javascript? php? simple mailing list database?

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06-01-2006, 09:23 PM
moscarda

javascript? php? simple mailing list database?

im trying to find a simple script i can embed in an html form on my website so that a user can enter their email address to receive updates/invites, and when they click submit it will write the text they input into a text file on the sever, with each entry separated by a semicolon... so that everytime i add new work to my site, i can copy/paste the most recent mailing list directly into my mail client... like so:

user@domain.com; user1@domain1.com; user2@domain2.com; etc

is this possible? anyone have a code that does this or, if not, advice on how to code this myself? much appreciated.

also, if it were possible to have the code check the database for duplicates, that would be helpful.
06-02-2006, 01:33 AM
djr33

Sure. that's quite easy.

My comments script could be used as a base for this.
That's in a couple threads floating around.

doing the list is easy.... but checking for duplicates is a bit harder. Actually.... hmm... no, I guess it isn't.

I'll write it up for you now.
06-02-2006, 02:56 AM
djr33

Include the following php code at the VERY TOP of your page:

PHP Code:

<?php if ($email = stripslashes($_POST['email'])) { $filename = "emails.phplist"; $filecontents = @file_get_contents($filename); if ($_POST['choice'] == "join") { if (strpos($filecontents) != "") break; if (strlen($filecontents) > 0) $comma = ", "; $add = $comma.$email; $emails = $filecontents.$add; $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $emails); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was added to the mailing list.". "<br>Redirecting to the last page."; } elseif ($_POST['choice'] == "leave") { $edited = str_replace($email,"",$filecontents); $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $edited); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was removed from the mailing list.". "<br>Redirecting to the last page."; } } if ($message != "") die("<html><head>". "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"3;url=\">". "</head><body>".$message."</body></html>"); ?> 

HTML Code:

 <form action="" method="post"> Join our newsletter!<br> Email: <input type="text" name="email"><br> <select name="choice"> <option value="join">Join</option> <option value="leave">Leave</option> </select>mailing list.<br> <input type="Submit" value="Go!"> </form>

Random note... after writing this, i've decided there must be a better way to write scripts than in the post window :D

Ok... gotta run. This should work, but I haven't tested it yet...
I'll check back when I get a chance.

EDIT: Fixed two errors in the code.
06-02-2006, 02:46 PM
moscarda

hey thanks, can you dumb it down even more for me though?

1. what url goes in the <form action="(url)" method="post"> tag?
2. does the script autocreate a text file called "emails.phplist" or do i need to create one? if so, how do i do that and do i store it in the same directory folder?
3. the php script is showing up on the html page, why is that? should i make the script external and link to that url in the form action??

thanks again, sorry if these are dumb questions.
06-02-2006, 02:47 PM
moscarda

oh, and

4. where do i make the url for the redirect page?
06-02-2006, 05:18 PM
moscarda

if you go to moscarda.com/php you can view source and see what im trying to do.
06-02-2006, 05:44 PM
djr33

AHHHH! just wrote a long reply.. and it didn't get saved... well... here's the short version:

1. The form action is the current page. "" should work for that, or you could use the currentpage.php in there.

I made a mistake... change the last part of the php to this:

Code:

if ($message != "") die("<html><head>". "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"3;url=\">". "</head><body>$message</body></html>");

Note that the "3" means 3 seconds. Use what you want.
IF you want 0, like to not have a message, use comments to disable that entire thing, so you can still get it back (don't delete), but it won't do that... it'll just display your original page:

Code:

/*if ($message != "") die("<html><head>". "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"3;url=\">". "</head><body>$message</body></html>");*/

4. The URL for the redirect needs to be the CURRENT page as well. I think leaving it blank would default to that, but it might send the form again (like refresh does sometimes) and would just do an endless loop of submitting, refreshing.... so.... see what happens, and add your currentpage.php url in if it seems to matter.

2. If autocreates it.
You can control filename at the top by changing that. Whatever extension is fine... just use notepad to open in the end. If you WANT to be able to view in your browser, you could even use .htm.... but that would make it easily publicly accessible, if they could find the url of the file. Not that you'd ever give that out, so it's probably ok.
It is the SAME directory. If you want another, use "directory/filename.ext".
However, it will only create the FILE if it doesn't exist... YOU must create the directory.

3. From the link you just posted, looks like it's working ok. I'll check that out now to see what's going on.
06-02-2006, 05:49 PM
djr33

Looks like your page has a syntax error... says line 27, which, by the way it is above, is this line:
"</head><body>$message</body></html>");

I *think* it is that the $message isn't working. That should display the message.. the contents of the variable.
The way around that is this:
"</head><body>".$message."</body></html>");

Try that.

