Question

EDIT/UPDATE:

I moved my php code from my process.php file to the top of my contact.php file and it worked. So what am I missing from the process.php file that is not redirecting it back to the contact.php page?

This is my html in contact.php

<?php echo $message; ?>    
<form action="process.php" method="post" name="sign_up">
                                <input type="text" name="first_name" placeholder="First Name" value="<?php echo $_POST[first_name]; ?>" required/>
                                <input type="text" name="last_name" placeholder="Last Name" value="<?php echo $_POST[last_name]; ?>" required/><br>
                            <label class="bill-address">Billing Address:<br>
                                <input type="text" name="address1" placeholder="Address 1" value="<?php echo $_POST[address1]; ?>" required/><br>
                                <input type="text" name="address2" placeholder="Address 2" value="<?php echo $_POST[address2]; ?>" /><br>
                                <input type="text" name="city" placeholder="City" value="<?php echo $_POST[city]; ?>" required/>
                            </label>
                            <?php  
                             $state_list = array('AL'=>"Alabama",  
                                        'AK'=>"Alaska",  
                                        'AZ'=>"Arizona",  
                                        'AR'=>"Arkansas",  
                                        'WV'=>"West Virginia",  
                                        'WI'=>"Wisconsin",  
                                        'WY'=>"Wyoming");
                            ?>
                            <select name="state">
                            <?php
                                while(list($k,$v) = each($state_list)) {
                                    $selected = '';
                                    if ($k == $_POST[state]) {
                                        $selected = ' selected="true"';
                                    }
                                echo "<option value=\"$k\"$selected>$v</option>\n";
                                } 
                            ?>
                            </select>
            <input type="text" name="zip" placeholder="Zip Code" value="<?php echo $_POST[zip]; ?>" required/>
            <br style="clear: left;" />
            <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="[e-mail]" value="<?php echo $_POST[email]; ?>" required/>
            <input type="tel" name="phone" placeholder="Phone" value="<?php echo $_POST[phone]; ?>" required/>
    <h3>Choose your Package</h3>
        <select name="package">
            <option value="Free">Free!</option>
            <option value="Basic">Basic</option>
            <option value="Corporate">Corporate</option>
            <option value="Enterprise">Enterprise</option>
            <option value="Enterprise_20">Enterprise 20</option>
            <option value="Enterprise_50">Enterprise 50</option>
            <option value="Enterprise_100">Enterprise 100</option>
        </select>
    <h3>Add Media Package?</h3>
            <input type="radio" name="Yes" value="yes" />Yes
            <input type="radio" name="No" value="no" />No
    <button type="submit" class="btn">Send &raquo;</button>
    <?php echo $success_message; ?>
</form>

And this is my process.php

    //validate email
function is_valid_email($email) {

        $result = true;
        $pattern = '/^([a-z0-9])(([-a-z0-9._])*([a-z0-9]))*\@([a-z0-9])(([a-z0-9-])*([a-z0-9]))+(\.([a-z0-9])([-a-z0-9_-])?([a-z0-9])+)+$/i';
        if(!preg_match($pattern, $email)) {
            $result = false;
        }
        return $result;
    }

//when submit has been pressed, begin form validate
if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {

    $valid = true;
    $message = '';
    if ( $_POST['first_name'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your first name. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['last_name'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your last name. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['address1'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your billing address. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['city'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please enter a city. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['state'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please select a state. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['zip'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include a zip code. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['phone'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your phone number. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( !is_valid_email($_POST['email']) ) {
        $message .= "A valid email is required. "; 
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['package'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "You forgot to select a service package. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }

    if ( $valid == true ) {
        $success_message = 'Brilliant I say! We will be in contact with you shortly.';

        //clear form when submission is successful
        unset($_POST);
    }
}

It is not working. Also the html5 validation isn’t even working either. Is there something wrong with my form markup?

Answer 1

When you click on submit, your browser navigates to process.php. All of the code from contact.php is forgotten and a new page is generated.

