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Perhaps someone can offer some help, or at least point me in the direction of software, a tutorial, or etc.
I am "webmaster" of the website for my "day job" company. Up until now, this has been a pretty simple site "MS Front Page" site, providing info to potential clients. I now have the need to add additional functionality.
Some of our clients regularly send up "requests for service." On this request, they tell who they are (is, which client), and give us specs on the work to be done: name, address, phone #, contact name, etc. They also either check off standard services they are requesting, or enter text to specify custom services.
In the distant past, clients completed the request forms on paper, by hand writing or typing, and mailed or faxed them in. More recently, we have sent out a Microsoft Word template (customized for each client) which the client uses to create a document in Word, filled in with the info mentioned above, and e-mailed to us.
Now, some clients want to be able to order services on-line... a perfectly reasonable request, but one which I am having a bit of trouble accomplishing. There are two aspects of the problem:
(1) creating the web-based form which the client completes and which would, presumably, result in the typed info being sent back to us by e-mail.
(2) taking that e-mail, presumably consisting of only the typed info, and putting it back into a human-readable format... in other words, doing something like putting the transmitted text back into a form at the receiving end so that the entire form could be printed.
The system would have to be able to handle multiple clients while maintaining confidentiality so that one client would not be able to see what any other client is doing. This could work via multiple input forms, each on its own passworded page.
The forms must work with ANY, or even NO, e-mail system on the client’s computer. In some cases in particular, the client uses the non-standard Lotus Notes proggie for e-mail and groupware. A "regular" web form doesn't seem to properly send the e-mail if the client uses Lotus Notes.
So, here's what I am asking...
(1) What is the easiest way to do this?
(2) Is there an existing software product that is designed to create the forms, etc?
(3) Can you point me to an on-line reference that addresses these issues.
What you really need is a form which is submitted via HTTP to either a CGI, PHP or ASP script running on the server. You need to know which (if any) of these your host supports.
There are free scripts available (someone else will know of some good places to look) which you can upload and configure yourself. They generally accept the data and format it in an e-mail, which is then sent to whoever you have nominated in the script.
The e-mail will arrive usually with the name/value pairs intact, something like this:
first_name: Fred
surname: Bloggs
e_mail_address: fred@bloggs.com
etc.
If your host doesn't support server-side scripting, you can use a third-party form submission. The actual form is on your site, but it is submitted to a different server where a script processes the data and sends it to you by e-mail. Your client will receive a confirmation page from that third-party server, but you can configure it however you want (put a link back to your real site!). Some sites offer this service for free, but with ads (banners or popups) on the confirmation page.
If you are running your own server, just search the web for "form to e-mail"
You should have no problem finding a free script for this.
It would help to know what webserver your site is hosted on and what components are installed before you decide the best way to do this. Check with the host what is available before writing any code -they may have a script you can use.
If you want to put the info back into forms at your end - and use M/S Outlook - you can do this with VBA running in the Outlook session.
You could also format the output to HTML - in the script before sending the email - but this takes a lot more effort.
We are currently provide similiar type functions on 3 of our websites. We are using PHP and a MySql Database. Our clients seem to really like this functionalitity because it keeps their visitors focused on their site and well as the mail being easily identified when it is received.
The forms are written with PHP and standard HTML and all data is stored in the database for easy retrieval and maintenance. When the form is completed by a visitor a readable and printable HTML mail is sent to the client advising the details requested in the form.
Currently 1 client has a contract in this format, a 2nd has an order form, and a 3rd has a selection request form.
Unfortunately none of these forms are "canned forms" they were all hand coded based on the specifications of our clients. If you would like I could stick mail you some results so you could see what they look like.
There are loads of open source server-side e-mail and form projects out there, and server-side is almost certainly your best bet. Just take a look on [freshmeat.net...] for one that suits your needs.
The one I know the best is my own, which is a generic HTTP form processor that will handle HTML forms of any config. It's modular too, so the backend can do whatever you want it to. It's an open source PHP project, aimed at ISP scale applications, so you can customise just about every aspect of it. You can find it at [fproc.org.uk...]
Despite my url-dropping, my first recommendation would always be to look on the project sites, freshmeat or sourceforge.