AND! You have put the php in a seperate page. It won't work.

Actually... I guess it would... if you set the url of the form to that page and the url of the redirect to the index.

But.... just put the php at the top of your index page and it won't do anything UNLESS someone has submitted the form. That's why the if is there.

Your index should be:
<?php mystuff here ?>
<html>....your page stuff...<body>
your body stuff
<form myformhere></form>
the rest of your body stuff
the end of your code</html>

Note: updating the codes above to fix the "3" error and this error.

And oh yeah... you don't need the  comment for the form. Doesn't hurt, but not needed.
06-03-2006, 05:08 PM
moscarda

okay i made the changes you mentioned, including putting the php in the same html file... it is still spitting out the php when you view the page...definatly not working correctly: check it out at http://moscarda.com/php ... plus, the when submitted, the form calls this error:

Method Not Allowed
The requested method POST is not allowed for the URL /php/index.html.
06-03-2006, 11:15 PM
djr33

Yeah, you're using an html page, not a php page. Clearly, this won't work with php.

Just rename index.html to index.php and it'll all work. I think.

Since you just supplied the directory (/php/) I didn't see the extension of the index... or I would've caught it earlier. Sorry.

As for the post method thing, I'm not sure why it says that. Fix the php extension, and we'll see where we are. I don't understand why that would be an error... sounds like its referring to the method="post" of the form, not the php code, as the only "post" stuff in there is variables.. not "methods". If it is related to having that in the form, but I don't really get it. html is interpreted by the browser, so your host couldn't be weird or anything... and your page isn't complex; nothing would be making that have anything in particular that would be an error.
06-05-2006, 12:10 AM
tomyknoker

Hi There,

Ok I have tried this for myself... What do I need to edit in the code for it to send me an email... When someone subscribes? or Leaves? Here is my tester page:
http://www.curiousclothing.com/email_form_test.php
06-05-2006, 12:17 AM
djr33

You can take out my two comments in the script... if you want, that is.

Does it seem to work for you? :)

Sure... you can do that. I'm no expert with the mail function.

Here's a possible version... look for "mail" at php.net if you want something else...

mail("your@email.com", "Newsletter Nofication", "This message has been automatically generated to inform you that $email has chosen to $choice the newsletter.");
(it's mail(to, subject, message))

PHP Code:

<?php if ($email = stripslashes($_POST['email'])) { $filename = "emails.phplist"; $filecontents = @file_get_contents($filename); if ($_POST['choice'] == "join") { if (strpos($filecontents) != "") break; if (strlen($filecontents) > 0) $comma = ", "; $add = $comma.$email; $emails = $filecontents.$add; $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $emails); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was added to the mailing list.". "<br>Redirecting to the last page."; } elseif ($_POST['choice'] == "leave") { $edited = str_replace($email,"",$filecontents); $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $edited); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was removed from the mailing list.". "<br>Redirecting to the last page."; } ////ADD BELOW mail("your@email.com", "Newsletter Nofication", "This message has been automatically generated to inform you that $email has chosen to $choice the newsletter."); ////ADD ABOVE } if ($message != "") die("<html><head>". "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"3;url=\">". "</head><body>".$message."</body></html>"); ?>

I *think* that will work, but I've had problems with the function before... fairly complex in some ways. you can add more, but in this case, its just a note to you, so probably fine.
06-05-2006, 12:31 AM
tomyknoker

I tried this version but the email never actually comes to me... Also says there is a line error code... Another thing is when they click submit is it possible to take it to the original page but just remove the form field and instead say your email has been added/removed?

With the previous code... What was it actually doing? was this creating a database of emails?
06-05-2006, 12:38 AM
djr33

they are the same... the email is now added to the code above, but it's the same code.
it saves the emails to a text file, emails.phplist (don't be confused by the file extension... they don't mean anything... it's a text file).

well.... the redirect accomplishes that. If you remove the option to change, then you're not letting them leave the list, or join back up if they left.

Hmm... I suppose it's not that complex.

