HTML contact form in PHP block - php

Question

I'm relatively new to PHP so forgive me if this seems obvious. How would you integrate a block of HTML code like this:
<form action="form.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<label></label>
<input name="name" required="required" placeholder="Your Name">
<label></label>
<input name="email" type="email" required="required" placeholder="Your Email">
<label></label>
<input name="address" type="name" required="required" placeholder="Your Address">
<label></label>
<textarea name="message" required > Dear Mr. X, Please support us... </textarea>
<input id="cancel" name="cancel" value="Cancel" />
<input id="submit" name="submit" type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
into here:
if(empty($mpemail)){
echo "<h2>Send your MP our pre-written letter</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, your MP's email address is not listed in our database.</p>";
}
else {
echo "<h2>Send your MP our pre-written letter</h2>";
echo "<p>Please fill out the information required below:</p>";
**Insert Contact Form Here**
echo "<h2>Share this with your followers!</h2>";
echo 'Tweet ';
echo "<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script>";
}
Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer 1

So, one option is to echo it out line by line, as your PHP code sample is doing, or in one big block. You can also combine PHP and HTML in the same file by starting and stopping the PHP interpreter. Here's an example of that:
if (empty($mpemail))
{
echo "<h2>Send your MP our pre-written letter</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, your MP's email address is not listed in our database.</p>";
}
else
{
?>
<h2>Send your MP our pre-written letter</h2>
<p>Please fill out the information required below:</p>
<form action="form.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<label></label>
<input name="name" required="required" placeholder="Your Name">
<label></label>
<input name="email" type="email" required="required" placeholder="Your Email">
<label></label>
<input name="address" type="name" required="required" placeholder="Your Address">
<label></label>
<textarea name="message" required > Dear Mr. X, Please support us... </textarea>
<input id="cancel" name="cancel" value="Cancel" />
<input id="submit" name="submit" type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
<h2>Share this with your followers!</h2>
Tweet
<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script>
<?php
}
In a professional production application, the "right way" to do it is to separate your HTML from your PHP by putting the logic of your application in a separate PHP file, and then putting your HTML in a "template" which you load and display from PHP. Here is a bit of info about getting started with template engines and Model View Controller patterns in an application. But, for what you're trying to do, the example above of starting and stopping the interpreter should work for you.