Frequently Asked Questions

How to put generated form to my site?
After you use form generator to create your php form, you can download a ready-to-use form in myform.zip file. All the php files are under folder yyyymmdd-xxx in the zip file. Once you unzip it, you can rename the folder as you want. Then use FTP program to upload the folder to your website. Now your mail form is ready to use.

See screen shot for example of using Filezilla ftp program to upload form files to website.
How to embed the generated mail form to my html page?
You can use <iframe> to embed your web form to your html page or blog page. Here is a <iframe> example. For short, you can use the following code:

<iframe frameborder="none" src="http://www.yoursite.com/path/form.php" allowTransparency="true" style="width:480px;height:600px;border:none;"></iframe>

Please set the src, width and height as need.
How to change the styles (background-color, input box width, etc...) of my form?
The form style sheets section is in the form.php. You can use text editor to open the file, and search text "phpfmg_form_css", then edit the styles to match your web design. For example, here is an example to set the background color of the form. Adding the following css block to form.php :
body { background-color: #cccccc; }


I have created multiple forms, how do I put them to my site?
Put all the files of each form in its own folder.
How to send email to a recipient based on a dropdown field?
You can use a function to get the email address based on the value of dropdown field. Here is the example:

function get_to(){
    $to = array(
        'Sales' => 'sales@yourwebsite.com',
        'Support' => 'support@yourwebsite.com',
        'Customer Service' => 'customer.service@yourwebsite.com',
    );
    $default = 'info@yourwebsite.com';
    return isset( $_POST['field_?'] ) && !empty($to[ $_POST['field_?'] ])  ? $to[ $_POST['field_?'] ]: $default;
   
}

define( 'PHPFMG_TO' , get_to() );
Use remmmeberuse your form's real field name to replace the field_?. Please see screen shot here.
How to send a email copy to sender with auto-response email?
In order to send a copy of the form data in auto-response email to sender, make sure you have the following requirements:

1. A special field "Email of Sender"
2. Customize the auto-response email template with a special variable %DataOfForm%
please see screen shot for details.
How to customize email message in the field level?
please read the blog at here
How to implement a unlimited levels Dependent Dropdowns in form?
Making Dependent Dropdown fields is easy. please read it at here.
Check Out the Demo or Watch How-To Video
Can I rename the folder and the php files?
You can reanem the yyyymmdd-xxx folder name as you want. You can also rename the form.php as you wish. However, please don't rename the form.lib.php and admin.php.
Do I need GD library installed on my site to use security image feature?
No. There are lots of built-in security images already. If your web server has GD library, it will use it to generate CAPTCHA security image.
The security image is broken after I put form.php to a different folder, why?
The admin.php is needed to show the secrutiy image. If the form.php and admin.php are not in the same folder, you need to change the URL of admin.php in form.lib.php.

For example: open form.lib.php with text editor, and add the path of link like
define( 'PHPFMG_ADMIN_URL' , '/your-path/admin.php' );
How to enable reCAPTCHA for more secure web form?
There is an option to turn on reCAPTCHA security image. Click on the option "> Redirect link, thank you message, and delivery method", then enable "more secure reCAPTCHA". See screen shot for details.

The form maker uses a random global key (valid for all domains) from reCAPTCHA. If you want to use your own public and private key for the form. You can create a key at https://www.google.com/recaptcha/admin/create, then put the keys to form.lib.php as following:
define( 'reCAPTCHA_PUBLIC_KEY' , "6LfRF7wSAAAAACxSm3kOgGqkPx-vDLX0Zmh3UAyT" );
define( 'reCAPTCHA_PRIVATE_KEY' , "6LfRF7wSAAAAALxgsIeeO0x1ifVqQRkOsvFZKnsG" );         
        
The reCAPTCHA requires php function mcrypt_encrypt. The form will use built-in security image if your web server doesn't have mcrypt_encrypt().
I can't receive any emails, why?

Try the options of "Can't receive emails" when you create form.


1. try to use a different email address, like free email address from Gmail and Yahoo
2. Select option "No sender header"
3. put your email address of your website as sender's email address - especially if the form runs on Windows platform. For example, if the form runs on your webste at http://www.yoursite.com/form.php, then the email should be you@yoursite.com
4. use SMTP email server if need - for example, you runs website at home on your Windows XP, then the SMTP should be outgoing email server of your Internet provider (ADSL or Cable).

