Php form and mail handling

Question

I am trying to create a php form and I can get it to spit out the information from the form but I cannot seem to get it to send the result as an email.
This is probably something really simple and I am totally missing it.
Here is the form:
<form method="post" action="sendail.php">               
  <?php
$ipi = getenv("REMOTE_ADDR");
$httprefi = getenv ("HTTP_REFERER");
$httpagenti = getenv ("HTTP_USER_AGENT");
?>
  <input type="hidden" name="ip" value="<?php echo $ipi ?>" />
  <input type="hidden" name="httpref" value="<?php echo $httprefi ?>" />
  <input type="hidden" name="httpagent" value="<?php echo $httpagenti ?>" />
        <p>I need:<span class="redStar">*</span>
          <input type= "radio" name = "need" value = "service" />service.
        <input type= "radio" name = "need" value = "sales" />to contact a salesperson.
        <input type= "radio" name = "need" value = "literature" />to have literature sent to me.<br />
        Name:        <input type = "text" name = "name" size = "30" />
        <span class="redStar">*</span><br />
        Title:           <input type = "text" name = "title" size = "30" /><br />
        Company: <input type = "text" name = "company" size = "30" /></p>
        <p>Address 1: <input type = "text" name = "address1" size = "30" />
          <span class="redStar">*</span><br />
        Address 2: <input type = "text" name = "address2" size = "30" /><br />
        City: <input type = "text" name = "city" size = "30" />
        <span class="redStar">*</span> State: <input type = "text" name = "state" size = "3" />
        <span class="redStar">*</span> Zip: <input type = "text" name = "zip" size = "11" />
        <span class="redStar">*</span></p>
       <p>Email:   <input type = "text" name = "email" size = "30" />
         <span class="redStar">*</span><br />
        Phone: <input type = "text" name = "phone" size = "30" />
        <span class="redStar">*</span> </p>
        <p><input type = "submit" name = "submit" value = "Submit" /></p>
        <p><span class="redStar">*</span> These blanks must be filled in</p>
</form>       
and here is the page that handles the form (with the exception of the referring page, and other environmentals:
        <?php
        $ip = $_POST['ip'];
$httpref = $_POST['httpref'];
$httpagent = $_POST['httpagent'];
        $need = $_POST['need'];
        $name = $_POST['name'];
        $title = $_POST['title'];
        $company = $_POST['company'];
        $address1 = $_POST['address1'];
        $address2 = $_POST['address2'];
        $city = $_POST['city'];
        $state = $_POST['state'];
        $zip = $_POST['zip'];
        $email = $_POST['email'];
        $phone = $_POST['phone'];
if(!$email == "" && (!strstr($email,"@") || !strstr($email,".")))
echo "<h2>Use Back - Enter valid email</h2>\n";
$badinput = "<h2>Your form was NOT submitted</h2>\n";
echo $badinput;
die ("Go back! ! ");
if(empty($name) || empty($email) || empty($address1) || empty($city) || empty($state) || empty($zip) || empty($phone)) {
echo "<h2>Use your Back button - fill in all starred fields, your form was not submitted.</h2>\n";
die ("Use back! ! ");
$todayis = date("l, F j, Y, g:i a") ;
$subject = Contact_From_Website;
$message = " $todayis [EST] \n
From: $name ($email)\n
Title: $title\n
Company: $company\n
Telephone: $phone ($phone)\n
Address: $address1\n
$address2\n
City: $city\n
State: $state\n
Zip: $zip\n
Phone: $phone\n
Additional Info : IP = $ip \n
Browser Info: $httpagent \n
Referral : $httpref \n
$from = "From: $email\r\n";
mail("[email protected]", $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
/* This is the part that emails everyone and is commented out for testing
if ($need = "service") {
    mail("[email protected]", $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
mail("[email protected]", $need, $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
    if ($need = "sales") {
    mail("[email protected]", $need, $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
        mail("[email protected]", $need, $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
    if ($need = "literature") {
        mail("[email protected]", $need, $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
mail("[email protected]", $need, $name, $title, $company, $phone, $address1, $address2, $city, $state, $zip, $email, $phone, $ip, $httpref);
        ?>
        Date: <?php echo $todayis ?>
<br />
Thank You : <?php echo $name ?> ( <?php echo $email ?> )  <?php echo $title ?> <?php echo $company ?> <?php echo $phone ?> <?php echo $address1 ?> <?php echo $address2 ?> <?php echo $city ?> <?php echo $state ?> <?php echo $zip ?>
<br /> You have requested <?php echo $need ?>
<br /> Your IP Address has been recorded for your safety.
<?php echo $ip ?>
You can see where I am trying to go with this. I want to use the $need variable to determine where the email is going to go (two people in each case). But I am testing this script and cannot get to send me an email without any if statements.
Where have I gone wrong?

Answer 1

60251977 wrote:
> I'm considering switching to Wordpress but have started
building a site in
> Dreamweaver, and am not especially keen on having to
learn an entirely new
> program.
If you're not keen on learning, you might want to reconsider
your plans.
Creating a simple web page is easy, giving many beginners the
false
impression that website development is something anyone can
do without
acquiring specialist knowledge.
> I want to create a simple "Add Comment" form so that
when a visitor to my site
> wants to comment, he can do so, press submit, and the
page refreshes with his
> comments inserted. Just like a blog.
Yep, sounds simple enough, but so is turning the ignition key
of a car.
What you're ignoring is the underlying technology that not
only makes it
work, but makes it work safely. WordPress does all of this
for you
straight out of the box. To build it successfully in
Dreamweaver
requires a knowledge of PHP, MySQL, and SQL.
> According to the Pickaweb FAQ, the path to PHP is
"/usr/bin/php"
If PHP is enabled on your site, the path to PHP is
irrelevant.
> If my site was called elephantlike.co.uk, what would I
enter into the Action
> field of the form wizard?
> Would this make my form work? Or is there other stuff I
need to know?
What you enter in the Action field is the path to the script
that
processes the form input. If you're willing to learn the
basics of PHP,
MySQL, and SQL, you can create a comment form on your site
with
Dreamweaver. However, you need to be aware of security
issues, such as
cross-site scripting and dealing with spam. What looks simple
at first
glance is actually more complex. It's not rocket science, but
it does
involve a learning curve.
David Powers, Adobe Community Expert
Author, "The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS4",
"PHP Solutions" & "PHP Object-Oriented Solutions"
http://foundationphp.com/