cookiemonster4470 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 I am hoping to build a web-registration website using PHP/MySQL, but have no experience with either. What is needed to send a confirmation e-mail to someone after they fill out a simple web-form and register for an event? I am considering using 1&1 for my ISP, and their tech support made it sound like this could be done using PHP, but I am unsure of what is involved. (Don't you need an e-mail server to send e-mails?) The tech said there is some package included with PHP - PHP-Mail or something - that allows you to send e-mails from PHP, but again, I thought you need an e-mail server? In order for this registration site to be respectable, I think it is imperative that it has the ability to send a professional-looking e-mail conformation. Can someone please shed some light on this topic? Thanks, Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
envexlabs Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Hey, What you would do is, create a form. When the form is submitted, create a table in the database with all the info. Have a cell called approve, and give it a value of 0. Use phpmailer to send out an email with a link. This link would point to a file that updates the database table, setting approve to 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster4470 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 Okay, but my bigger question is "How can you send e-mails from PHP without having an e-mail server?" Is "PHP Mailer" an e-mail server? I know of no way to send someone an e-mail unless you have an e-mail server... Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkyIS Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 have you tried the mail() function to see if it works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster4470 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 > have you tried the mail() function to see if it works? Considering that I don't have an account with 1&1 yet, and I haven't worked with PHP yet, that is kinda hard to do! My post is an attempt to understand what parts are needed and how they work together. I was hoping for a logical overview at this point versus specific code. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkyIS Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 well, the first time i had to write a mail script i just tried it and it worked. i haven't looked back since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roopurt18 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 When you sign up for a hosting account they typically create an e-mail account for you. For example, if you signed up with hosting company Foo with domain mysite.com and chose some_user as your account name with the company, you'd typically get an e-mail address of: some_user@mysite.com Whenever you use a mail function within PHP it will (usually) by default send from that e-mail account. If your hosting company provides you with the ability to create more e-mail accounts you could certainly do so (via some web interface of theirs) and then configure your PHP installation or a specific module to use that account. In short, yes, you always need an e-mail server to send e-mail, but the hosting company usually provides this for you. Anyways, you can usually get the most basic membership from a hosting company for like $3 for an entire month; just figure out what the basic functionality you require is and use the cheapest membership to test if it all works. Then if you don't like the host you can easily switch and you're not out a ton of money on your end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
envexlabs Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Hey, phpmailer can use the sendmail function to send mail, which doesn't use your mail server. You may also use SMTP, but then you have to use your hosting mailserver, and i know for a fact, if you are wanting to send alot of emails in a day, 1&1 limits it. With 1&1, you can only send about 100 emails per hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster4470 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 roopurt18, thanks for the rsponse. That was more in line with what I was looking for. >When you sign up for a hosting account they typically create an e-mail account for you. For example, if you signed up with hosting >company Foo with domain mysite.com and chose some_user as your account name with the company, you'd typically get an e-mail >address of: some_user@mysite.com Okay, I guess I am aware that you typically get e-mail accounts, but I wasn't sure if those were just to receive e-mails on a website, or it that implied ypu could send e-mail as well. If I get an e-mail account "some_user@mysite.com" do I have to worry that the headers won't match the sender's name? For instance, I often check unknown e-mails in MS Outlook by right clicking and comparing the "From" with the actual e-mail address. Will people see "admin@amyscompany.com" in their inbox but upon investigation see that the e-mail is really from "box6353713@1and1.com"?? >In short, yes, you always need an e-mail server to send e-mail, but the hosting company usually provides this for you. Okay, that is good to know. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster4470 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 envexlabs wrote: >phpmailer can use the sendmail function to send mail, which doesn't use your mail server. Is "phpmailer" an add-on to base PHP? Then how does it send e-mail without an e-mail server?! ??? >You may also use SMTP, but then you have to use your hosting mailserver, and i know for a fact, if you are wanting to send alot of >emails in a day, 1&1 limits it. > >With 1&1, you can only send about 100 emails per hour. Well, the purpose of the e-mails is just to confirm attendee registration for a seminar, so it won't be that many. (I'd love to have an issue where more than 100 people per hour registered for a seminar!) Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 phpmailer is just a php script.... It's basically an overlay for interaction with a mail server.... Makes things easier and what not. PHP could theoretically send an email if someone coded the socket stuff and resolved dns addresses so on.... but that would be a pain.... You will need a mail server of some kind to send emails, but like previously stated, a webhost will usually provide that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster4470 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 corbin wrote: > phpmailer is just a php script.... It's basically an overlay for interaction with a mail server.... Makes things easier and what not. That makes sense. >You will need a mail server of some kind to send emails, but like previously stated, a webhost will usually provide that.... Any idea what ISP's like 1&1 usually use for their e-mail server with Linux plans? What about my earlier question about the file header not matching the sender name? Do I have to worry that people will see the e-mail is from 1&1's e-mail server? Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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