Contact Forms used for years have stopped working - php

Question

I posted earlier, but have more information so would like to try again. I am trying to help a friend sort out a problem with the contact forms on his web page, which is built using SiteMan. He has a basic 'contact me' form and a 'request a quote' form on his page. The page is meadowwoodpedestals.com and it is hosted on BlueHost. These forms have worked for years, but we have just discovered that he is not receiving messages being sent via these forms. Upon testing, we found that when the submit button is clicked for either of these pages, instead of getting a confirmation screen, a blank screen is displayed and no message is sent. It has been months since he made any changes in the SiteMan editor.
(1) I contacted the host for support, and the reply told me that the errors indicated a problem with the page code for these two pages:
Premature end of script headers: 500.php, referer: http://www.meadowwoodpedestals.com/content/index.php?page=quote
Premature end of script headers: 500.php, referer: http://www.meadowwoodpedestals.com/content/index.php?page=contact
The response said: As you will see, it appears that the issue is with the code itself. You will need to have your web designer, or a script specialist, look over the code for the two pages, in order to resolve these issues. (My Note: the web designer is out of business)
(2) I found the following in the Bluehost forums (this is a bluehost site), I'm not sure if it is relevant?
"The premature end of script header, on a Bluehost server, is more than likely due to CPU quota (or memory?), the script was killed due to resource limitations."
(3) I looked at the page code for the contact form, which uses method="post" action="/cgi-bin/frmctact.php" and all of the basic html looked good - I don't know javascript so I am not sure about this (I've never seen that little cross symbol before?):
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
function m_sfcon (u) {
pre = "mail";
url = pre + "to:" + u;
document.location.href = url + "#meadowwoodpedestals.com";
}†</script>
(4) I looked at the page code for the quote form, which uses method="post" action="/cgi-bin/mail/mail.php", and there are no script tags at all on that page.
(5) Without posting reams of code (as I'm not sure just what is useful), here is my thinking, please let me know if this is a reasonable track:
Since there are two different pages with the same error, I'm thinking it is not really a problem in either quote.php or contact.php
The two forms use different actions, so I'm guessing it is not mail.php or frmctact.php
==> There must be something common between the two pages, but what is it?? maybe index.php?
(6) I looked at index.php, and when I clicked on the opening php tag it closed with a tag in the sixth line of this statement (the ?> just prior to 'si",):
$adress = "http://" . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . dirname($_SERVER['PHP_SELF']);
include("data/page_header.php");
switch ($do) {
case "prevphp":
if ($Siteman->mlevel >= 4) {
echo preg_replace("'<\?php.*?\?>'si","",stripslashes($_POST["content"]));
}
break 1;
case "default":
if ($info[2] == 1 || $Siteman->mlevel >= $info[2]) {
include_once($content);
if ($Siteman->mlevel < 5) {
if ($page == "index") {
if (substr_count($_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"],$adress) == 0) {
echo "<script language=\"Javascript\" type=\"text/javascript\">
var res = screen.width.toString() + 'x' + screen.height.toString();
var referer = '" . urlencode($_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"]) . "';
document.write('<img width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"stats.php?new=1&res=' + res + '&referer=' + referer + '\" id=\"stat\" name=\"stat\" />');
</script>";
}
}
}
}
break 1;
}
include("data/page_footer.php");
?>
(I don't know why this page works with address misspelled...)
Should I post the full code in cgi-bin/mail/mail.php and cgi-bin/frmctact.php to this area?
My sincere thanks for any / all help!
Abby
EDIT - Here is full frmctact.php - I deleted some blank lines and repeated warnings
<?
// ##########################################################################
//
// DynaForm v1.4 - Created by the Webligo Group
// http://www.webligo.com
//
//--> I deleted license text here
// ###########################################################################
// #### CONFIGURE FROM: ADDRESS ##############################################
// If you would like to specify the From: address of emails sent by DynaForm,
// enter it between the double quotes below. If you leave this blank, the
// server will assign the default email address.
$from_address = "info#meadowwoodpedestals.com";
// ###########################################################################
// #### ACTIVATE REQUIRED FIELDS? ############################################
//
// If you would like to make some fields of your form required, change "no" to
// "yes" below.
$required_on = "yes";
// If you have set $required_on to "yes" above, you can make fields required
// by beginning their name with "r_". For example, if you want to require
// a user to enter their name, use the following HTML:
//
// <input type='text' name='r_Name'>
//
// If a user fails to enter a required field, they will be taken to a page
// where a message such as "You have not completed all the required fields."
