Help With Modifying Php Script

[webgyrl]

Hi all!

 

I have been having a terribly trying time with a script I am trying to modify for a Joomla Component called AKO Comment. Basically this component allows for comments to be made on articles on the site and an alert with the comment content is sent to the admin address listed in the back end.

 

The original block of code for this script for emails being sent to Admin is as follows:

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME.': '.$acname;
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL.': <a href="mailto:'.$email.'">'.$email.'</a>';
	  if ($web != '')		 $acmailtext .= 'Web: <a href="'.$web.'">'.$web.'</a>';
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE . $title;
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT . $comment;
	  $acmailtext .=  $rowTitle ;		
	  $acmailtext .= '<a href="' . $articlelink.'">' . $articlelink . '</a>\n';
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers  = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . '\n';
	  //$headers .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . '\n';
	  $headers .= 'Content-type: text/plain; ' . _ISO . '\n';		  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,$acmailtext,$headers);
	}

 

I want to strip out ALL the HTML formatting for the alert notices for the comments and comment reporting so that only a plain text email is sent. Each line of data sent should have a space in between, so the comments and data are not all squished together. The developer just told me to change everything in the Admin Email section of the script from 'Content-type: text/html; ' to 'Content-type: text/plain; '

 

I did this, but it did not work. I got all the HTML junk in the body of the email and it looks a mess!

 

Then he said something about taking out all the HTML tags, so I did that but I keep getting a parsing error that says:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '.' in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 164

 

So I have been fiddling and nothing is working. I am assuming by the error that there is some unexpected period somewhere. When I change one period I get another parsing error and then I got some other strange errors also.

 

What I have right now is the following:

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME .$acname. "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL .$email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE . $title "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT . $comment"\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  .$rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  .$articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers  = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . "\n";
	  //$headers .= 'Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1' . "\n";
	  $headers .= 'Content-type: text/plain; ' . _ISO . "\n";		  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,$acmailtext,$headers);
	}

 

With this in place I am getting this error:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 166

 

I'll be honest, at this point I've spent 5 hours fiddling and farting around with no luck. I tried to read the PHP docs, but they are like greek to me as I am not a programmer and have very, very limited ability to work with PHP. I don't have time to learn a whole programming language as I very rarely modify scripts at all.

 

Can anyone point out my error here in this attempt to just get plain text emails? The developer does not have a lot of time to help me. This is an open source component, so there is not much support. His forums have hardly anyone on them and I've asked this question to some Joomla people I know with no answer.

 

If someone could help out, I would really appreciate it. I'm going NUTS!

 

Thanks!

[carbonize]

Simplest way would of just been to use

 

>$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;

$headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);

 

I stripped most headers as your from address is the only header you need as emails are sent plaintext by default. The strip_tags function will strip all the HTML from the message for you.

Edited May 6, 2007 by carbonize

[webgyrl]

Simplest way would of just been to use

 

>$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;

$headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);

 

I stripped most headers as your from address is the only header you need as emails are sent plaintext by default. The strip_tags function will strip all the HTML from the message for you.

 

Carbonize! Wow! Thank you. So I should use those two lines where in that block of code? And will the lines come in with spaces in between them? I don't want it all smushed together if that is possible.

 

I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, I really have no clue when it comes to PHP.

 

Thank you so much.

Edited May 6, 2007 by webgyrl

[carbonize]

I left

 

>$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;

 

in to show from where to replace the code. The code adds new line markers to the message body so it should be on different lines. If not come back and we can work on that.

[webgyrl]

I left

 

>$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;

 

in to show from where to replace the code. The code adds new line markers to the message body so it should be on different lines. If not come back and we can work on that.

 

Hi Carbonize... OK this is what I replaced the Admin block of code with

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME .$acname. "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL .$email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE . $title "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT . $comment"\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  .$rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  .$articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

 

I got this error when trying to add a coment:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 166

 

I am sure I must have done something wrong!

 

Line 166 is:

>		  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web "\n";

 

Should there be periods around the $web? I have no clue!