PHP Code:

<?php if ($email = stripslashes($_POST['email'])) { $filename = "emails.phplist"; $filecontents = @file_get_contents($filename); if ($_POST['choice'] == "join") { if (strpos($filecontents) != "") break; if (strlen($filecontents) > 0) $comma = ", "; $add = $comma.$email; $emails = $filecontents.$add; $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $emails); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was added to the mailing list.". "<br>Redirecting to the last page."; } elseif ($_POST['choice'] == "leave") { $edited = str_replace($email,"",$filecontents); $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $edited); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was removed from the mailing list.". "<br>Redirecting to the last page."; } mail("your@email.com", "Newsletter Nofication", "This message has been automatically generated to inform you that $email has chosen to $choice the newsletter."); } ?> //YOUR HTML HERE <?php if ($message != "") { echo $message; } else { ?> <form action="" method="post"> Join our newsletter!<br> Email: <input type="text" name="email"><br> <select name="choice"> <option value="join">Join</option> <option value="leave">Leave</option> </select>mailing list.<br> <input type="Submit" value="Go!"> </form><?php } ?> //THE REST OF YOUR HTML HERE

I think that should work.

Dunno about the mail thing. some servers vary. Let's see if anyone else knows... I've never really understood the ins and outs of that function.
06-05-2006, 01:06 AM
tomyknoker

It sent me the email but just stayed on the redirect page with this

Quote:

Warning: Wrong parameter count for strpos() in /home/virtual/site750/fst/var/www/html/email_form_test.php on line 6
Your email was added to the mailing list.
Redirecting to the last page.

Should I just have 2 pages one saying "your now on the subscribtion list" and the other saying "you have been removed from the subscription list"... And then it loads either one depending?

Also the email comes from Apache, any way to make it come from the person who emailed it? Or is that impossible?
06-05-2006, 01:07 AM
tomyknoker

I guess similar to this: http://www.php-scripts.com/
06-05-2006, 01:09 AM
tomyknoker

Actually any ideas hwo this one works?

http://www.akina.com.au/joinus.php

http://www.akina.com.au/joinus_thankyou.php
06-05-2006, 02:04 AM
djr33

hmmm... if you put an @ symbol before a function, it will suppress warnings...
if (@strpos($filecontents) != "") break;
if (@strlen($filecontents) > 0) $comma = ", ";

However, I think I didn't do that correctly...
yeah... here... sorry:
if (strpos($filecontents, $email) != "") break;
if (strlen($filecontents, $email) > 0) $comma = ", ";

The example you posted... it just goes to a different page. I assumed that this was going to be placed ON a page, like www.theforce.net -- look on the right, about 3/5 of the way down.

If this is JUST a page with the form on it, like one you'd get to by clicking a a link to "join the newsletter"... seems like extra work, I'd say put it on the main page.
However... if you want that, then make the action of the form be the second page, and have the php at the top of that second page. That would work fine.
that's what the example you posted does.

Yeah... the php-scripts site... same as mine... its embedded on the page. that makes more sense to me. And, the way I have it setup, it'll just submit, display a message, and redirect back to the main site. (or you can skip the redirect/message page, like we've been talking about).
06-05-2006, 02:16 AM
tomyknoker

I agree with you definitely better going this way... It still has issues though: http://www.curiousclothing.com/email_form_test.php... I'm also a bit confused I think it'd be better once it eventually redirects to the page if the submit and email was all gone and in its place just had thank you for submitting... I'm thinking that some people might try again, you know what I mean?
06-05-2006, 02:20 AM
djr33

You changed both lines?

True... the newest code I gave you should avoid that.
06-05-2006, 02:25 AM
tomyknoker

Ahhhh did I F&%^ it up? Where abouts?
06-05-2006, 02:34 AM
djr33

Wow, my bad.

if (strlen($filecontents) > 0) $comma = ", ";

just use that.

i'm sorry.... I changed both functions; only one needed to be changed.. giving you the error.
06-05-2006, 02:47 AM
tomyknoker

YAY! ok works!!!!

This is probably my fault but it doesn't redirect anymore: http://www.curiousclothing.com/email_form_test.php, also is there any way to add the email to be from the actual address the person types in? At the moment it just says from apache
06-05-2006, 03:17 AM
djr33

Can you please duplicate your page, and rename it .phps?
that will show the source (otherwise hidden as it's php).

I'll look later... gotta run...
06-05-2006, 03:29 AM
tomyknoker

http://www.curiousclothing.com/code_...form_test.phps done! thanks for your help :)
06-05-2006, 05:03 AM
djr33

Ok, I understand what is going on.

the message displayed is still from when it WAS supposed to redirect.

This would make a LOT more sense if it was in a layout.

