Collect Email addresses from Visitors

[Potter_gold]

Hi

Can i start by saying i am a novice. I have built a website which gets over 35k visitors a month (http://www.freepspwallpapers.co.uk) I want to try and gather as many email addresses from the visitors as possible - however, one slight snag....... I do not know where to start.

I understand i need to build a form, and i believe i can add something to my mysql database to capture the details, but have no idea on how to do this?

Is there anywhere that i can get a step by step guide to help me do this?

Many thanks in advance.

Peter Potter

[GO ILLINI]

In the "action" of the form, you will want to send it to a php page where the mysql will be done. http://www.tizag.com/mysqlTutorial/mysqlinsert.php is a great place for beginners. You will end up with something like

mysql_query("INSERT INTO table (email) VALUES($_GET['email']) ") or die(mysql_error());


That will make a new line in a table with just the 'email' field filled in.

-Adam

[Beams]

A quick solution whipped up between assignments:


<?php

include("connection.php");
//Page with your mysql connections

if (count($_POST['submit'])==0) {
?>

<form action = "thispage.php" method="post">
Your Email: <input type="text" name="email"> <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Join Mailing List!">
</form>

<?php
} else {
if (empty($_POST['email'])==TRUE) {
echo "Please enter an email address.";
} else {
@mysql_query("INSERT into `mailing_list` (email) values ('". trim($_POST['email']) ."')");
}
}
?>


That should work Ok, however you will definately need to add some sort of spam control and maybe email regular expressions to make sure the enter emails are real address. Other than that *should* work.

[mr e]

Don't forget to always sanitize user input, for example

$email = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['email']);

[Potter_gold]

Im struggling. I have inserted a page on teh site and copied your php.

www.freepspwallpapers.co.uk/email.php

What do i do now, i d not have a file called conections.php and do not know how to link with my database?

Peter

[PappaJohn]

Here's a sample connections.php:


<?php

// database access information
$dbhost = 'YOUR_DB_HOSTNAME';
$dbname = 'YOUR_DATABASE NAME';
$dbuser = 'YOUR_DB_USERNAME';
$dbpass = 'YOUR_DB_PASSWORD';

// open database
mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass) or
die("<b>Critical error.</b> Could not connect to the database");
mysql_select_db($dbname);

?>


You'll have to replace the items in red with your info.

[Len Whistler]

What do i do now, i d not have a file called conections.php and do not know how to link with my database?

I recommend you get yourself a book on PHP/MySQL otherwise you will be posting for help on every small problem you encounter.

[GO ILLINI]

I've found that buying books about web development is a waste of money. You can get everything on the internet. Everything + live working examples. But if you learn better from books go ahead.

-Adam

[Pennimus]

Also, not to add to your woes, but you should remember that email collection should really be a double opt-in process. That means they have to opt in by filling in your form, and you then need to send an email with a link they click to confirm they really wanted to sign up.

That's not too arduous though once you've got the other stuff down - but something to have in the back of your mind.

[Potter_gold]

Hi Guys

Sorted this for now, but will look in to the double opt in. I need to organise the strucutre of the page and ensure that i am asking people to sign up for a real reason.

Cheers.

Peter