// will be displayed. Please specify the URL to this file below:
$required_errorpage = "/content/index.php?page=formerror";
// ###########################################################################
// #### OVERRIDE REQUIRED VARIABLES? #########################################
//NOTE: THIS WILL NOT
// AFFECT YOUR 'TURN ON REQUIRED FIELDS?' SECTION SETTINGS ABOVE.
//
// If you would like to override the three required variables in
// order to hide your email address, email subject, and thank you page
// URL from your email form, change "no" to "yes" below.
$override = "yes";
// If override is set to "yes", the hidden variables on your HTML
// email form named "rec_mailto", "rec_subject", and "rec_thanks" will be
// overridden and can therefore be removed from the form.
// If you have set override to "yes" above, you must specify new values for
// each of these variables below.
// Enter the email address(es) to send the email to.
$incoming_mailto = "info#meadowwoodpedestals.com";
// Enter the email subject.
$incoming_subject = "Website form";
// Enter the thank you page URL.
$incoming_thanks = "/content/index.php?page=formthanks";
// ###########################################################################
// #### BAN IP ADDRESSES? ####################################################
//
// If you would like to ban certain IP addresses from submitting your form,
// change "no" to "yes" below.
$ban_ip_on = "no";
// If you have set $ban_ip_on to "yes" above, please enter a list of the
// IP addresses you would like to ban, seperated only by commas.
// An example has been provided below:
$ban_ip_list = "111.222.33.55,11.33.777.99";
// ###########################################################################
// #### ACTIVATE DOMAIN SECURITY? ############################################
//
// This setting, when set to "yes" (default), will check to make sure other
// people are not submitting data to your dynaform.php file from their
// external domains. This means that if your domain name is "www.mysite.com",
// only forms on "www.mysite.com" will be able to use this dynaform.php.
// IF YOU ARE RECEIVING ERRORS SUCH AS "INVALID DOMAIN" FOR NO REASON, PLEASE
// CHANGE "yes" TO "no" BELOW.
$secure_domain_on = "no";
// ###########################################################################
// #### ACTIVATE AUTO-RESPONSE? ##############################################
//
//
// This setting, when set to "yes", will make DynaForm automatically reply to
// the user who submitted your form with an email message. If you would like
// to use this feature, change "no" to "yes" below.
$autorespond_on = "no";
// If you have set $autorespond_on to "yes" above, you must specify a subject,
// from-address, and message to include in the auto-response email.
// The following setting is the subject of the auto-response email:
$autorespond_subject = "Your Form Submission";
// The following setting is the from-address of the auto-respond email:
$autorespond_from = "youremail#yoursite.com";
// The following setting is the message of your auto-response email:
$autorespond_contents = "Your submission from our website has been received. Thank you!";
// DynaForm also needs to know how to retrieve the user's email address.
// You must specify the name of the field into which the user will enter
// their email address. For example, if your email form contains an input
// field like "<input type='text' name='Email'>" you would set the
// following setting to "Email".
$autorespond_mailto_field = "Email";
// ###########################################################################
// MAKE SURE DYNAFORM IS NOT BEING LOADED FROM THE URL
if($HTTP_SERVER_VARS['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "GET") {
echo "
<html>
<head><title>Webligo PHP DynaForm is installed correctly.</title></head>
<body>
<font style='font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 9pt;'>
<b>DynaForm is installed correctly.</b></font><br>
<font style='font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 8pt;'>
DynaForm Easy PHP Form Mailer was created by <a href='http://www.webligo.com'>Webligo Developments</a>.
</font>
</body></html>
";
exit();
}
// SET VARIABLES
$incoming_fields = array_keys($HTTP_POST_VARS);
$incoming_values = array_values($HTTP_POST_VARS);
if($override == "no") {
$incoming_mailto = #$HTTP_POST_VARS['rec_mailto'];
$incoming_subject = #$HTTP_POST_VARS['rec_subject'];
$incoming_thanks = #$HTTP_POST_VARS['rec_thanks'];
}
$incoming_mailto_cc = #$HTTP_POST_VARS['opt_mailto_cc'];
$incoming_mailto_bcc = #$HTTP_POST_VARS['opt_mailto_bcc'];
$form_url = #$HTTP_REFERER;
// MAKE SURE DYNAFORM IS BEING RUN FROM THE RIGHT DOMAIN
if($secure_domain_on == "yes") {
$form_url_array = parse_url($form_url);
$form_domain = $form_url_array[host];
if($form_domain != $HTTP_SERVER_VARS[HTTP_HOST]) {
echo "<h2>DynaForm Error - Invalid Domain</h2>
You have accessed DynaForm from an external domain - this is not allowed.<br>
You may only submit forms to a DynaForm file that exists on the same domain name.<br>
If you believe to be receiving this message in error, please refer to your readme.txt file.
