FormMail Help

oc404 · #1 11-10-2007, 05:40 PM

I'm in the process of setting up my first HostGator reseller accounts. Most of my sites use inquiry forms. When I test these forms, I get the following error message:
-------
FormMail-Clone
The system administrator has disabled this script.
-------

Here's my coding:

<form action="http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-sys/formmail.pl" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="inquiry@mydomain.com">
<input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="http://www.mydomain.com/tkyou.htm">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Precious Website Inquiry Form">
.......
.......
<input type="submit" value="Submit" name="B1"><input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B2"></p>
</form>

Am I required to "activate" the FormMail script in either WMH or CPanel?
Bad Coding?
What else?

Thanks for your help,
~OC~

gtgeorge · #2 11-10-2007, 05:49 PM

Contact support at support[at]hostgator.com and report back what they tell you. Many administrators choose to disable it due to the problems with being hacked to send spam.

Dwight · #3 11-10-2007, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oc404

Try making that cgi-bin

Quote:

Originally Posted by oc404

Am I required to "activate" the FormMail script in either WMH or CPanel?
Bad Coding?
What else?

Also make sure the script in the cgi-bin is chmod to 755

oc404 · #4 11-10-2007, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Try making that cgi-bin

Thanks for the response. That didn't work either. This pl file is not in my cgi-bin directory. I assume it's at a higher level (thus, cgi-sys). At least that's how FormMail has worked for me with other hosts. I got the <form> properties from the knowledgebase, at:
http://support.hostgator.com/index.p...kbarticleid=42

I emailed support, and waiting on a response.

Thanks again,
~OC~

GvilleRick · #5 11-10-2007, 07:51 PM

The cgi-sys folder is an aliased folder and several cPanel provided files are there including the FormMail clone. From the error message it looks like that file is disabled. The scripts such as this one are often the targets of spammers and it is generally a good idea to have them disabled, in my opinion. I have them disabled on my dedicated server and my previous host also had them disabled.

You would need to install a script in your cgi-bin folder or use a PHP script. There are a number available at hotscripts.com and similar sites.

Goddess Dix · #6 11-10-2007, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oc404

Thanks for the response. That didn't work either. This pl file is not in my cgi-bin directory. I assume it's at a higher level (thus, cgi-sys). At least that's how FormMail has worked for me with other hosts. I got the <form> properties from the knowledgebase, at:
http://support.hostgator.com/index.p...kbarticleid=42

I emailed support, and waiting on a response.

Thanks again,
~OC~

If they don't allow the formmail clone on your server, ask support to suggest an alternative. Mailing forms is a very common task, so there will be something they like, no doubt.

Sam · #7 11-10-2007, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goddess Dix

If they don't allow the formmail clone on your server, ask support to suggest an alternative. Mailing forms is a very common task, so there will be something they like, no doubt.

http://hostgator.com/formmail.shtml is what i was suggested to use when i was a reseller

oc404 · #8 11-10-2007, 08:44 PM

Quote:

http://hostgator.com/formmail.shtml is what i was suggested to use when i was a reseller

Those are the same instructions I used for my forms. When I "submit", I get the following error message:
-------
FormMail-Clone
The system administrator has disabled this script.
-------

No response yet from support.

~OC~

eLIANT · #9 11-11-2007, 07:43 AM

The instructions on that page have this:

Quote:

<html>
<head>
<title>FormMail Demo</title>
</head>
<body>
<form action="http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-sys/formmail.pl" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="youremail@here.com">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="FormMail E-Mail">
Whatever you want to say here<br /><br />
<input type="text" name="email" size="20" value="Visitor E-Mail"><br />
<input type="text" name="tellme" size="20" value="E-Mail Content"><br /><br />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="E-Mail Me!">
<input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="http://yourdomain.com/redirecto.html">
</form>
</body>
</html>

1 - There is no cgi-sys directory created by default when you open an account; you'd have to create it yourself.
2 - There is no formmail.pl provided by default; you have to install that yourself.
3 - HG has tightened their email management, so any form you install that uses the vistor's email address as the "sender" address needs to be modified so that their address is just anouther field in the flow of form data, and YOUR address (or another on the account) is used to send the mail. (see http://forums.hostgator.com/showthread.php?t=23629)

Goddess Dix · #10 11-11-2007, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eLIANT

