Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community!

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

General Discussion

Jeremy Coleman
Jeremy Coleman
5,449 Points
Posted by Jeremy Coleman
Jeremy Coleman
5,449 Points

Fully functional forms

I know how to make forms, labels, buttons, etc. However I am learning front end development right now and would like to learn how to make these forms actually functional without having to learn a whole new language.

What would the best route for me to take in this case?

functional as in when the form is filled out and completed it will send it to my email. (so a mailto form?)

1 Answer

Cheryl Jones
Cheryl Jones
13,405 Points
Cheryl Jones
Cheryl Jones
13,405 Points

I've just done this myself, and I think you'll find that php will be pretty useful (unless you want to just use wordpress plugins to avoid needing to learn a language)

I just noticed that there is a course called 'building websites with php' that has a section called 'contact form and sending email.' It's probably a good place to start (wish I had seen that before I had started!) http://teamtreehouse.com/library/building-websites-with-php

The one that I used is 'build a simple php application' that included information on sending the mail using a 3rd party mailer (phpmailer) through smtp. http://teamtreehouse.com/library/build-a-simple-php-application

I discovered that in order to send through the PostmarkApp I had to use the API method instead of SMTP, so this tutorial was really useful: http://www.abeautifulsite.net/sending-emails-with-postmark-and-php/

I don't think you can send forms without using a server-side language (somebody correct me if I'm wrong!) Good luck!

Jeremy Coleman
Jeremy Coleman
5,449 Points
Jeremy Coleman
Jeremy Coleman
5,449 Points

Alright, thank you! I kind of figured that the time would come for me to learn php. Thanks for the help!