Collect and store form data entered by site visitors
By default, form results are saved to a text file.
Note If you use one of the form handlers rather than a custom script, the Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions must be installed on the server on which your web site is located.
Choose one of the following:
Create a form to submit information to a database
From a web site that has an existing database connection, do the following:
- On the File menu, point to New, and then click Page or Web.
- In the New Page or Web task pane, under New from Template, click Web Site Templates.
- Click Database Interface Wizard, and then click Add to current Web.
- Click OK.
- In the Database Interface Wizard dialog box, select Use an existing database connection, and then select a database connection from the drop-down list.
- Click Next.
- Select the table or view you would like to use for the database connection, and then click Next.
- If you want to modify a form field, do the following:
- Select a value in the Edit form field type list, and then click Modify.
- Select a different value in the Form field input type list.
Note If you select Option Button as a form field input type, be sure to select a value under Number of options.
- Click OK, and then click Next.
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Select Submission Form, and then click Finish.
Microsoft FrontPage creates:
- A page titled "Submission Form," which it opens it in Page view.
- A folder called /Data source_interface/record source (if it doesn't already exist) to store the results page.
Create a database with Microsoft FrontPage to save form results
- In Page view, right-click the form, and then click Form Properties on the shortcut menu.
- Click Send to database, and then click Options.
- You will be prompted to to pick a valid database connection and table in which to store the results of the form. Click OK.
- On the Database Results tab, click Create Database.
FrontPage creates a Microsoft Access database.
After the database has been created, a confirmation message displays the name of the database and its location in your web site. For example, /fpdb/Form.mdb means the database is named Form, and is located in the /fpdb folder created by FrontPage in the current web site.
- Click OK.
FrontPage automatically selects the new database as the database connection to use and selects the table to store the form results in.
- Click OK, and then click OK again.
Note If the extension of the current page is .htm, FrontPage prompts you to rename the file with the .asp extension in order for the file to work correctly.
Set up a form to save form results to an existing database
You can save form results to an ODBC-compliant database. When a site visitor fills out a form and submits it, Microsoft FrontPage enters the data directly into your database. If you are already working with an existing database, this way of gathering information may be the most appropriate for you.
- In Page view, right-click the form, and then click Form Properties on the shortcut menu.
- Click Send to database.
- Click Options.
- On the Database Results tab, in the Database connection to use box, select the database connection for the database you want to use.
- In the Table to hold form results box, select the table in which you want to place the form results data.
- Click the Saved Fields tab. When you click the Saved Fields tab, all of the fields in your form are listed. For each field, you must specify the database column in which you want to save the data.
- In the Form fields to save box, click a form field, and then click Modify.
- In the Save to database column box, specify the column in which you want to save form field data, and then click OK. The columns listed are from the table you specified earlier.
Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each form field.
- To save additional information (such as the site visitor's browser type, remote computer name, timestamp, or user name) to your database, click the Additional Fields tab, and repeat steps 7 and 8 for each field you want to save.
Note If the extension of the current page is .htm, FrontPage prompts you to rename the file with the .asp extension in order for the file to work correctly.
Set up a form to save form results to a file
One of the simplest ways to collect information about your site visitors is by saving the form results to a text or HTML file. By default, the file is located in _private, a hidden directory in your web site. You can change this location and file name as needed. You can select the format of the text file and specify whether to include field names in the form results. You can also specify a second file in which to save results.
- In Page view, right-click the form, and then click Form Properties on the shortcut menu.
- Click Send to. A default file name and a location for the results file are displayed.
- You can specify a different file to use by typing the new name and location in the File name box, or by clicking Browse to locate the file.
- Click Options, and then click the File Results tab.
- Set properties for the results file as needed.
Set up a form to send form results in an e-mail message
You can send form results (data that a site visitor enters in your form) in an e-mail message. Each time a site visitor submits a form, a message containing the results of the form is sent to the e-mail address you specify. You can also configure other options for the messages, such as the text for the Subject line and the address for the From (Reply To) line.
Note The Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions or SharePoint Team Services from Microsoft need to have been configured in order to send form results in an e-mail message. Contact your web host or Internet Service Provider (ISP).
- In Page view, right-click the form, and then click Form Properties on the shortcut menu.
- Click Send to.
- In the E-mail address box, type the e-mail address to which you want to send the form results.
- If you do not want results saved to a file in addition to being sent in e-mail, clear the File name box.
- Click Options, and then click the E-mail Results tab.
- Then do one or more of the following:
- In the E-mail format box, set the format of the text.
- In the Subject line box, type the text that you want in the subject line of the e-mail. If you leave this box blank, the default subject line in the e-mail will be "Form Results."
- If you want the subject line of the e-mail to contain the results of one field from your form, select Form field name, and then type the name of the field in the Subject line box.
- In the Reply-to line box, if you want a specific e-mail address to appear as the sender of the e-mail (the From or Reply To line in the e-mail), type the address.
- If your form contains a field that collects the site visitor's e-mail address, you can use that address as the sender's address. In the Reply-to line box, select Form field name, and then in the Reply-to line box, type the name of the form field.
Set up a form to save form results using a custom form handler
You can use your own custom script (ISAPI, NSAPI, or CGI) as a form handler.
- On the View menu, switch to Folders view.
Right-click the folder containing your script, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
- Select Allow scripts to be run. If you don't want others to be able to see files in this directory, clear the Allow files to be browsed check box.
- Click OK.
- In Page view, right-click your form, and then click Form Properties on the shortcut menu.
- Select Send to other, and then in the drop-down box, click Custom ISAPI, NSAPI, CGI, or ASP script.
- Click Options.
- In the Action box, type the URL to the form handler.
- In the Method box, select the method of submitting information to the form handler:
- To use the default encoding method "application/x-www-form-urlencoded," leave the Encoding type text box blank.
Notes
- You must publish your web site to a web server that has the Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions or SharePoint Team Services from Microsoft installed. Ask your web administrator or Internet service provider whether this software is installed on your web server. Once the web site is published, click Preview in Browser
to test the form. published, click Preview in Browser
to test the form.
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The server extensions do not need to be installed on your web server in order for you to use a custom script.