PHP Form, when no text is entered - php

Question

I'm creating a mobile landing page and I have also created a form that allows me to create more, by duplicating a folder that's host to a template file. The script then takes you to a page where you input the company details one by one and press submit. Then the page is created.
My problem is, when a field is left out (YouTube for instance), the button is created and is blank. I would like there to be a default text for when there is no text. I've tried a few things and have been struggling to make this work for DAYS!
<?php
$company = $_POST["company"];
$phone = $_POST["phone"];
$colour = $_POST["colour"];
$email = $_POST["email"];
$website = $_POST["website"];
$video = $_POST["video"];
?>
<div id="contact-area">
<form method="post" action="generate.php"><br>
<input type="text" name="company" placeholder="Company Name" /><br>
<input type="text" name="slogan" placeholder="Slogan" /><br>
<input class="color {required:false}" name="colour" placeholder="Company Colour"><br>
<input type="text" name="phone" placeholder="Phone Number" /><br>
<input type="text" name="email" placeholder="Email Address" /><br>
<input type="text" name="website" placeholder="Full Website - Include http://" /><br>
<input type="text" name="video" placeholder="Video URL" /><br>
<input type="submit" value="Generate QuickLinks" style="background:url(images/submit.png) repeat-x; color:#FFF"/>
</form>
That's the form. It takes the variables and post's them to the file below.
<?php
$File = "includes/details.php";
$Handle = fopen($File, 'w');
?>
<?php
$File = "includes/details.php";
$Handle = fopen($File, 'w');
$Data = "<div id='logo'>
<h1 style='color:#$_POST[colour]'>$_POST[company]</h1>
<h2>$_POST[slogan]</h2>
</div>
<ul data-role='listview' data-inset='true' data-theme='b'>
<li style='background-color:#$_POST[colour]'><a href='tel:$_POST[phone]'>Phone Us</a></li>
<li style='background-color:#$_POST[colour]'><a href='mailto:$_POST[email]'>Email Us</a></li>
<li style='background-color:#$_POST[colour]'><a href='$_POST[website]'>View Full Website</a></li>
<li style='background-color:#$_POST[colour]'><a href='$_POST[video]'>Watch Us</a></li>
</ul>
\n";
fwrite($Handle, $Data);
fclose($Handle);
?>
and there is what the form turns into. I need there to be a default link put in incase the field is left blank, witch it is sometimes. Thanks in advance guys.

Answer 1

Just use something like this for every element:
$company = trim($_POST["company"]);
if (!isset($company) || empty($company)) {
$company = "Not filled in";
}
I added trim to make sure spaces are ignored

Answer 2

Use following format for each variables:
$company = (isset($_POST["company"]) && !empty($_POST["company"]))? $_POST["company"]:"";
"" at the end of the can assign any default values.

Answer 3

It's usually easier to work with post variables if you wrap the access in a function:
function post($key, $default = '') {
if (!isset($_POST[$key])) return $default;
$value = trim($_POST[$key]);
if ($value == '')
return $default;
else
return $value;
}
You can now assign your variables like this:
$company = post('company');
$phone = post('phone', 'Not provided');
$colour = post('colour', 'blue');
... and so on...

Answer 4

Can you get away with simply wrapping your variable definitions in code like:
if (strlen($_POST["company"]) > 0) {
$company = $_POST["company"];
} else {
$company = "default company";
}
That will let you specify a default value that will be over-written by the user's data if there is any.