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Setting up Web Forms using FormMail.pl

We provide and support a more secure version of the popular CGI script called "FormMail.pl" for forms processing. This script is a well-tested and popular way to send the text entered into HTML form via email. The "FormMail.pl" script was originally written by Matt Wright of Matt's Script Archive - thanks Matt for the use of your script!

These instructions assume that you've already sent a request to service@lmi.net for FormMail.pl to be enabled on your hosting account.

HTML Forms are a way for websites to get input from viewers, and send that input to a program on the webserver. In this case, the program is FormMail.pl, and the purpose of that program is to email the input from the form to the recipient(s) of your choice. If you've never created one before, the best way to learn is to look at an example (by opening the page and viewing the source.)

To make your form work with FormMail.pl:

1) If you have a complimentary or BronzeWeb hosting plan, use the FormMail script at this address:

<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="http://cgi.there.net/formmail.pl">

In this case, you do not have direct access to the script itself, and will need to email service@lmi.net to specify the recipients of your form.

2) If you have a Silver, Gold, or Platinum hosting plan, use a copy of FormMail.pl in your own /cgi-bin directory, and use this address:

<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="http://www.yoursite.com/cgi-bin/formmail/FormMail.pl">

You'll need to confirm the correct path for your site, and make the script "executable". See "File Permissions: A Guide for the Uninitiated" at for more info.

If you've used FormMail in the past, it's important to note that our version requires that you specify recipients within the script itself, and not as a hidden form field. All is made clear in the README file.


A few useful troubleshooting tips:

• Some form tag options are case sensitive. For instance if you are using the "sort" option in a hidden field, putting VALUE="SORT" will not work, but VALUE="sort" will work.
• Read the formmail.pl script README file thoroughly and make sure you understand the various options and how to implement them properly. In particular, you must specify the allowed recipient addresses in the script itself.
• If you make a change to your HTML, make sure to re-upload your form page to your /www/docs folder on the server and then reload the form page in your browser, to be certain that you are using the latest version of it.

If you are still stuck after reading the documentation and checking the syntax of your HTML files, contact us at formhelp@lmi.net for technical support. In your e-mail, please describe the problem/error message thoroughly, and be sure to tell us the URL of your form. We'll check it out and see if we can figure out how to fix it.