HTML Forms Advice

VLSmooth · Post by **VLSmooth** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:10 am

I recently got pinged by High School acquaintances about a ten-year reunion that I won't be able to make it since it overlaps with a certain wedding I'm attending in August. However, they did ask me for web site help and I caved.

Creating a simple free googlepages site with good ol' HTML and CSS is a breeze, but they're also asking me questions about setting up a form to collect registration, survey, and payment (ideally PayPal) data that's beyond my area of expertise. Naturally, I googled up a storm (link) and quickly learned about HTML forms. Unfortunately, googlepages doesn't provide a simple server to post e-mail form data to an e-mail address, hence I'd need to use a service like JotForm or BraveNet.

I'm just wondering how other people handled this. The wedding in question recently set up an RVSP form which integrates with a php backend. This might be an opportune moment for me to learn how they did it.

quantus · Post by **quantus** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:41 am

It was really REALLY easy. I figured out that the host we're borrowing supports PHP. Then I went to a site that said it could generate code for a feedback form with some ridiculous license that I ignored because the code was trivial and I modified it a bunch anyway. Since a form is a form, I took that code, modified it to match the entries we had and voila. If you want, I can send you the php code to look at. PHP syntax is very similar to Perl.

As far as adding a paypal link and stuff, I believe you can find example code at paypal for setting it up. Try starting here

VLSmooth · Post by **VLSmooth** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:15 am

Ah, but I think "host" is the kicker. They're not paying for any web hosting at the time. I'm debating if it's better (and less of a headache) for them to go with a professional service like http://www.greatreunions.com/, but I have a feeling that might be out of their budget.

If you could provide the php source, that'd be great, but also not really useful until they have a real web host.

quantus · Post by **quantus** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:43 am

Borrow a host from someone? You could just buy a domain and point it at the borrowed host for like $10 for a year. We're using a friend's account at dreamhost.com. If you have a static IP, you could host it yourself (probably more work than you want to go through).

quantus · Post by **quantus** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:53 am

What is the typical ticket price?
Your ticket price will typically range from $75 to $89, depending on your class size, type of reunion (10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 year) and selected venue.

The other site you posted had ticket prices at $90... They might be reasonable.