PHP and AJAX issue with sending data - php

Question

Just another silly question from the beginner. I have this function:
$(document).ready(function() {
$('#submit-form').click(function(e){
e.preventDefault();
var reg = /^([A-Za-z0-9_\-\.])+\#([A-Za-z0-9_\-\.])+\.([A-Za-z]{2,4})$/;
var name = $('#name').val(),
email = $('#email').val(),
phone = $('#phone').val(),
date = $('#date').val(),
message = $('#message').val(),
data_html,
success = $('#success');
if(name == "")
$('#name').val('Please enter your name.');
if(phone == "")
$('#phone').val('Please enter your phone number.');
if(date == "")
$('#date').val('Please enter a date and time.');
if(email == ""){
$('#email').val('Your email is required.');
}else if(reg.test(email) == false){
$('#email').val('Invalid Email Address.');
}
if(message == "")
$('#message').val('Message is required.');
if(message != "" && name != "" && reg.test(email) != false) {
data_html = "name=" + name + "&email="+ email + "&message=" + message + "&phone="+ phone + "&date="+ date;
//alert(data_html);
$.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: '../contact_form.php',
data: data_html,
success: function(msg){
if (msg == 'sent'){
success.html('<div class="alert alert-success">Message <strong>successfully</strong> sent!</div>') ;
$('#name').val('');
$('#phone').val('');
$('#email').val('');
$('#date').val('');
$('#message').val('');
}else{
success.html('<div class="alert alert-error">Message <strong>NOT</strong> sent! Please try again later. </div>') ;
}
}
});
}
return false;
});
});
And I have created this PHP which may be wrong so please do not judge me... I am still learning :) I am a total beginner to this so please do not give me a hard time :)
<?php
$to = 'dvvsfb1#gmail.com';
$subject = 'Request a Booking';
if($to) {
$name = $_POST['name'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$fields = array(
0 => array(
'text' => 'Name',
'val' => $_POST['name']
),
1 => array(
'text' => 'Email address',
'val' => $_POST['email']
),
2 => array(
'text' => 'Phone',
'val' => $_POST['phone']
),
3 => array(
'text' => 'Date & Time',
'val' => $_POST['date']
),
4 => array(
'text' => 'Message',
'val' => $_POST['message']
)
);
$message = "";
foreach($fields as $field) {
$message .= $field['text'].": " . htmlspecialchars($field['val'], ENT_QUOTES) . "<br>\n";
}
ini_set("SMTP","aspmx.l.google.com");
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\nContent-type: text/html; charset=utf-8\r\n";
$headers .= "From: \"" . $name . "\" \r\n";
$headers .= "Reply-To: " . $email . "\r\n";
$message = utf8_decode($message);
mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);
?>
I am keep getting error message that message is not sent. It doesn't connect with my PHP i think. Any advice?

Answer 1

You are not "answering" anything from your PHP file. Try replacing your "mail()" call with this:
if (mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers)) {
echo 'sent';
} else {
echo 'not sent';
}

Answer 2

In the ajax success callback, you are checking for
if (msg == 'sent')
where msg is the response response of the ajax request.
But in your php file, you are not sending any response. Try,
$status = mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);
echo $status ? 'sent' : 'failed';
And in the Ajax success callback,
if($.trim(msg) == 'sent') {
//some code
}