Here's the deal:

VERSION 1: with redirect:
The page includes, somewhere on it, a form.
when this form is sent with an email address,
you are sent back to the SAME page, for it to be interpreted.
when it does it's thing, it saves a message saying that it did it.
then it MAKES the page BLANK except for the simple message and a redirect.
That redirect then sends it back to your "main page", though it IS the same file.

VERSION 2: no redirect:
Same as above.
the form, then the form is sent:
it saves a message
however, this time, it displays the message ON THE PAGE,
where the form would have been.

It is working perfectly right now.

Find and change the message lines to these:
$message = "Your email was added to the mailing list.";

$message = "Your email was removed from the mailing list.";

removing from both:
"<br>Redirecting to the last page.";

That text was just left over.

When you put this in a layout, it'll do exactly what you want... it'll replace the form with the message. Remember to put the form in a div or table, so it can't expand with the message:
<div width="150">PHP and FORM GO HERE</div>
That way, it'll fit the same space.

That make sense?

Sorry... I've made a couple mistakes here... figuring it out as we go. Seems like it's working now, though.
06-05-2006, 05:14 AM
tomyknoker

your a legend! thanks! here you go thought you'd want to see it in all it's glory: http://www.curiousclothing.com, can you make the email come from the email address the person has entered? Or does it have to come from Apache?
06-05-2006, 05:22 AM
djr33

Pretty cool. you should add php around that alert.

Change your body tag to this:

PHP Code:

<body<?php if ($messages == "") { ?> onLoad="MM_popupMsg('Curious? You should be. Sydney’s rebel Ronins of streetwear are dropping their Kimono’s and picking up gear sharper than any katana from the label that killed the cats you used to love.\r\rLike an army of modern day Mifune, the Samurai of the street blend into their surroundings, snuffing the less than worthy with killer prints and cuts this season.\r\rSleek, clean killers the Curious clothing range Ronin and Geisha are decked out in tees and singlets that reflect the nature of our fine city – crucifixes in a sombre, demure black print or laughing in the pews with glitzy, ironic silver or gold foil. The hurricane-fence print reminds you of which side of the tracks you hail from… Skulls bump heads with the clouds in a range that comes from the street, but stretches to the sky. Fashion victims? Maybe….\r\rstockists?? + 61 415 397 606');"<?php }?>>

That way, it'll only pop up the first load, not after you submit your email.

You also changed this: $filename = "emails.phplist";
...I think.
if I try to view that, it doesn't appear to exist.

I was just gonna check how it's saving them, then see how it works to remove them.

What's the new filename? (PM to me if you want to keep it hidden, though I don't think anyone will really care here)
06-05-2006, 05:28 AM
djr33

By the way, that page is REALLY hard on the eyes. Depending on your audience, maybe, I'd definitely tone it down. Looks like it might just appeal to friends, so that's probably ok.
06-05-2006, 05:33 AM
tomyknoker

nice idea about only popping up once, but it still pops up, heres the code:http://www.curiousclothing.com/index_code.phps, also yea for some reason it doesn't create that file list... do I need to make the file first?
06-05-2006, 06:11 AM
djr33

You can try making the file. It should make it itself if you didn't.
Did you change the filename?
If you changed the directory, you MUSt create the directory first, but not the file.
See if making it changes anything... if not... I'll think about it.

Hmm... that code should work... my syntax might be off.

Wow... something is off with that .phps file. Can you make it .txt instead? I think its trying to display as a webpage, not show the source.
Actually... hitting view source shows the php too... so... whatever, that works.

One idea... find this at the end of that alert code:
<?php }?>>
and change to:
<?php } ?>>
or
<?php } ?> >

See if that helps... might just be a spaces thing.

And... yeah, you can make it from the address.

But... don't you just want it to be from the apache thing? Doesn't matter.... the file will hold the emails.... the apache thing will make it clear its auto-generated.

Change the mail command to:
mail("tom@curiousclothing.com", "Newsletter Nofication", "This message has been automatically generated to inform you that $email has chosen to $choice the newsletter.", "From: $email\r\nReply-To: $email\r\nX-Mailer: PHP/".phpversion());

That'll set the from to the email, the reply-to address to the email and the mail sender thing to php+version. (the last just being recommended by a tutorial I saw)
06-05-2006, 06:25 AM
tomyknoker

great that now works! still no luck with the alert though: http://www.curiousclothing.com/index.txt, also do you think i should have some kind of javascript so people actually have to type a legit email with the @ symbol? Have you seen this done?
06-05-2006, 06:49 AM
djr33

And the file still isn't showing up... great.
Try switching it to "emails.txt", maybe.

