Reset a form through javascript that is called via php - php

Question

Ok I have googled for hours and found nothing that works. I need help desperately
I have got a form with the following elements in it.
<form action="sendmail.php" method="post" name="enquiry">
<table>
<tr>
<td>Name:-</td>
<td><input type="text" name="name" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Company:-</td>
<td> <input type="text" name="company" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>E-Mail:-</td>
<td><input type="text" name="email" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Contact:-</td>
<td> <input type="text" name="contact" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Requirement:-</td>
<td><textarea name="msg"></textarea></td>
</tr>
</table>
<input type="submit" value="submit" onclick="return validation(this.form);">
<input type="reset" value="Reset" />
</form>
and the php has a line like this:
<?php
if(mail($to, $subject,$message)) {
echo "<SCRIPT LANGUAGE='JavaScript'>alert('Your Enquiry was sent successfully we will get back to you shortly');
window.location.href='javascript:history.go(-1)';
document.enquiry.reset();
</SCRIPT>";
}
?>
Then there's an "else" with the same code but a different message.
The problem is when it redirects back to the form page it still has the data in the fields. What I prefer is a clean form with no data filled in when the user returns to the page.
Please note I am a newbie to javascript so try suggesting a fix that would be easy to comprehend.
Thanks a lot in advance!

Answer 1

That's because you're going back in the history - browsers remember forms when you go back/forward.
What you are doing isn't a "normal" user experience - I would suggest you print out a nice looking page saying thanks in the "sendmail.php" file and then let the user navigate to wherever they want to on your site.

Answer 2

as Ed said, you are going back in history, and the browser remembers it.
Try this:
instead of this line: window.location.href='javascript:history.go(-1)';
write : window.location.href='RelativePathToActualForm';

Answer 3

Your Problem is with the javascript code:
window.location.href='javascript:history.go(-1)';
document.enquiry.reset();
Remove this code
EDIT:
Use this code:
if(mail($to, $subject,$message)){?>
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE='JavaScript'>
alert('Your Enquiry was sent successfully we will get back to you shortly');
window.location.href='/*YOUR FORM PAGE LINK*/';
</SCRIPT>
<?php }

Answer 4

After processing the form post you should redirect to another page (or again to your form) and display your message there e.g.:
php header("Location: form.php?formpostwassuccessful=1");
then the form page
if(isset($_GET['formpostwassuccessful']))
echo "Thank you. Your form was sent.";
also see redirect after post?

Answer 5

First look at example of using php session-based flash messages http://mikeeverhart.net/php/session-based-flash-messages/
Usual flow:
User fills in the form
Presses submit
Your php script sendmail.php validates the form
If there were some validation errors [set error message]
If there were some mail sending errors [set error message]
If everything is ok [set success message]
Call from php redirect to the form display page.
[set error|success message] - using the link provided above how to set the message.
Now important part every time you render your form, you should check for set messages, if there are some messages - display them.
How do those messages work?
It simply sets the message to session ($_SESSION) array, and then when the message is displayed, the message is unset from session.

Answer 6

Simple solution : just use jquery - a single line is to be usee in the head section to include jquery in your page.
The javascript snippet you gave should contain:
window.location="theform_page_address" ;
instead of
window.location.href='javascript:history.go(-1)';
document.enquiry.reset();
and in the form page address: add the following js snippet in the head section :
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
$('input').val('');
$('select').val('-1');
$('textarea').val();
});
</script>
EDIT: I assume your form has input and textarea elements which have a blank default value, , and select elements that have -1 as the value for the default option.