio}\n\rMessage: {$message}";

mail('dgow@simplewebs13.com',$radio,$email_message,$headers);

?>

June 28, 2010

Thank you for your suggestion. I can try this but, where do I put it... on the contact us page or the thank you page? And where on the page?

June 28, 2010

On my contact us page I have a form that, when submitted, sends visitor to thank you page. I am not great at php so, how do I make all or some of the fields in the contact form required? script from both pages is below...

From contact us page:

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

Website Design and Development<br />

<input name="radio" value="Graphic and Logo Designs" type="radio" /> Graphic and Logo Designs<br />

<input name="radio" value="Animation" type="radio" /> Animation<br />

<input name="radio" value="Web Hosting" type="radio" /> Web Hosting<br />

<input name="radio" value="Domain Name Registration" type="radio" /> Domain Name Registration<br />

<input name="radio" value="Search Engine Optimization" type="radio" /> Search Engine Optimization<br />

<input name="radio" value="Business Card Print Media Designs" type="radio" /> Business Card Print Media

Designs<br />

<input name="radio" value="General Questions" type="radio" /> General Questions<br />

<br />

</strong></span>

<br />

</form>

</div>

From thank you page:

<?php

//php form data to email code//

$first_name = $_REQUEST['first_name'];

$last_name = $_REQUEST['last_name'];

$email = $_REQUEST['email'];

$phone = $_REQUEST['phone'];

$radio = $_REQUEST['radio'];

$message = $_REQUEST['message'];

$headers = "From: $email";

$email_message = "First Name: {$first_name}\n\rLast Name: {$last_name}\n\rEmail: {$email}\n\rPhone: {$phone}\n\rInterested In: {$radio}\n\rMessage: {$message}";

mail('dgow@simplewebs13.com',$radio,$email_message,$headers);

?>

February 26, 2010

Great article. How did you design the client backend for your website? I have thought about this recently.

I usually just email them the contract and have them email it back to me with their authorization to do the work in the email itself. This way I have a copy of the email stating that they agreed to proceed with the project. I always get 50% upfront and the balance when the project is complete. I have only had 1 client who didn't pay... I removed their website and within 24 hrs i got a check delivered to my house.

February 26, 2010

Ah, cool. Glad you found the fix.

I appreciate your help. I rely on this forum to find answers to a lot of questions I have... especially php since I am learning it.

February 25, 2010

Looks like they are requiring you to use the gdform script in order to send mail -- I'm pretty sure that is the issue I ran into to. More info on this: http://help.godaddy.com/article/510#gdform

The thing I didn't like about this was that it made the forms impossible to customize. It simply spits out the contents of the form ordered alphabetically and submits it to an email -- there was no way/difficult to check for required fields, customize the email that the form sends, change the order of the contents of the email, validate data, etc.

Finally... I actually reached someone at GoDaddy that understood exactly what I was talking about. He didn't give me a pre-scripted answer. He said my php code was great. He looked at both accounts, my hosting and my clients hosting, they have their own acct and I just take care of it, and we found the problem. I am on Linux, they are on windows. So we changed them to Linux and upgraded a few things and now it should work by tomorrow.

Thanks for suggesting that I call them.

February 25, 2010

That's probably where I would start. I can't remember the exact issue I had, but I just remember that the mail() function was disabled on one of the GoDaddy accounts (hosted on a Windows server) I worked with in the past.

As far as I can tell, the code you are using should be fine. If you tried the exact same code and it was working fine on a different hosting setup, I'm guessing it has something to do with the host.

I called GoDaddy and they said it was my script on the contact us page. He said I was missing a section of code at the top. I will include what he sent me but, this is nothing even close to what I learned on the videos with Stefan.

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