PHP Complete Form

PHP Complete Form Example

Here’s a complete PHP form example that demonstrates:

Required fields
Email validation
URL validation
Input sanitization
Error messages
Sticky form fields (retain user input after submission)

Complete HTML & PHP Form

<?php
// Define variables and set to empty values
$name = $email = $website = $comment = $gender = "";
$nameErr = $emailErr = $websiteErr = $genderErr = "";

// Form submission handling
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {

// Name Validation
if (empty($_POST["name"])) {
$nameErr = "Name is required";
} else {
$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);
if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z-' ]*$/", $name)) {
$nameErr = "Only letters and white space allowed";
}
}

// Email Validation
if (empty($_POST["email"])) {
$emailErr = "Email is required";
} else {
$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
$emailErr = "Invalid email format";
}
}

// Website Validation (Optional)
if (!empty($_POST["website"])) {
$website = test_input($_POST["website"]);
if (!filter_var($website, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)) {
$websiteErr = "Invalid URL";
}
}

// Comment (Optional)
if (!empty($_POST["comment"])) {
$comment = test_input($_POST["comment"]);
}

// Gender Validation
if (empty($_POST["gender"])) {
$genderErr = "Gender is required";
} else {
$gender = test_input($_POST["gender"]);
}
}

// Function to sanitize input
function test_input($data) {
$data = trim($data); // Remove whitespace
$data = stripslashes($data); // Remove backslashes
$data = htmlspecialchars($data); // Convert special characters
return $data;
}
?>

<!-- HTML Form -->
<h2>Complete PHP Form Example</h2>
<form method="post" action="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]); ?>">
Name: <input type="text" name="name" value="<?php echo $name; ?>">
<span style="color:red"><?php echo $nameErr; ?></span><br><br>

E-mail: <input type="text" name="email" value="<?php echo $email; ?>">
<span style="color:red"><?php echo $emailErr; ?></span><br><br>

Website: <input type="text" name="website" value="<?php echo $website; ?>">
<span style="color:red"><?php echo $websiteErr; ?></span><br><br>

Comment: <textarea name="comment" rows="5" cols="40"><?php echo $comment; ?></textarea><br><br>

Gender:
<input type="radio" name="gender" <?php if ($gender=="Male") echo "checked";?> value="Male"> Male
<input type="radio" name="gender" <?php if ($gender=="Female") echo "checked";?> value="Female"> Female
<span style="color:red"><?php echo $genderErr; ?></span><br><br>

<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

<?php
// Display user input after successful validation
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST" &&
$nameErr=="" && $emailErr=="" && $websiteErr=="" && $genderErr=="") {

echo "<h2>Your Input:</h2>";
echo "Name: $name <br>";
echo "Email: $email <br>";
echo "Website: $website <br>";
echo "Comment: $comment <br>";
echo "Gender: $gender <br>";
}
?>

<?php

// Define variables and set to empty values

$name = $email = $website = $comment = $gender = "";

$nameErr = $emailErr = $websiteErr = $genderErr = "";

// Form submission handling

if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {

// Name Validation

if (empty($_POST["name"])) {

$nameErr = "Name is required";

} else {

$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);

if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z-' ]*$/", $name)) {

$nameErr = "Only letters and white space allowed";

}

// Email Validation

if (empty($_POST["email"])) {

$emailErr = "Email is required";

} else {

$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);

if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {

$emailErr = "Invalid email format";

}

// Website Validation (Optional)

if (!empty($_POST["website"])) {

$website = test_input($_POST["website"]);

if (!filter_var($website, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)) {

$websiteErr = "Invalid URL";

}

// Comment (Optional)

if (!empty($_POST["comment"])) {

$comment = test_input($_POST["comment"]);

}

// Gender Validation

if (empty($_POST["gender"])) {

$genderErr = "Gender is required";

} else {

$gender = test_input($_POST["gender"]);

}

// Function to sanitize input

function test_input($data) {

$data = trim($data); // Remove whitespace

$data = stripslashes($data); // Remove backslashes

$data = htmlspecialchars($data); // Convert special characters

return $data;

}

<h2>Complete PHP Form Example</h2>

Name: <input type="text" name="name" value="<?php echo $name; ?>">

E-mail: <input type="text" name="email" value="<?php echo $email; ?>">

Website: <input type="text" name="website" value="<?php echo $website; ?>">

Comment: <textarea name="comment" rows="5" cols="40"><?php echo $comment; ?></textarea><br><br>

Gender:

<input type="radio" name="gender" <?php if ($gender=="Male") echo "checked";?> value="Male"> Male

<input type="radio" name="gender" <?php if ($gender=="Female") echo "checked";?> value="Female"> Female

</form>

<?php

// Display user input after successful validation

if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST" &&

$nameErr=="" && $emailErr=="" && $websiteErr=="" && $genderErr=="") {

echo "<h2>Your Input:</h2>";

echo "Name: $name <br>";

echo "Email: $email <br>";

echo "Website: $website <br>";

echo "Comment: $comment <br>";

echo "Gender: $gender <br>";

}

Features of This Form

Required Fields: Name, Email, Gender
Optional Fields: Website, Comment
Validation:
- Name: Letters and spaces only
- Email: Proper email format
- Website: Valid URL
Sanitization: Removes unwanted spaces, slashes, and special characters
Sticky Fields: Keeps user input after submission
Error Messages: Shown in red next to fields

How It Works

User fills the form and clicks Submit.
PHP script checks required fields and validates input.
Sanitizes input using test_input() function.
Displays error messages if validation fails.
If everything is valid, user data is displayed.

Summary

Server-side validation is necessary even if HTML5 validation is used.
Provides a foundation for building forms with database insertion or file uploads.

PHP Complete Form