PHP Any Form Handler

A self-hosted, open-source form submission handler that works with any website. Accept form submissions from anywhere, store them in your own database, and get email notifications - all without limits.

The perfect alternative to Netlify Forms, Formspree, or other hosted form services.

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Why Use This?

Feature	Netlify Forms	Formspree	PHP Any Form Handler
Monthly submissions	100 (free)	50 (free)	Unlimited
Self-hosted	No	No	Yes
Data ownership	No	No	100% yours
Multi-tenant	No	No	Yes
Custom database	No	No	Yes
No vendor lock-in	No	No	Yes
Cost	$19+/mo	$10+/mo	Free

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Features

• Universal Form Handler - Works with any HTML form from any website
• Multi-Tenant Support - Host multiple clients/projects with separate databases
• Email Notifications - Get notified via SMTP when forms are submitted
• JSON Storage - Flexible schema-less storage using MySQL JSON columns
• Simple Dashboard - View submissions with just a Tenant ID (no password needed)
• CORS Support - Accept submissions from any domain
• Bot Protection - Built-in honeypot field to catch spam bots
• Hidden Field Overrides - Override recipients dynamically per form
• Secure by Design - SQL injection protection, XSS prevention, input sanitization

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Quick Start

1. Clone & Install

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/php-any-form-handler.git
cd php-any-form-handler
composer install

2. Create Your Tenant Config

Copy the example config and customize it:

cp configs/example.json configs/mysite.json

Edit configs/mysite.json:

{
    "tenant_id": "my-company",
    "database": {
        "host": "localhost",
        "port": 3306,
        "name": "forms_mycompany",
        "username": "db_user",
        "password": "db_password"
    },
    "email": {
        "enabled": true,
        "to": ["admin@mycompany.com"],
        "cc": [],
        "bcc": ["archive@mycompany.com"],
        "from_email": "forms@myserver.com",
        "from_name": "Contact Form",
        "subject_prefix": "[Website Contact]"
    },
    "smtp": {
        "host": "smtp.gmail.com",
        "port": 587,
        "encryption": "tls",
        "username": "your-email@gmail.com",
        "password": "your-app-password"
    },
    "allowed_origins": ["https://mycompany.com", "https://www.mycompany.com"]
}

3. Create Database

Create a MySQL database and run the schema:

mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE forms_mycompany"
mysql -u root -p forms_mycompany < schema.sql

4. Configure Web Server

Point your web server's document root to the public/ folder.

Apache (.htaccess already included):

DocumentRoot /var/www/php-any-form-handler/public

Nginx:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name forms.myserver.com;
    root /var/www/php-any-form-handler/public;
    index index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $realpath_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

5. Add Form to Your Website

<form action="https://forms.myserver.com/index.php" method="POST">
    <!-- Required: Your config ID -->
    <input type="hidden" name="configId" value="mysite">

    <!-- Optional: Form identifier -->
    <input type="hidden" name="_formname" value="contact">

    <!-- Optional: Redirect after submission -->
    <input type="hidden" name="_redirect" value="https://mycompany.com/thank-you">

    <!-- Honeypot: Hide this with CSS -->
    <input type="text" name="_honeypot" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">

    <!-- Your form fields -->
    <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Your Name" required>
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Your Email" required>
    <input type="tel" name="phone" placeholder="Phone Number">
    <textarea name="message" placeholder="Your Message" required></textarea>

    <button type="submit">Send Message</button>
</form>

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Hidden Field Reference

Control form behavior with these hidden fields:

Field	Required	Description
configId	Yes	Which tenant config to load
_formname	No	Identifier for this form (shown in dashboard)
_redirect	No	URL to redirect after successful submission
_honeypot	No	Bot trap - must be empty (hide with CSS)
_subject	No	Override email subject line
tomail	No	Override recipient email(s)
cc	No	Override CC recipients
bcc	No	Override BCC recipients

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Dashboard

View your submissions at /dashboard.php. Just enter your Tenant ID - no password required.

Dashboard URL: https://forms.myserver.com/dashboard.php

The dashboard provides:

• List of all form submissions
• Filter by form name
• Pagination for large datasets
• View full submission details including IP and referrer

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Multi-Tenant Setup

Host multiple clients by creating separate config files:

configs/
├── client-a.json      → Tenant ID: "client-a-company"
├── client-b.json      → Tenant ID: "client-b-corp"
├── my-personal.json   → Tenant ID: "personal-site"
└── example.json       → Template (ignored by git)

Each tenant gets:

• Their own database (complete data isolation) or use a shared database
• Custom email settings
• Separate dashboard access
• Independent allowed origins

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API Response

Success (JSON)

{
    "success": true,
    "message": "Form submitted successfully"
}

Error (JSON)

{
    "success": false,
    "error": "Missing configId parameter"
}

With Redirect

If _redirect is set, users are redirected instead of receiving JSON.

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Security

• SQL Injection: All queries use PDO prepared statements
• XSS Prevention: All output is escaped with htmlspecialchars()
• Bot Protection: Honeypot field catches automated submissions
• CORS Control: Per-tenant allowed origins configuration
• Directory Traversal: Config IDs are sanitized
• Config Protection: .htaccess blocks direct access to config files

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Requirements

• PHP 8.1 or higher
• MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.2+ (with JSON support)
• Composer
• Web server (Apache/Nginx)

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Project Structure

php-any-form-handler/
├── public/                    # Web root
│   ├── index.php              # Form submission endpoint
│   ├── dashboard.php          # Tenant dashboard
│   └── assets/css/style.css   # Dashboard styles
├── src/
│   ├── ConfigLoader.php       # Loads tenant configurations
│   ├── Database.php           # MySQL/JSON storage
│   ├── FormHandler.php        # Core processing logic
│   ├── Mailer.php             # Email notifications
│   └── Response.php           # CORS & JSON responses
├── configs/
│   └── example.json           # Config template
├── templates/
│   ├── dashboard-login.php    # Login page
│   └── dashboard-list.php     # Submissions list
├── composer.json
├── schema.sql
└── README.md

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Ideas for Contribution

• File upload support
• Webhook notifications (Slack, Discord)
• Rate limiting
• reCAPTCHA integration
• Export submissions to CSV
• Email templates customization
• PostgreSQL support
• REST API for submissions
• Admin dashboard for managing tenants

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Support the Project

If this project saves you money or time, consider buying me a coffee!

Your support helps keep this project maintained and free for everyone.

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License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

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Acknowledgments

• PHPMailer - Email sending library
• Built as a free alternative to paid form handling services

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Made with determination to keep the web open and self-hosted.

Ping me on https://softlancersolutions.com in case you need installation help and support for your system.