There is no implied link between the two pages. The messages from process.php will not apppear on contact.php. Currently, process.php doesn’t echo anything, so you’re probably arriving at a blank page.

An alternate way to do this would be to merge the two pages like this:

<?php
    //validate email
function is_valid_email($email) {

        $result = true;
        $pattern = '/^([a-z0-9])(([-a-z0-9._])*([a-z0-9]))*\@([a-z0-9])(([a-z0-9-])*([a-z0-9]))+(\.([a-z0-9])([-a-z0-9_-])?([a-z0-9])+)+$/i';
        if(!preg_match($pattern, $email)) {
            $result = false;
        }
        return $result;
    }

//when submit has been pressed, begin form validate
if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {

    $valid = true;
    $message = '';
    if ( $_POST['first_name'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your first name. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['last_name'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your last name. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['address1'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your billing address. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['city'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please enter a city. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['state'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please select a state. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['zip'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include a zip code. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['phone'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "Please include your phone number. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( !is_valid_email($_POST['email']) ) {
        $message .= "A valid email is required. "; 
        $valid = false; 
    }
    if ( $_POST['package'] == "" ) {
        $message .= "You forgot to select a service package. ";
        $valid = false; 
    }

    if ( $valid == true ) {
        $success_message = 'Brilliant I say! We will be in contact with you shortly.';

        //clear form when submission is successful
                          //don't clear this, you need this to re-populate the page below
        //unset($_POST);
    }
}

?><!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
...
</head>
<body>
<?php echo $message; ?>    
<form action="contact.php" method="post" name="sign_up">
    <input type="text" name="first_name" placeholder="First Name" value="<?php echo $_POST[first_name]; ?>" required/>
    <input type="text" name="last_name" placeholder="Last Name" value="<?php echo $_POST[last_name]; ?>" required/><br>
    <label class="bill-address">Billing Address:<br>
        <input type="text" name="address1" placeholder="Address 1" value="<?php echo $_POST[address1]; ?>" required/><br>
        <input type="text" name="address2" placeholder="Address 2" value="<?php echo $_POST[address2]; ?>" /><br>
        <input type="text" name="city" placeholder="City" value="<?php echo $_POST[city]; ?>" required/>
    </label>
<?php  
$state_list = array('AL'=>"Alabama",  
                                        'AK'=>"Alaska",  
                                        'AZ'=>"Arizona",  
                                        'AR'=>"Arkansas",  
                                        'WV'=>"West Virginia",  
                                        'WI'=>"Wisconsin",  
                                        'WY'=>"Wyoming");
                            ?>
                            <select name="state">
                            <?php
                                while(list($k,$v) = each($state_list)) {
                                    $selected = '';
                                    if ($k == $_POST[state]) {
                                        $selected = ' selected="true"';
                                    }
                                echo "<option value=\"$k\"$selected>$v</option>\n";
                                } 
                            ?>
                            </select>
            <input type="text" name="zip" placeholder="Zip Code" value="<?php echo $_POST[zip]; ?>" required/>
            <br style="clear: left;" />
            <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="[e-mail]" value="<?php echo $_POST[email]; ?>" required/>
            <input type="tel" name="phone" placeholder="Phone" value="<?php echo $_POST[phone]; ?>" required/>
    <h3>Choose your Package</h3>
        <select name="package">
            <option value="Free">Free!</option>
            <option value="Basic">Basic</option>
            <option value="Corporate">Corporate</option>
            <option value="Enterprise">Enterprise</option>
            <option value="Enterprise_20">Enterprise 20</option>
            <option value="Enterprise_50">Enterprise 50</option>
            <option value="Enterprise_100">Enterprise 100</option>
        </select>
    <h3>Add Media Package?</h3>
            <input type="radio" name="Yes" value="yes" />Yes
            <input type="radio" name="No" value="no" />No
    <button type="submit" class="btn">Send &raquo;</button>
    <?php echo $success_message; ?>
</form>
</body>
</html>

The $message and $success_message variables are now saved and they should display in the page markup below.