Wordpress form is not submitting

Question

Hello I am very new to WordPress on my requirement I have created a couple of php files in wordpress theme. Where detailsform.php consists

<form method="post" name="details" action="customerdetails.php">

where after clicking submit button the form has to redirect to customerdetails.php in php it is working fine but in wordpress it is giving 404 error(page not found) I kept all new php files in the existing theme folder.

Please suggest me it is killing my time.

Answer 1

As wordpress has its very own specific way to handle ajax calls, wordpress has it too for post http request by form submitting. In the codex on wordpress there is more details about that.

In a brief explanation, using your functions.php file on your wordpress theme:

The first thing you need to do is set in your action attribute from your form tag, point the following url:

<form action="http://www.example.com/wp-admin/admin-post.php" method="post"> <input type="hidden" name="action" value="my_handler_function"> </form>

Once pointed, you need to add a hidden input with the name attribute action and a value attribute specifying the name of your action. Then, you need to build your handler function on your functions.php file. This is where your going to write the code you need for treat the data you will received by the global $_POST or $_REQUEST variable.

function my_handler_function() {
  var_dump($_REQUEST);
  die();
//request handlers should die() when they complete their task
}

Next step is to bound this function to your form by using the action hook admin_post_nopriv_ or admin_post_. The difference between these, is where your form is placed. If your form is for a custom functionality for the admin of wordpress then is private and you use admin_post hook action. If this form is part of your public content then use the admin_post_nopriv_ like in the following example:

add_action( 'admin_post_nopriv_my_handler_function', 'my_handler_function' );

As it is show in the code example above, you need to call the add_action function. In the first parameter, It is needed to pass the action hook provide by wordpress combined with the action value specify in the hidden input named action in the form, like admin_post_nopriv_$action_value. In the second parameter, you need to placed the function name you build on you functions.php file. Both are mandatory.

For matters of conventions, generally, the name of the function handler is set it as same as the value of the action input to avoid misunderstandings and gain more readability.

Onced everything is put it all together, all you have to do is test your code.

Happy coding!!

PD: If you want to clarify about this procedure of wordpress, please take a look in the wp-admin/admin-post.php file, but don't even dare to modify it.