The instructions on that page have this:
1 - There is no cgi-sys directory created by default when you open an account; you'd have to create it yourself.
2 - There is no formmail.pl provided by default; you have to install that yourself.
3 - HG has tightened their email management, so any form you install that uses the vistor's email address as the "sender" address needs to be modified so that their address is just anouther field in the flow of form data, and YOUR address (or another on the account) is used to send the mail. (see http://forums.hostgator.com/showthread.php?t=23629)

on 1- on my (dedi) server, cgi-bin is created when new accounts are set up, but cgi-sys is also created as a symbolic link, and using the default cpanel formmail clone, you will point it to cgi-sys/FormMail.pl, so this depends on the setup.

2. again, depends on if the formmail clone is enabled on the server's cpanel. of course, the error message says it's not enabled, so that's certainly a good possibility.

oc404 · #11 11-11-2007, 09:39 AM

Thanks for all the responses. Whatever was the problem was cleared by Support. They also sent me the same instructions previously linked at http://hostgator.com/formmail.shtml, which permits any redirect address.

Eliant, thanks for the feedback. I have not yet been granted full forum access, so I could not view the thread link you provided. Perhaps Support created the cgi-sys directory and installed formmail.pl for me, but neither are visible in my account, either the primary or resold domain.

~OC~

GvilleRick · #12 11-11-2007, 12:05 PM

More than likely they just activated the formmail clone script. Glad it is working.

Suenowebber · #13 01-16-2008, 02:10 AM

Hey guys, I am new to this forum. I read this post since I having the same issues. I created a simple email form on one of my pages, but when I click the "submit" button I get this error msg : recipient missing --- dumb form..

Ok, I do understand I need to add a recipient, which I did, I created the hidden parameter for "recipient" and "value"= myemail@yadayada.com, I followed all the tutorials,

Next, I need the "Action form" field filled in with the correct script, which happens to be the same the gator support center recommended : http://mysite.com/cgi-sys/FormMail.cgi
doesn't work.

Therefore I don't think it has anything to do with the html code, but a lot to do with the Action script.

Support first told me to check the CGI panel. I clicked on FormMail clone and I got this

FormMail Clone is clone of Matt Wright's FormMail under a less restrictive liscense. It should behave almost exactly as FormMail.cgi, but it is completely written from scratch so there might be a few minor visual differences.

The Actual Script is here: http://mysite.com/cgi-sys/FormMail.cgi

The documentation for Matt Wright's FormMail.cgi might be helpful if you have never used FormMail before. It is available here. Please note that the CPanel developers are not associated with Matt Wright's Script archive in any way.

Then I went to "here" and here is the info on how it should be running or installed, I guess:

The script, FormMail.pl, needs to be placed in your server's cgi-bin and the anonymous WWW user must have the ability to read/execute the script. If you do not have access to your server's cgi-bin, yet you can execute cgi scripts, you may want to try adding a .cgi extension to the FormMail.pl, renaming it to FormMail.cgi. This is probably the more common option.

I emailed support and explained all this, how the script needs to be placed in the server's cgi-bin or sys, but it seems they haven't understood my "little issue" here yet.

Eliant pointed out something the support people I guess haven't figured out, although I don't know how to install it, that's why I emailed support. And I still don't have enough permission to access that file.

However what Goddess mentions seems to apply more to my case. Firstly, It depends on the setup, which I don't know how to do, and I am asking for help from support, and secondly formmail clone is not enabled, which the support team doesn't seem to care I wonder??, neither option I am able to perform since my expertise is limited.

But after reading this thread, I assume it can be fixed, but wait

Here is the latest reply from Support

Hello,

We do not allow the use of formmail.pl and would suggest that you use its more secure cousin formmail.php. This can be installed from inside cpanel. Please look at that instead.
Thank You, and have a great day!

Jeremy M
Level 1 Linux Admin
HostGator.com Support

Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: YSL-729XXX
Department: Support
Status: On Hold

And how I am supposed to know where to find that formmail.php? This can be installed from the inside panel?? isn't it the reason I am writing Support? Because I don't know how to do it, why don't you tell me the process, path or steps to follow?

By doing this, using the php instead, will affect my entire site??

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

slapshotw · #14 01-17-2008, 12:01 AM

http://www.scriptarchive.com/formmail.html