No Emails from the form? Try these steps

prasanth — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:13:01 +0000

You designed the form using Simfatic Forms and uploaded it successfully.
No problems so far. Easy, as a piece of cake!
You fill the form and submit. No errors too.
Then you wait and wait for the email … and it never arrives!
Sounds familiar? Here are the steps to troubleshoot.

But first, some background information:
As you are aware, the script generated by Simfatic Forms is running completely on the webserver where you uploaded the form. The web servers are configured in different ways that can affect the working of the script. The email configuration on the web server can become somewhat tricky. If the PHP-email is not configured correct on the web server, emailing may just fail without any error.

Here are the troubleshooting steps:

1. Make sure that the ‘From’ Field is a proper email address

In the ‘Take the code’ step, ‘Email settings’ page enter a simple email address that belongs to the same domain where the form is uploaded. For example, if you are uploading the form to www.myteastall.com, the from address should be like forms@myteastall.com or info@myteastall.com (but not myteastall@gmail.com)

2. If using SMTP, make sure that the login is correct

Please note that using SMTP option in the ‘Email settings’ page is optional. If you do want to use the SMTP option, make sure the login details are entered accurate.

3. Simfatic Forms’ own diagnostics

Simfatic Forms contains certain diagnostic features that point you to the settings. In the Take the Code page, if you see a link as shown below, take a moment to click and see what Simfatic Forms’ has got to suggest.

4. May be it is the webserver

If you tried all these and still no emails, perhaps there is something wrong in the webserver configuration.
What we can do is to test and see whether a simple PHP script can email from your website. Download the script from the link below; follow the instructions to test the script.
samplemail.zip

unzip the file samplemail.zip
Open the samplemail.php file in a text editor and replace email address with your email address.

Save and Upload samplemail.php to your website (just like you would upload any web page).
Now, access the uploaded script in your browser.

It should send you a sample email. If not, there is something wrong in your webserver configuration. Post a support ticket to your web hosting support saying:
“Hey! it seems there is some problem with the PHP mail configuration. A simple PHP mail script like this: (give a link to the script you uploaded) doesn’t work!” and let them troubleshoot.

Or just drop me a line posting this form and I am here to help you!
Do remember to attach the Simfatic Forms file (file with extension .fwz) ( do File->Save as from Simfatic Forms to get the fwz file) to your support request.

Video Demo: Getting Started With Simfatic Forms

prasanth — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:27:21 +0000

This video demo takes you quickly through the steps of creating a form, uploading it, and then integrating the form with a blog.

Summary:

Create a feedback form
Add some basic validations
Select options to send form submissions by email and save to database
Install the form (swift install)
Integrate the form with a blog
Test the form
Get form submissions by email
View form submissions in Simfatic Forms

Turn on your speaker/head phone; the demo has voice narration.