Show message for empty form field? - php

Question

I'm trying to get the optin form on my website to not send empty fields.
I also have predefined text within the form fields (Ex. "Enter you name here" ) that disappears on click. I don't want the form to send predefined text data either.
What is the best way to go about this with PHP?
HTML:
<div class="form">
<h2>Get An Appointment: <font size="3"><font color="#6E5769">Fill in the form below now, and I'll call you to setup your next dental appointment...</font></font></h2>
<p id="feedback"><?php echo $feedback; ?></p>
<form action="contact.php" method="post"/>
<p class="name">
<input type="text" name="name" id="name" style="text-align:center;" onClick="this.value='';" value="Enter your name"/>
PHP:
<?php
$to = 'test#mywebsite.com'; $subject = 'New Patient';
$name = $_POST['name']; $phone = $_POST['phone'];
$body = <<<EMAIL
Hi, my name is $name, and phone number is $phone.
EMAIL;
$header = 'From: test#mywebsite.com';
if($_POST){ if($name != '' && $phone != ''){ mail($to, $subject, $body, $header); }else{ $feedback = 'Fill out all the fields'; } } ?>

Answer 1

Collect all information in POST array and then remove the empty values using array_filter
Added an sample http://codepad.org/ZtR6Eh93

Answer 2

Heres try this:
<?php
$to = 'test#mywebsite.com';
$subject = 'New Patient';
$header = 'From: test#mywebsite.com';
$feedback = null;
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST'){
$name = (!empty($_POST['name'])?$_POST['name']:null);
$phone = (!empty($_POST['phone'])?$_POST['phone']:null);
$body = <<<EMAIL
Hi, my name is $name, and phone number is $phone.
EMAIL;
if($name !== null && $phone !== null){
mail($to, $subject, $body, $header);
$feedback = 'Message Sent';
}else{
$feedback = 'Fill out all the fields';
}
}
?>

Answer 3

For first you should do validation on client-side using JavaScript.
<?
$name = $phone = $status= '';
if(isset($_POST['submit'])){
$name = (!empty($_POST['name'])?$_POST['name']:null);
$phone = (!empty($_POST['phone'])?$_POST['phone']:null);
if($name !== null && $phone !== null){
mail($to, $subject, $body, $header);
$name = $phone = '';
$status = 'Message Sent';
}
else
$status= 'Fill out all the fields';
}
<? if(!empty($status)): ?><p class="error"><?=$status?></p><? endif; ?>
<input type="text" name="name" value="<?=$name?>"/>
<input type="text" name="phone" value="<?=$phone?>"/>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="send"/>

Answer 4

I'd recommend you use empty() on the $_POST variables, preferably on the required form field (Not just $_POST). For example:
if(!empty($_POST['name'])) {
// Name field was posted
}
This is different to isset because isset will return true if the field was something like "" or NULL. Whereas !empty only accepts values that are not empty / not null. Hence why the empty function is a better choice in this case.
Hope that helps.

Answer 5

Add onsubmit handler to your form that set disabled property to true for all inputs which you don't like to be sent
Update:
This does not relax the requirement to check all input parameters at PHP side of your app.

Answer 6

You can prevent this by checking in the server side:
if($_POST){ if($name != '' && $phone != '' && $name!='Enter your name' && $email!='Enter your email'){ mail($to, $subject, $body, $header); }else{ $feedback = 'Fill out all the fields'; } } ?>
But I suggest that you improve your error handling to something like this:
if ($_POST) {
$err = array();
if ($name == '' || $name == 'Enter your name') $err[] = 'Name is required';
if ($email == '' || $email == 'Enter your email') $err[] = 'Email is required';
if (empty($err)) {
mail($to, $subject, $body, $header);
} else {
$feedback = 'Fill out all fields. Errors: '.implode(', ',$err);
}
}