POST with link without forms

[calebcook]

I don't know if this is possible, but I want to submit information using POST with a link. I know I can use GET, and I know I can use a form with a hidden value and submit it with a link, but I don't want either of those. I need to be able to do something like

<a href="mysite.com/submit.php" target="_BLANK" value="$id">Submit</a>

Also, doing it without JS would be nice. :)

Is this possible? Thanks.

[nered]

Hm, i dunno if i understand you correctly but here is what i would do.
Instead of using tag to make a submit link why not just do it the normal way
whit and remove the design whit CSS. The only way that comes to mid
if you want to use not 100% sure but you would have to use onclick event and js to submit
the form...

Think this may be the simplest solution.

Go whit like:


<input class="striped-button" type="submit">Submit</input>


And the just use CSS to remove its background image leaving just the plain
text "submit". Think CSS went like this:

.striped-button {
background:none;
}

[diafol]

Few ways to do it, but I suggest using a CSS on the submit button (to keep it all semantic) or you could do a js submit on link click.

href="javascript: sendform();"

Your function then:

<script>function sendform(){ document.formName.submit(); }</script>

Obviously, change formName to the name attribute of your form.

[nered]

To correct my self there is no way of doing it whit whit out using JS.
So the easiest way is just to restyle the by removing
its background image and you will get the plain text as if it was .

[migcosta]

Hello guys..

Calebcook sorry, but that sounds just like you want to hack a site.. :\
What the hell are you codding mate?

the first rule of programming is: keep it simple... And there is no simple way to do what you want!

The only simple way I recall to do that is using FLASH forms.. :D

Best regards

[Zero13]

Ajax ?

[diafol]

Did I deserve the downvote? :)

[calebcook]

@migcosta: No, I'm not trying to hack. :) I'm trying to allow subscribers for my email newsletter to click on a link which takes them to a web version of the email. Rather than use GET, (e.g. mysite.com/web-version.php?emailId=3) I'd like to use POST (e.g. mysite.com/web-version.php). I tried using a form with a hidden input with the email id as the value and then submit the form with a link, but it alerts the user saying that you're about to submit an unsecured form. So, that's why I posted this question. :)

[migcosta]

:) I see.. you can do it like this..
use a htacess redirect

email link : mysite.com/web-version/jun/
and the htacess would redirect the request to mysite.com/web-version.php
and on the php file you can detect what is in front of the expression "web-version" (in the url) and then you will have your id (jun = 3 or what ever :) )...

this way you wont have to deal with forms and you can over pass the emails limitations..

:)

[calebcook]

:) I see.. you can do it like this.. use a htacess redirect

email link : mysite.com/web-version/jun/ and the htacess would redirect the request to mysite.com/web-version.php and on the php file you can detect what is in front of the expression "web-version" (in the url) and then you will have your id (jun = 3 or what ever :) )...

this way you wont have to deal with forms and you can over pass the emails limitations..

:)

I see... Do you know of any sample scripts? I'm just starting PHP now, and I'm having some trouble. :)
Also, does that show the email on my-site.com/web-version.php or my-site.com/web-version.php?id=3? I need the first one. :)

Thanks!

[diafol]

If you go down this route, you'll need a mod_rewrite

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html#RewriteRule

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^emailid=(.*)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /email/$1/%1? [R=301,L,NE]

I haven't tried it though. Hmm, I'm not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to regex.

When uploading .htaccess files, you may get a problem. You can upload (FTP) it as htaccess.txt then rename it to .htaccess once on the server.

[migcosta]

Nice on ardav :)

But I will recommend calebcook to start with one other thing in mind..
calebcook this will be very helpful if you intend to develop web sites...

Do you know what is a SEF? (search engine friendly urls) if not.. google it..

You can use the SEF structure to build your email links (its cleaner and nice looking) :)

please read carefully the above links they have examples and code
http://www.akchauhan.com/create-search-engine-friendlysef-websites-in-php-using-url-rewriting/

http://www.techtalkz.com/programming/180-php-sef-urls.html

I hope that helps :)

[calebcook]

Nice on ardav :)

But I will recommend calebcook to start with one other thing in mind.. calebcook this will be very helpful if you intend to develop web sites...

Do you know what is a SEF? (search engine friendly urls) if not.. google it..

You can use the SEF structure to build your email links (its cleaner and nice looking) :)

please read carefully the above links they have examples and code http://www.akchauhan.com/create-search-engine-friendlysef-websites-in-php-using-url-rewriting/

http://www.techtalkz.com/programming/180-php-sef-urls.html

I hope that helps :)

Thanks for all your help! :)

I guess I can use that, but I wanted to have the id POST to my-site.com/web-version.php so that any email could be viewed there, but only from a link in the email. Because if I use GET, the user could go from my-site.com/web-version.php?id=3 to my-site.com/web-version.php?id=5 or something and get an email that wasn't intended for them. It would be nice if the link posts the id so that it's a little more secure. Thanks for your help!

Caleb

[migcosta]

:)
You can be creative on that.. example

my-site.com/web-version.php?id=5
could be equal to:
my-site.com/emails/code1/code2/

code1 => it could stand for the id:
(id = 1) = 'the-best-deal' -> [url] =>my-site.com/emails/the-best-deal/code2
(id = 2) = 'become-millionaire'-> [url] =>my-site.com/emails/become-millionaire/code2

code2 =>it could stand for the user group identifier or a unique identifier:
ie:
'california-users' -> [url] => my-site.com/emails/the-best-deal/california-users
'portuguese-users' -> [url] => my-site.com/emails/become-millionaire/portuguese-users

Then you can check (on the php file) if the califormia-users can access the 'the-best-deal' (id=1) or not...

This way you wont have clients trying to access different contents because this is a 2 codes verification..
Example: if a california dude tries to change the url to something like
my-site.com/emails/the-best-deal/portuguese-users
it wont get any content because to access the code1 (id=1) you need to have a valid code2 (in this case 'california-users')..

the usage of a numeric id on the url it's an invitation for the users to try and change the numbers.. with words.. well.. that is harder.. and the user wont even try :D

best regards

[calebcook]

One thing I did is made it so that it'll also have the email in the url (my-site.com/web-version.php?id=1&email=[e-mail]). It'll check to see if the email is in the database, and then let them view the email if it is. I suppose I could do letters as well, or add another field, such as the first name to make it better, but I'm thinking that'd be kinda' crazy. :)

Thanks for all the help!

[diafol]

Check that the '@' is urlencoded to '%40' when you looka the html.

[migcosta]

hum.. 2 small things..
1 - ardav is correct..
2 - using that url.. will surely send your emails to spam or "garbage".. the email companies don't like the use of tracking variables :( I had some problems in the past with that on google and hotmail emails..

best regards and good luck on you project :)

[calebcook]

:) I see.. you can do it like this.. use a htacess redirect

email link : mysite.com/web-version/jun/ and the htacess would redirect the request to mysite.com/web-version.php and on the php file you can detect what is in front of the expression "web-version" (in the url) and then you will have your id (jun = 3 or what ever :) )...

this way you wont have to deal with forms and you can over pass the emails limitations..

:)

That works-Thanks!