Information collection allows eZ publish to collect information from a form and send it by e-mail.

To do this you can create a class (for example "feedback") with the following attributes: name, description, subject and message. Set the attributes subject and message as information collectors. These attributes will be used to collect information, while the others (name and description) will be used internally by the webmaster in order to assign a unique name and a description text.

When viewing an object of this class, the system will display the subject and message attributes as text fields. eZ publish will collect the information that is inputted into these fields and send it by e-mail when the user hits the "Send" button. The e-mail will be sent to an address specified within a site.ini configuration file (or an override).

How to use information collection

In order to set a form for collecting information and send it by email you need to follow this steps:

1- Create a class

Create a class called "feedback", for example, with the following attributes:

• name - a name to identify the form.
• description - to specify what the form is for.
• subject - the subject of the message.
• message - the contents.

The attributes subject and message must be checked as "information collectors", this way eZ publish knows that the information inputted in this attributes is going to be collected to be sent by email.

2- Configure the ini file

In the file 'settings/siteaccess/my_site/site.ini.append.php' you must specify who is going to be the e-mail reciver:

[InformationCollectionSettings]

EmailReceiver=webmaster@example.com

In addition, it is also possible to specify the sender's address:

[MailSettings]

EmailSender=division@example.com

Keep in mind that settings in "settings/override/site.ini.append" will override the default and also your siteaccess settings.

3- Create an object of the class

Create and object of the class "feedback" and put it somewhere in the contents of your site. When creating this object you only need to specify the name and the description of the object. For example, you can create and object and set the attribute name as "Customers Feedback Form" and set the attribute description as "Here you can add your comments about the quality of service you have receive".

4- Create the override template

Now you can create the override template for the class "feedback" to be used when viewing objects of this class, this template must be located in 'design/my_site/override/templates'. Here you can see an example (myfeedback.tpl) of how this template would look like:

<div class="content-view-full">

   <div class="class-feedback-form">

 

       <h1>{$node.name|wash()}</h1>

 

       {include name=Validation uri='design:content/collectedinfo_validation.tpl'

                class='message-warning'

                validation=$validation collection_attributes=$collection_attributes}

 

       <div class="attribute-short">

               {attribute_view_gui attribute=$node.object.data_map.description}

       </div>

 

       <form method="post" action={"content/action"|ezurl}>

 

       <h2>{"Subject"|i18n("design/base")}</h2>

       <div class="attribute-subject">

               {attribute_view_gui attribute=$node.object.data_map.subject}

       </div>

 

       <h2>{"Message"|i18n("design/base")}</h2>

       <div class="attribute-message">

               {attribute_view_gui attribute=$node.object.data_map.message}

       </div>

 

       <div class="content-action">

           <input type="submit" class="defaultbutton" name="ActionCollectInformation" 

                  value="{"Send form"|i18n("design/base")}" />

           <input type="hidden" name="ContentNodeID" value="{$node.node_id}" />

           <input type="hidden" name="ContentObjectID" value="{$node.object.id}" />

           <input type="hidden" name="ViewMode" value="full" />

       </div>

       </form>

 

   </div>

</div>

5- Specify the override rule

Now you must specify the override rule for the class "feedback" in the file '/settings/siteaccess/my_site/override.ini.append' in order to tell eZ publish that you want objects of this class to be viewed with the template you just made and not with the default template.

This is what you must specify in the file override.ini.append :

[feedback]

Source=node/view/full.tpl

MatchFile=myfeedback.tpl

Subdir=templates

Match[class_identifier]=feedback

6- Create the override template to send the emails

After the information is collected an email is going to be created and sent to the receiver's addres specified in the ini file. The template used to create this email is 'design/my_site/override/templates/content/collectinfomail/form.tpl'. If you want your emails to look diferently then you must create an override for this template and place it in 'design/my_site/override/templates/'. Here you can see an example (myfeedback_mail.tpl):

 

{set-block scope=root variable=subject}

{"Collected information from %1"|i18n("design/standard/content/edit",

                                      ,array($collection.object.name))}

{/set-block}

 

{* Use this line to specify the e-mail in the template, can read this from the object to

  make it dynamic pr form 

{set-block scope=root variable=email_receiver}{$object.data_map.reciver.content}{/set-block}

*}

 

{* Set this to redirect to another node

{set-block scope=root variable=redirect_to_node_id}2{/set-block}

*}

 

{"Here are the contents of the feedback form:"|i18n("design/standard/content/edit")}

 

{section name=Attribute loop=$collection.attributes}

{$Attribute:item.contentclass_attribute_name|wash}:

{attribute_result_gui view=info attribute=$Attribute:item}

7- Specify the override rule for the emails

Now you want eZ publish to use your new customized template for creating the emails to be sent. For this you must again modify the file '/settings/siteaccess/my_site/override.ini.append' and add the following information:

[feedback_mail]

Source=content/collectedinformail/form.tpl

MatchFile=myfeedback_mail.tpl

Subdir=templates

Match[class_identifier]=feedback

8- Create the template to view the information collected

After the email has been sent eZ publish is going to display the information that has been collected. The template used to view this information is 'design/my_site/override/templates/content/collectinfo/form.tpl'. If you want this page to look diferent then you must create an override for this template and place it in 'design/my_site/override/templates/'. You can call this file for example 'mycollected_form.tpl'.

Finally, you must specify the override rule for the template if you want eZ publish to use your new customized template for displaying the collected information. For this you must again modify the file '/settings/siteaccess/my_site/override.ini.append'. You must know the number that identifies the class "feedback", this number is the class id and you can see it in the admin interface of your site. Then you must add the following information to the file:

[collected_feedback_form]

Source=content/collectedinfo/form.tpl

MatchFile=mycollected_form.tpl

Subdir=templates

Match[class]= 'class_id'