Yeah... I've got a script like that... did it for another page I wrote.

PHP Code:

$at = strpos($email, "@"); $dot = strpos($email, ".", $at+2); $atnum = substr_count($email, "@"); if ($at == false or $dot == false or $dot == strlen($email) or $atnum > 1) { $bad email = "The email address you entered is not valid. Please go back and try again.<br>"; }

You can put that after if ($email = stripslashes($_POST['email'])) {

Then replace "<?php if ($message != "") { echo $message; }" with:
<?php echo $bademail;
if ($message != "") { echo $message; }

**I'm not sure this is the best way.. it'll display that above the form.
you could program it to do an alert or something too.
what do you think?

Also, fix this: $message = $message = "Your email was removed from the mailing list.";
Take out one of the $message =.

To fix the alert, I put "messages" instead of "message". Fix here:
<body<?php if ($messages == "") { ?>
Change to: <body<?php if ($message == "") { ?>
sorry 'bout that... typing too fast, I guess.
06-05-2006, 06:58 AM
djr33

Oh.... hmm...
Use this:
'cause you'll need to NOT add to the list if it's invalid. right.

PHP Code:

<?php if ($email = stripslashes($_POST['email'])) { $filename = "emails.phplist"; $at = strpos($email, "@"); $dot = strpos($email, ".", $at+2); $atnum = substr_count($email, "@"); if ($at == false or $dot == false or $dot == strlen($email) or $atnum > 1) { $bad email = "The email address you entered is not valid. Please go back and try again.<br>"; } else { $filecontents = @file_get_contents($filename); if ($_POST['choice'] == "join") { if (strpos($filecontents, $email) != "") break; if (strlen($filecontents) > 0) $comma = ", "; $add = $comma.$email; $emails = $filecontents.$add; $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $emails); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was added to the mailing list."; } elseif ($_POST['choice'] == "leave") { $edited = str_replace($email,"",$filecontents); $file = @fopen($filename, "w+"); @fwrite($file, $edited); @fclose($file); $message = "Your email was removed from the mailing list."; } mail("tom@curiousclothing.com", "Newsletter Nofication", "This message has been automatically generated to inform you that $email has chosen to $choice the newsletter.", "From: $email\r\nReply-To: $email\r\nX-Mailer: PHP/".phpversion()); } } ?>
06-05-2006, 07:09 AM
tomyknoker

has an error now something to do with line 8 I think : http://www.curiousclothing.com/index.txt, I have this Javascript which I edited for another form... But not sure if adding it is different in php

Code:

<script language="JavaScript">  </script>
06-05-2006, 07:14 AM
tomyknoker

ignore that script it sux... doesn't check the @
06-05-2006, 07:20 AM
djr33

Wow, heh.

Change: $bad email =
to: $bademail =

I'm out of it today. variables in php must be only one word. hehe.

that php will verify the email. what is the js supposed to do?
sorry, JS isn't my language.

Generally, though, the php is totally separate from the js.
Just do the js like normal.
the only problem might arise if:
1. the php showed the "added" message, not the form
and
2. the javascript is supposed to do something to the form.
if this becomes an issue, a php if statement could hide the javascript if it hides the form.

EDIT: "ignore that script"... ha, ok. easier, anyway.
but the php will do that :)
06-05-2006, 07:20 AM
tomyknoker

Have a good email checking script... Although can't seem to implememt it any ideas?

Code:

function isEmail(str) { // are regular expressions supported? var supported = 0; if (window.RegExp) { var tempStr = "a"; var tempReg = new RegExp(tempStr); if (tempReg.test(tempStr)) supported = 1; } if (!supported) return (str.indexOf(".") > 2) && (str.indexOf("@") > 0); var r1 = new RegExp("(@.*@)|(\\.\\.)|(@\\.)|(^\\.)"); var r2 = new RegExp("^.+\\@(\\[?)[a-zA-Z0-9\\-\\.]+\\.([a-zA-Z]{2,3}|[0-9]{1,3})(\\]?)$"); return (!r1.test(str) && r2.test(str)); }
06-05-2006, 07:22 AM
djr33

Just use the php. It's more secure, anyway.

If that doesn't work, we can figure out what next.
06-05-2006, 07:26 AM
tomyknoker

agreed... it just takes reloads the page... but doesn't give you any text warning? also uploaded the emails.txt file but doesn't seem to write anything to it...

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