<br><br>";
$error = "yes";
}
}
// CHECK IF MAILTO IS SET
if($incoming_mailto == "") {
echo "<h2>DynaForm Error - Missing Field</h2>
Your form located at <a href='$form_url'>$form_url</a> does not work because you forgot to include
the required \"<b>rec_mailto</b>\" field within the form. This field specifies who the email will
be sent to.
<br><br>
This should look like:<br>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rec_mailto\" value=\"youremail#yoursite.com\">
<br><br>
If you are still confused, please refer to the readme.txt for more information and examples.<br><br><br><br>
";
$error = "yes";
}
// CHECK IF SUBJECT IS SET
if($incoming_subject == "") {
echo "<h2>DynaForm Error - Missing Field</h2>
Your form located at <a href='$form_url'>$form_url</a> does not work because you forgot to include
the required \"<b>rec_subject</b>\" field within the form. This field specifies the subject of
the email that will be sent.
<br><br>
This should look like:<br>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rec_subject\" value=\"New DynaForm Email\">
<br><br>
If you are still confused, please refer to the readme.txt for more information and examples.<br><br><br><br>
";
$error = "yes";
}
// CHECK IF THANKS IS SET
if($incoming_thanks == "") {
echo "<h2>DynaForm Error - Missing Field</h2>
Your form located at <a href='$form_url'>$form_url</a> does not work because you forgot to include
the required \"<b>rec_thanks</b>\" field within the form. This field specifies what page the user
will be taken to after they submit the form.
<br><br>
This should look like:<br>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rec_thanks\" value=\"thanks.html\">
<br><br>
If you are still confused, please refer to the readme.txt for more information and examples.<br><br><br><br>
";
$error = "yes";
}
// CHECK IF IP ADDRESS IS BANNED
if($ban_ip_on == "yes") {
if(strstr($ban_ip_list, $HTTP_SERVER_VARS[REMOTE_ADDR])) {
echo "<h2>DynaForm Error - Banned IP</h2>
You cannot use this form because your IP address has been banned by the administrator.<br>
";
$error = "yes";
}
}
if($error == "yes") {
exit();
}
// SET EMAIL INTRODUCTION
$message = "This email was received from your DynaForm located at $form_url \n\n";
// LOAD EMAIL CONTENTS
for ($i = 0; $i < count($incoming_fields); $i++) {
if($incoming_fields[$i] != "rec_mailto") {
if($incoming_fields[$i] != "rec_subject") {
if($incoming_fields[$i] != "rec_thanks") {
if($incoming_fields[$i] != "opt_mailto_cc") {
if($incoming_fields[$i] != "opt_mailto_bcc") {
// CHECK FOR REQUIRED FIELDS IF ACTIVATED
if($required_on == "yes") {
$sub = substr($incoming_fields[$i], 0, 2);
if($sub == "r_") {
if($incoming_values[$i] == "" OR !isset($incoming_values[$i]) OR $incoming_values[$i] == " ") {
header("Location: $required_errorpage");
exit();
}}}
// ADD FIELD TO OUTGOING MESSAGE
$message .= "$incoming_fields[$i]:\n$incoming_values[$i]\n\n";
}}}}}}
// SET EMAIL FOOTER
$message .= "\n\nEnd";
// CLEAR HEADERS
$headers = "";
// ADD FROM ADDRESS
if($from_address != "") {
$headers .= "From: $from_address\r\n";
}
// CHECK FOR CC OR BCC
if($incoming_mailto_cc != "") {
$headers .= "Cc: $incoming_mailto_cc\r\n";
}
if($incoming_mailto_bcc != "") {
$headers .= "Bcc: $incoming_mailto_bcc\r\n";
}
// SEND EMAIL
mail($incoming_mailto, $incoming_subject, $message, $headers);
// SEND AUTO-RESPONSE IF ACTIVATED
if($autorespond_on == "yes") {
$autorespond_mailto = #$HTTP_POST_VARS[$autorespond_mailto_field];
$autorespond_headers = "From: $autorespond_from";
mail($autorespond_mailto, $autorespond_subject, $autorespond_contents, $autorespond_headers);
}
// FORWARD TO THANK YOU PAGE
header("Location: $incoming_thanks");
?>

Answer 1

The 500 errors mean PHP is crashing. You need to look in the apache error log (bluehost have an icon for this in the cpanel, IIRC), and hopefully will see some PHP error message.
[people say] "the script was killed due to resource limitations."
I don't think it is this, because the 500 error happens immediately after submitting the form.