 

Thank you so much for your help. I've been messing with this for 2 weeks with no progress!

Edited May 7, 2007 by webgyrl

[webgyrl]

Ok so I thought maybe there were some missing periods, so I changed the places where there was only one period in front of a variable to a period before and after with no space. So the code looks like:

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME .$acname. "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL .$email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= .$web. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE .$title. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT .$comment. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  .$rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  .$articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

 

 

I get this error:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '.' in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 166

 

So now there is some extra period in line 166. From the reading I've done these errors may not even be reflecting the right line? Is that true? Like the error may say line 166, but in fact it's 168 or 164 or something?

 

I think I will stop fiddling and wait to hear back from you Carbonize. I don't want to butcher the code any more than I have! LOL

 

Thanks!

Edited May 7, 2007 by webgyrl

[TCH-Don]

I think the problem is you have a period before $web that should not be there.

 

try

>if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web . "\n";

 

the .= means add to the contents of the string $acmailtext

and the period after means add together as in $web plus "\n"

[webgyrl]

I think the problem is you have a period before $web that should not be there.

 

try

>if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web . "\n";

 

the .= means add to the contents of the string $acmailtext

and the period after means add together as in $web plus "\n"

 

Hi Don! Hugs!

 

OK I took out the period before the equals sign.

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME .$acname. "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL .$email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext = .$web. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE .$title. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT .$comment. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  .$rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  .$articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

 

I got this error:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '.' in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 166

 

I am going to try taking out the periods before and after $web

 

Will post back with results.

Edited May 7, 2007 by webgyrl

[webgyrl]

Drats! That didn't work either.

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME .$acname. "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL .$email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext = $web "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE .$title. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT .$comment. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  .$rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  .$articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

I got this error:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 166

 

Any ideas?

[TCH-Don]

leave the .= as is

you had period .

just before $web, remove it

 

original

if ($web != '') $acmailtext .= .$web. "\n";

 

new

if ($web != '') $acmailtext .= $web . "\n";

[webgyrl]

leave the .= as is

you had period .

just before $web, remove it

 

original

if ($web != '') $acmailtext .= .$web. "\n";

 

new

if ($web != '') $acmailtext .= $web . "\n";

 

Ah OK. So then I assume I should to that for the rest of the lines of code then? Correct?

[TCH-Don]

$acmailtext .= .$rowTitle. "\n";

$acmailtext .= .$articlelink. "\n";

 

Yep, I did not look at those lines

 

I am not going to say the script wll work, but those are errors.

[webgyrl]

$acmailtext .= .$rowTitle. "\n";

$acmailtext .= .$articlelink. "\n";

 

Yep, I did not look at those lines

 

I am not going to say the script wll work, but those are errors.

 

OK I am going to take out all the periods before the variables and then see what happens.

 

Thank you Don! Will let you know what happens!

[webgyrl]

Alright... I changed all the code to this:

 

> # Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME $acname. "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL $email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE $title. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT $comment. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  $rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  $articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

 

This is the error I am getting now:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 164

 

According to Dreamweaver code view, like 164 is:

>$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME $acname. "\n";

 

Obviously there is something in the syntax that is wrong... but I can't figure out what it might be! All I did was take out the periods before the variables. LOL Joy of joys! But I feel we are getting somewhere!

[TCH-Don]

$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME $acname. "\n";

try

$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME . $acname . "\n";

[webgyrl]

$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME $acname. "\n";

try

$acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME . $acname . "\n";

 

New code block:

> # Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='.$contentid.'&Itemid='.$acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME . $acname . "\n";
	  if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL $email. "\n";
	  if ($web != '')	   $acmailtext .= $web. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE $title. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT $comment. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  $rowTitle. "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  $articlelink. "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

I got this error:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 165

 

Is there supposed to be 1 space between the end of the variable name and the period?

