Error Paging - Echo to HTML Page - php

Question

Hello,
I am wondering HOW I can have any and all errors (when the form is submitted) link to a general error page "Link an error.html". The php form I am using now, links to itself and is just an ugly page with no css formatting. Do I need the echos to link to an "error.html"?
I am working with the following HTML FORM :
<div id="contact">
<form name="contactform" method="post" action="send_form_email.php">
<label for="first_name">First <span class="red">*</span></label>
<input type="text" name="first_name" maxlength="50" size="30">
<label for="last_name">Last <span class="red">*</span></label>
<input type="text" name="last_name" maxlength="50" size="30">
<label for="email">Email <span class="red">*</span></label>
<input type="text" name="email" maxlength="80" size="30">
<label for="telephone">Telephone</label>
<input type="text" name="telephone" maxlength="30" size="30">
<label for="comments">Message <span class="red">*</span></label>
<textarea name="comments" maxlength="1000" cols="25" rows="6"></textarea>
<input type="submit" value="Send Message">Email Form
</form>
</div>
This is the PHP File that I am Using :
<?php
if(isset($_POST['email'])) {
// EDIT THE 2 LINES BELOW AS REQUIRED
$email_to = "info#glustik.com";
$email_subject = "Project Quote Request";
function died($error) {
// your error code can go here
echo "We are very sorry, but there were error(s) found with the form you submitted. ";
echo "These errors appear below.<br /><br />";
echo $error."<br /><br />";
echo "Please go back and fix these errors.<br /><br />";
die();
}
// validation expected data exists
if(!isset($_POST['first_name']) ||
!isset($_POST['last_name']) ||
!isset($_POST['email']) ||
!isset($_POST['telephone']) ||
!isset($_POST['comments'])) {
died('We are sorry, but there appears to be a problem with the form you submitted.');
}
$first_name = $_POST['first_name']; // required
$last_name = $_POST['last_name']; // required
$email_from = $_POST['email']; // required
$telephone = $_POST['telephone']; // not required
$comments = $_POST['comments']; // required
$error_message = "";
$email_exp = '/^[A-Za-z0-9._%-]+#[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,4}$/';
if(!preg_match($email_exp,$email_from)) {
$error_message .= 'The Email Address you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
}
$string_exp = "/^[A-Za-z .'-]+$/";
if(!preg_match($string_exp,$first_name)) {
$error_message .= 'The First Name you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
}
if(!preg_match($string_exp,$last_name)) {
$error_message .= 'The Last Name you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
}
if(strlen($comments) < 2) {
$error_message .= 'The Comments you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
}
if(strlen($error_message) > 0) {
died($error_message);
}
$email_message = "Form details below.\n\n";
function clean_string($string) {
$bad = array("content-type","bcc:","to:","cc:","href");
return str_replace($bad,"",$string);
}
$email_message .= "First Name: ".clean_string($first_name)."\n";
$email_message .= "Last Name: ".clean_string($last_name)."\n";
$email_message .= "Email: ".clean_string($email_from)."\n";
$email_message .= "Telephone: ".clean_string($telephone)."\n";
$email_message .= "Comments: ".clean_string($comments)."\n";
// create email headers
$headers = 'From: '.$email_from."\r\n".
'Reply-To: '.$email_from."\r\n" .
'X-Mailer: PHP/' . phpversion();
#mail($email_to, $email_subject, $email_message, $headers);
?>
<!-- MY THANK YOU SUCCESS PAGE GOES HERE -->
<?php
}
?>

Answer 1

It is better to show the form validation errors along with the form. That way the user will get direct feedback.
You can use an array for all error messages.
<?php
$errors = array();
if(!isset($_POST['email'])) {
$errors['email'] = 'Email is required';
}
//similarly for other errors.
Now in the form
<input type="text" name="last_name" maxlength="50" size="30">
<label for="email">Email <span class="red">*</span></label>
<?= if(isset($errors['email'])) echo $errors['email'] ?>