J
Jim Holtan
As discussed in my 11/8 and 11/9 posts, I've been struggling to develop ways
to collect data from forms. The good news is that we're now up and running
with this process! Based on the struggles I faced, I thought I'd share some
information, in case anyone else is going through similar things.
Background: I'm on a non-windows based server, therefore collecting data
through ASP is out of the question. While, in theory -- since the server has
FrontPage extensions installed -- I should be able to develop form data
collection through FrontPage, I was unsuccessful with this (thanks to
everyone who tried to assist me with this like Chris Leeds and Steve Easton).
Lack of success here wasn't surprising, as server documentation goes to
great lengths to say it's often unsuccessful on this server.
Therefore, I decided to investigate pre-written PHP scripts designed for
form data collection (since I'm on a server that supports PHP). There are
quite a few out there, but I finally decided upon FormMail from tectite.com.
http://www.tectite.com/
This is an excellent script! In addition to the basic collection methods I
needed (data to email and to csv), it offers a wide array of advanced
features (security, multiple recipients, cc's and bcc's, field concatenation,
advanced error handling, and much more).
The script is well documented, and configuration is relatively painless.
For the problems I did have, Russell Robinson of Tectite helped me resolve
things quickly with excellent 'customer service.'
Now, perhaps the most amazing part of this, FormMail is currently free,
including their online support. Tectite offers this product to call
attention to the rest of their product line (CRM and security software).
This is truly amazing, since I'd categorize the script as excellent, and
their support services as superior. I'm one who's always leary of 'free'
software, but I can honestly say this delivers everything it promises and
there are no hidden 'catches' that you have to watch out for.
Russell, many thanks for your software and support! We're now up and
running with form data collection!
to collect data from forms. The good news is that we're now up and running
with this process! Based on the struggles I faced, I thought I'd share some
information, in case anyone else is going through similar things.
Background: I'm on a non-windows based server, therefore collecting data
through ASP is out of the question. While, in theory -- since the server has
FrontPage extensions installed -- I should be able to develop form data
collection through FrontPage, I was unsuccessful with this (thanks to
everyone who tried to assist me with this like Chris Leeds and Steve Easton).
Lack of success here wasn't surprising, as server documentation goes to
great lengths to say it's often unsuccessful on this server.
Therefore, I decided to investigate pre-written PHP scripts designed for
form data collection (since I'm on a server that supports PHP). There are
quite a few out there, but I finally decided upon FormMail from tectite.com.
http://www.tectite.com/
This is an excellent script! In addition to the basic collection methods I
needed (data to email and to csv), it offers a wide array of advanced
features (security, multiple recipients, cc's and bcc's, field concatenation,
advanced error handling, and much more).
The script is well documented, and configuration is relatively painless.
For the problems I did have, Russell Robinson of Tectite helped me resolve
things quickly with excellent 'customer service.'
Now, perhaps the most amazing part of this, FormMail is currently free,
including their online support. Tectite offers this product to call
attention to the rest of their product line (CRM and security software).
This is truly amazing, since I'd categorize the script as excellent, and
their support services as superior. I'm one who's always leary of 'free'
software, but I can honestly say this delivers everything it promises and
there are no hidden 'catches' that you have to watch out for.
Russell, many thanks for your software and support! We're now up and
running with form data collection!