 

Line 165 is:

>		 if ($email != '')	 $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL $email. "\n";

[TCH-Don]

change

if ($email != '') $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL $email. "\n";

to

if ($email != '') $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL . $email. "\n";

 

yes you need a space between the strings and the period

think of it as $string plus $string

or

$string . $string

 

Sorry, I am at work and can't seem to concentrate.

Have to go

good luck.

[webgyrl]

change

if ($email != '') $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL $email. "\n";

to

if ($email != '') $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL . $email. "\n";

 

yes you need a space between the strings and the period

think of it as $string plus $string

or

$string . $string

 

Sorry, I am at work and can't seem to concentrate.

Have to go

good luck.

 

 

Ah OK Don. I will fiddle.

 

Thank you so much for the help!

[webgyrl]

I think I'm just hopeless at this! I remove a period, I get an error, I put a period back in, I get an error. I tried this:

>		  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE $title "\n";

 

Doesn't work... still get: Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /home/content/r/e/c/xxxxxxx/html/components/com_akocomment/akocomment.php on line 167

 

I think I have to take a break and clear my head for a bit. I suck at this! LOL

Edited May 7, 2007 by webgyrl

[TCH-Don]

Here is your code with the spaces between the strings and the period.

 

># Send out admin mail
	if ($ac_notify && is_email($ac_notify_email) ) {
	
	  $query1 = ("SELECT title FROM #__content WHERE id='$contentid'");
	  $database->setQuery( $query1 );
	  $rowTitle = $database->loadResult();		
		
	  $articlelink = sefRelToAbs($mosConfig_live_site.'/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id='. $contentid . '&Itemid=' . $acitemid);  
	  $acmailtext = _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAIL;
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERNAME . $acname . "\n";
	  if ($email != '') $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERMAIL . $email . "\n";
	  if ($web != '') $acmailtext .= $web . "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTITLE . $title . "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  _AKOCOMMENT_ENTERTEXT . $comment . "\n";
	  $acmailtext .=  $rowTitle . "\n";		
	  $acmailtext .=  $articlelink . "\n";
	  $acmailtext .= _AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILFOOTER;
	  
	  $headers .= 'From: ' . $ac_notify_email;
	  mail($ac_notify_email,_AKOCOMMENT_ADMINMAILHEADER,strip_tags($acmailtext),$headers);
	}

 

 

The period "." is used to add two strings together, or more technically, the period is the concatenation operator for strings.

The spaces are not always needed but its good coding and can prevent mistakes.

 

A good web site to learn a little about PHP

is Tizag.com

[webgyrl]

Don!

 

This worked.

 

I got:

Hello Admin,

 

A a user has posted a new comment to a content item at http://www.xxxxxxxxxx.com:

Name:Test

E-mailtest2@test.com

http://www.test.com

Title:Test2

Comment:This is another test to see if this really works. This is just a test.

Love Is

http://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com/index.php?optio...5&Itemid=26

Please do not respond to this message as it is automatically generated and is for information purposes only.

 

Now my only question would be how to get spaces after the colons :

 

But I will fiddle.

 

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help. I went to a few sites to learn PHP, but they honestly scared me to death! LOL I am gonna try the site you suggested.

[webgyrl]

I got it! I changed some things in the language file and also added in another space before the article title in the PHP code.

Hello Admin,

 

A a user has posted a new comment to a content item at http://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com:

Name: Test 5

E-mail: test5@test.com

http://www.test.com

Title: test 5

Comment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla faci

 

Love Is

http://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com/index.php?optio...5&Itemid=26

Please do not respond to this message as it is automatically generated and is for information purposes only.

 

Wow, I am so happy! I also learned a lot. But I'd never have learned about this without your help Carbonize and Don. Thank you SO much!

[TCH-Thomas]

Well done Carbonize and Don.

[webgyrl]

This was the only cookie I could find... for the hard working men... LOL

 

 

Thank you sirs!

[carbonize]

I would of helped more but I was afk for all of last night. Glad Don got there in the end

[TCH-Don]

Glad its working.

Thats why we say we are family here.