If none of them works for your, then probably you're out of luck.

The reason you can't receive email is complicated, it usually is not a problem of form script. If you can see the email traffic logs, that means the script has no problem.

In order to reject spam emails, many providers of email services are relying on Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records to authenticate emails. You can also ask your web hosting company technical support team for help.

The sender can't receive auto response email, why?
If you can receive email, but not the form sender. There is no problem on the script. See above answer for more information.
I can not open the myform.zip file, why?
Please use a different unzip program to open it, especially on Mac platform. This issue has been fixed at March 2009. if you still have problem, please report.
I'm concerning about security and privacy, is there any data will be sent to you?
Security and privacy is my concern too. That's why the form comes with features like anti email spider (email address harvesting), email header filtering, and security image.

Once you download the form and put it to your website, there is nothing will be sent to me. You might want to look at the source code to answer your question. In my opinion, the form you created is very safe to use. :)
What is the link to the form admin panel?
The admin panel (admin.php) is under the same folder of your form. For example: if your form link is http://www.yoursite.com/contact/form.php, then the admin panel link is http://www.yoursite.com/contact/admin.php.
What is the username and password to login form admin panel?
The default username and password of your form admin panel is your email address and the form ID. For example : You use me@test.com to create your form, and the folder name in the myform.zip is 20081007-7f3d. So your username is me@test.com and the password is 20081007-7f3d. You can also click the "I forgot my password" link on login window to send the account information to you.
Can I change password for the form admin panel?
Yes. Use Notepad or other text editor to open the admin.php file, then change the password you want. Don't forget to upload the updated file to your web server.
Where can I get my form data in Excel file?
The form data (stored in form-data-log.php) and email traffic log (stored in email-traffics-log.php) will be created automatically. In order to save data and traffic log to those two files, you have to make sure the form folder ( the folder of form.lib.php ) is writable. Otherwise, data will NOT be saved at all.
If you don't know how to set the permission of the folder, please ask your hosting company for technical support.
Once the folder permission is set up correctly, you can login the form admin panel to download your form data. You will see the download link of your form data in Excel file. The CSV file also contains your form fields as column headers.
Where are the uploaded files stored? and how to save them to a safer folder?
The form uploaded files are stored at sub folder uploaded/ under the folder of form.lib.php. The uploaded/ folder will be created automatically, so be sure the folder has write permission.

If you're really concern about the security, you might want to save the files in a secure folder. For example, a password protected folder. You can do that by assigning your folder name to the following variable on form.lib.php:
define( 'PHPFMG_SAVE_ATTACHMENTS_DIR' , '/your-password-protected-folder/' );
I want to add new fields to my existing form. How can I edit my form?
Login the form admin panel, click the "Edit Form" button.
Can I make multiple pages form?
Sorry, not yet.
Can I hotlink the form here?
No. Do not hotlik the form you created here. All the forms will be deleted automatically.
Is it free to use the form created here?
Yes. it's free to use as long as you keep the copyright link readable and visible on the form page.

The spirit of supporting is rewarding. Any amount of donation allows you to remove the copyright link. Please make a donation now: $1  $3  $5  $10  $15  $20  $25  $30  $50  Thank you for your support!
I have made a donation for my form. How to remove the copyright link from the form?
Thank you very much for your support! Here are the steps to disable the copyright link:
1. use text editor to open form.lib.php
2. put the PayPal Transaction ID to the variable of PAYPAL_ID. For example, the PayPal ID is 90A71585ME216571K, it looks like :
   define( 'PAYPAL_ID' , '90A71585ME216571K' );
3. upload the form.lib.php back to your website
The security image is broken after I put the PayPal ID, why?
Your form might have special characters, like German, France, or asian languages characters. The form.lib.php has to be saved in UTF8 encoded format. You can save it with the following steps:

1. download Notepad++ text editor at http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download
2. use the original form.lib.php you downloaded from my website
3. paste the PayPal ID to the form.lib.php
4. then change the format to "UTF8 without BOM" ( see screen shot )
5. save the form.lib.php with that format and upload it to your website