One Page Contact Form PHP & Script - php

Question

I am making a one page website, and I would like to add a contact form in one section. So I am working with PHP, thing is, I cant seem to find any base pre-made forms that do not open a new webpage or direct that you to a new page once you submit. I would like to keep this one page, so I would like an overlay to appear once everything is all correct in the form and it has been submitted. No popups or redirects. This may require jQuery but I am not sure how to put it in so it actually does that.
Here is how I have set up the form in HTML:
<form action="mail.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" >
<label></label>
<input name="name" required placeholder="Your Name">
<label></label>
<input name="email" type="email" required placeholder="Your Email">
<label></label>
<textarea name="message" cols="20" rows="5" required placeholder="Message"></textarea>
<input id="submit" name="submit" type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Here is mail.php
<?php
$name = $_POST['name'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$message = $_POST['message'];
$from = 'From: Website';
$to = 'email#emailhere.com';
$subject = 'Email Inquiry';
$body = "From: $name\n E-Mail: $email\n Message:\n $message";?>
<?php
if ($_POST['submit']) {
if (mail ($to, $subject, $body, $from)) {
echo '<p>Thank you for your message! </p>';
} else {
echo '<p>An error occurred. Try sending your message again.</p>'; }}?>
Now, I would like to be able to remove the echo for the thank you message, and replace it with jQuery code for an overlay I made.
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#overlay").show();
});
I am missing a part of the function, as right now its just going to show when the page is ready. But I don't know where to put that/how it works with this PHP.
My confusion is I am not sure where the PHP is telling it to go to some blank page when you hit submit, so I don't know where to stop and start the script. I also just don't know how to mesh this all together properly. Is it in the PHP or the script where I have it check all elements before it can call to action the "thank you overlay". I just don't really know what direction to go from here.
Thank you so much for your time. I am learning a lot of this on my own so my knowledge is patchy.
Please let me know if I can help clear anything up.
-rj

Answer 1

Hava a look at jQuery Ajax. Usually, you throw data by the server by going to another page, so you do a "synchronous" request. The Ajax technique enables you to stay on the page, while a request is made, an "asynchronous" request. JQuery makes Ajax requests much simpler. Good luck ;)

Answer 2

Try adding an onclick event on #submit button and use a Javascript XMLHttpRequest object instead of action="mail.php" in the form

Answer 3

This is working from example, hope it can push you on correct path :)
Add this string right after submit button
<span class="status"></span>
PHP
if($mail_sent){
echo "<span class='notice'>Your message has been sent, thank you.</span>";
exit;
}else{
echo "<span class='error'>We couldn't send your message please try again, thank you.</span>";
exit;
}
And JS part to display errors
jQuery(function($) {
$("#contact-form").submit(function(){
return false;
})
$("#contact-form input[type=submit]").click(function(event){
var formerror = false;
$(this).attr('disabled', 'disabled').css({'cursor': 'auto', 'opacity': 0.5});
$('.status').fadeIn('normal').html('Loading please wait...');
$(this).closest("form").find("input, textarea").each(function(){
error = false;
switch($(this).attr('id')){
case 'name':
if($(this).val().match(/^[a-zA-Z\ \']+$/) == null || $(this).val() == "Name")
error = true;
else
error = false;
break;
case 'email':
if($(this).val().match(/^[a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-]+\#([a-zA-Z0-9\-]+\.)+[a-zA-Z0-9]{2,4}$/) == null)
error = true;
else
error = false;
break;
case 'message':
if($(this).val().length < 4 || $(this).val() == "Type your message")
error = true;
else
error = false;
break;
}
if(error){
$(this).css('border-color', '#f00');
formerror = true;
}
});
if(formerror){
$('.status').fadeOut('normal',
function(){
$(this).html("One or more required fields are missing or invalid, please correct and resend.")
.addClass("error");
}
).fadeIn();
$(this).removeAttr('disabled').css({'cursor': 'pointer', 'opacity': 1});
event.preventDefault();
}else{
//get teh link
$.post( "contact.php", { name: $('#name').val(),
email: $('#email').val(),
website: $('#website').val(),
message: $('#message').val()
})
.done(function( data ) {
$('.status').removeClass('error').fadeIn('normal', function(){$(this).html(data)});
$("#contact-form input[type=submit]").removeAttr('disabled').css({'opacity': 1, 'cursor': 'pointer'});
});
event.preventDefault();
}
});
});