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! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

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

PHP Build a Basic PHP Website (2018) Adding a Basic Form Validating Form Data

Zachary Vacek
Zachary Vacek
3,265 Points

Why am I getting the error message when all of my forms are filled out?

Hello everyone. I am getting the conditional message ""Please fill in the required fields: Name, Email, and Details" even though all of my input fields are filled out. Can anyone see what I am doing wrong here?

Thanks!

<?php 

if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
  $name = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"name",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $email = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"email",FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL));
  $details = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"details",FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));


  //WHY IS ERROR MESSAGE RUNNING WHEN ALL INPUT NOT BLANK
  if ($name == "" || $email == "" || $details == "") {
    echo "Please fill in the required fields: Name, Email, and Details";
    exit;
  } if ($_POST["address"] != "") {
    echo "Bad form input"; 
  }

  echo "<pre>";
  $email_body = "";
  $email_body .= "Name: " . $name . "\n";
  $email_body .= "Email: " . $email . "\n";
  $email_body .= "Details: " . $details . "\n";
  $email_body .= "</pre>";
  echo $email_body;

  //To Do: Send Email
  header("location:suggest.php?status=thanks");
}

$pageTitle = "Suggest a Media Item";
$section = "suggest";

include("inc/header.php"); ?>

<div class="section page">
    <div class="wrapper">
      <h1>Suggest a Media Item</h1>

      <?php if (isset($_GET["status"]) && $_GET["status"] == "thanks") {
        echo "<p>Thanks for the email! I&rsquo;ll check out your suggestion shortly!</p>";
      } else { ?>

      <p>If you think there is something I&rsquo;m missing, let me know! Comp.lete the form to send an email</p>
      <form method="post" action="suggest.php">
        <table>
          <tr>
            <th><label for="name">Name</label></th>
            <td><input type="text" id="name" name="name" /></td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <th><label for="email">Email</label></th>
            <td><input type="text" id="email" name="email" /></td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <th><label for="details">Suggest Item Details</label></th>
            <td><textarea name="details" id="details"></textarea></td>
          </tr>
          <tr style="display:none">
            <th><label for="address">Address</label></th>
            <td><input type="text" id="address" name="email" /></td>
            <p>Please leave this field blank</p>
          </tr>
        </table>
        <input type="submit" value="Send" />

      </form>
      ?>
    </div>

    <?php } ?>  

</div>

1 Answer

Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,414 Points

You have two inputs with the name "email", one of which is the hidden one that's always blank. Because it's the last of the two, it will be one that's sends it's content under "email". It looks like it should have the name of "address", same as the id.

Zachary Vacek
Zachary Vacek
3,265 Points

Ah, that should have been obvious! Thanks for pointing that out for me!