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JShor
09-02-2009, 04:12 PM
Hi everyone,

My question's the following. I'm working on a form on my personal site to enable users to send text messages to me. Now, the form sends me a text message just fine.

However, I would like the text message to be formatted so that when I reply on my phone, it goes to the number, inputted by the user in the form.

When you see my code, you'll better understand what I'm trying to do.



<?php

if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {
if(isset($_POST['email'])) {
if(isset($_POST['message'])) {

mysql_query("INSERT INTO Messages (ReturnText, MessageText, SubjectText, TimeText, TypeText)
VALUES('$_POST[mobile]', '$_POST[message]', '$_POST[subject]', '354564576754', 'Text') ") or die(mysql_error());

mail("***********@tomomail.com", "SMS", $_POST['message']);

echo '
<font color="Green">text message successfully sent.</font>
';

} else {
$err .= "<li>you didn't enter a message.</li>";
}
$err .= "<li>you didn't enter your mobile number.</li>";
}
}

?>
<html>
<head>
<title>.::. joshshor.net .::. contact</title>
<meta name="description" content="Everything you want to know about moi! =)">
<meta name="keywords" content="Josh Shor, Life, blog, photos, projects">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="images/favicon.ico">
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/pngfix.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/aimapi.js"></script>
</head>
<body>

<script type="text/javascript">
function chgToMail() {
document.getElementById('field').innerHTML = 'email:';
document.getElementById('subject').style.visibility = 'visible';
}

function chgToText() {
document.getElementById('field').innerHTML = 'mobile #';
document.getElementById('subject').style.visibility = 'hidden';
}
</script>

<table align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="650">
<tr>
<td style="background: url(images/tree.png) no-repeat; height: 120px; vertical-align: bottom" align="right">
<div id="tab">
<ul>
<li><a href="index.php">home</a></li>
<li><a href="blog.php">blog</a></li>
<li><a href="photos.php">photos</a></li>
<li><a href="contact.php" id="selected">contact</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px dotted white; padding: 3px 3px 3px 3px">
<font size="5" color="white">contact</font>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table width="650" align="center">
<tr>
<td>
<input type="radio" name="type" id="email" checked="checked" onclick="chgToMail()"><label for="email" onclick="chgToMail()">send me an email; if i'm away, i'll read it in a few.</label><br>
<input type="radio" name="type" id="txtMsg" onclick="chgToText()"><label for="txtMsg" onclick="chgToText()">send me a text message; i'll read it right away.</label>
</td>
<td>
<table align="right">
<tr>
<td align="right">aim:</td>
<td>
<a href="aim:goim?screenname=joshisshor">joshisshor</a>
<img id="myAwayMessage" class="AIMPresenceWidget joshisshor" alt="" src="images/online.png" title="">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right">facebook:</td>
<td><a href="http://www.facebook.com/JShor?ref=name" target="_blank">facebook.com/JShor</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right">myspace:</td>
<td><a href="http://www.myspace.com/josh_shor" target="_blank">myspace.com/josh_shor</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<table align="center" width="650" style="padding-top: 10px">
<tr id="subject">
<td align="right"><label for="subj">subject:</label></td>
<td><input type="text" name="subject" style="width: 580px; background: #ffffe0" id="subj"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right"><label for="mail" id="field">email:</label></td>
<td><input type="email" name="subject" style="width: 580px; background: #ffffe0" id="mail"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" valign="top"><label for="msg">message:</label></td>
<td><textarea name="message" style="width: 580px; height: 200px; background: #ffffe0" id="msg"></textarea></td>
</tr>
</table>

<p align="center">
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="send" class="button">
&nbsp;
<input type="reset" value="reset" class="button">
</p>

<p align="center" style="padding-top: 20px">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Georgia; color: #c0c0c0">&copy; 2009 Josh Shor.</font>
</p>

</body>
</html>



This even possible? Or are text messages sent from a server one-way only?

Thanks in advance to anyone whom replies. :)
JasonDFR
09-02-2009, 05:38 PM
Your php script is not sending a text message to your phone. I'm not sure if you are under the impression it is or not, but when you asked "Or are text messages sent from a server one-way only?" it sounds like you think your web server is sending a text message.

All your script is doing is sending an email message. The mail server that receives the message is linking the email address to your cell phone number and then sending the body of the email you sent to your phone.

You'll have to figure out how your SMS determines a "reply to" number. It could be as simple as setting a "reply to" header that contains the phone number of ther person sending you the text. That would be very cool if it was that simple.
JShor
09-02-2009, 05:50 PM
Thanks Jason, yeah, I know, it goes to the server at tomomail.com, and that server interprets the body and send it to my phone as text msg.

My question is the "reply to" part. Any ideas?

Thanks :)
JasonDFR
09-02-2009, 06:15 PM
My question is the "reply to" part. Any ideas?



Who knows. That is something your cell phone company ultimately controls. Like I said, I would try including the "Reply


<?php

$header = "Reply-To: 555-555-5555\r\n";

mail($to, $subject, $message, $header) ;

I have no idea if that will work, but it is worth a shot.
JShor
09-02-2009, 06:32 PM
Thanks for your reply. I've tried Reply-To header before, but that doesn't work. Worse comes to worse is that I'll just return the text manually. Much appreciated, maybe someone else has experience dealing with SMS in php.
JasonDFR
09-02-2009, 06:53 PM
Have you tried the From header? It is required btw.
JShor
09-02-2009, 07:27 PM
That may work, however, the email format is different from text format. Thanks for the suggestion though.