Form data being posted but not being sent with php mail() - forms

Question

I am creating a job application form which has a drop down box that the user can select a city from and continue filling out the form. The objective here is depending on what city the user selected and then submits the form, it will be sent to an email address assigned to the value of that option. I have successfully been able to make this work on just simple form fields like "Name, email, and message". However since I have actually started creating the form and many more form fields it is no longer working. I have worked with a couple of tests, one using print_r($_POST);. After submitting the form it will display all of the form values that was sent, but not mail those results using mail() function. php code is below:
<?php
//Sanatize field inputs
if(isset($_POST['post'])) {
// check reCAPTCHA information
require_once('recaptchalib.php');
$privatekey = "6LcuhsgSAAAAAJ1Xlct4dmqOT2SnlhOuwAEImAXH ";
$resp = recaptcha_check_answer ($privatekey,
$_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"],
$_POST["recaptcha_challenge_field"],
$_POST["recaptcha_response_field"]);
// if CAPTCHA is correctly entered!
if ($resp->is_valid) {
$headers = "From: $email\r\n";
$headers = "Reply-To: $email\r\n";
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$headers = "subject: Application\r\n";
$headers = "Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8\r\n";
$cities = $_POST['cities'];
$lastname = filter_var($_POST['lastname'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$firstname = filter_var($_POST['firstname'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$middle = filter_var($_POST['middle'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$street = filter_var($_POST['street'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$city = filter_var($_POST['city'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$state = filter_var($_POST['state'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$zip = filter_var($_POST['zip'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$email = filter_var($_POST['email'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$hphone = filter_var($_POST['hphone'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$cphone = filter_var($_POST['cphone'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$social = filter_var($_POST['social'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$referral = filter_var($_POST['referral'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$position = filter_var($_POST['position'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$pay = filter_var($_POST['pay'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$message = "
New mail from:<br><br>
Name: $firstname $lastname <br>
Email: $email <br>
Message: $position <br >
$pay";
//$to = "testing#website.com";
//Here I provide the email address for cities
$email1 = "testin1g#website.com";
$email2 = "testing2#website.com";
$email3 = "testing3#website.com";
//print_r($_POST);
// Logic for getting the value of drop down and then sending mail.
if ($cities == "NY"){
$sendMail = mail($email1, $message, $headers);
if($sendMail) {
echo 'Thank you ' .$firstname. ', the mail has been successfully sent!<br><br>';
} else {
echo 'An error occured and the mail could not be sent.<br>
Please try again later.';
}
}
elseif ($cities == "NC"){
$sendMail = mail($email2, $message, $headers);
if($sendMail) {
echo 'Thank you ' .$firstname. ', the mail has been successfully sent!<br><br>';
} else {
echo 'An error occured and the mail could not be sent.<br>
Please try again later.';
}
} elseif ($cities == "TX"){
$sendMail = mail($email3, $message, $headers);
if($sendMail) {
echo 'Thank you ' .$firstname. ', the mail has been successfully sent!<br><br>';
} else {
echo 'An error occured and the mail could not be sent.<br>
Please try again later.';
}
} elseif ($cities == "ME"){
$sendMail = mail($email1, $message, $headers);
if($sendMail) {
echo 'Thank you ' .$firstname. ', the mail has been successfully sent!<br><br>';
} else {
echo 'An error occured and the mail could not be sent.<br>
Please try again later.';
}
}
} else {
// handle the CAPTCHA being entered incorrectly
echo 'You Did not enter the CAPTCHA in correctly. Please go back and do so.';
}
}
session_destroy();
?>
As you can see above I have a couple of email addresses listed and then using the if statement I am telling php if the "cities = state" to send to that email address. However this is the part it is getting hung up on. It is going straight to my error message.
And my html form:
<form method="post" action="../sendemail.php">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="900">
<tr>
<td width="800" bgcolor="White">
<div id="copyContainerwide">
<h1>NexxLinx Career Opportunities</h1>
<p>
Thank you for your interest in a career with NexxLinx! We have many different opportunities for employment, which may vary depending
upon which center you are interested in applying for. For more information on what positions we have available, please contact your local
NexxLinx centers, or visit us in person! </p>
<br/>
<p>To apply please select the center you would like to apply to:</p>
<select name="cities">
<option value="NY">Newburgh, NY</option>
<option value="NC">Jacksonville, NC</option>
<option value="TX" >Austin, TX</option>
<option value="ME">Orono, ME</option>
<option value="UT">South Jordan, UT</option>
</select>
<br/>
<p> TO THE APPLICANT: You must fully complete this application for it to be considered. Applications are active for ninety (90) days;
thereafter, you must personally renew the application to be considered for employment. We provide equal opportunities to all applicants
and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability, in accordance with applicable federal
and state laws. Accommodation is available to applicants with a disabling condition, when applying, testing, or interviewing for a position.
Please contact the Human Resource Department to request accommodation.</p>
<fieldset>
<legend>General Information </legend>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Last Name:<br/>
<input name="lastname" type="text" size="30" /></td>
<td> First Name:<br/>
<input name="firstname" type="text" size="30"/></td>
<td> Middle Name:<br/>
<input name="middle" type="text" size="30"/></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Street Address<br/>
<input name="street" type="text" size="50" /></td>
<td> City<br/>
<input name="city" type="text" size="30" /></td>
<td>State (abbr.)<br/>
<input name="state" type="text" size="7" /></td>
<td> Zip Code <br/>
<input name="zip" type="text" size="12" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table>
<tr>
<td>E-mail:<br/>
<input name="email" type="email" size="50" /></td>
<td>Home Phone:<br/>
<input name="hphone" type="tel" size="15" /></td>
<td>Cell Phone:<br/>
<input name="cphone" type="tel" size="15" /></td>
<td>Social Security Number<br/>
<input name="social" type="text" size="12" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Referred By:</td>
<td><input name="agency" type="checkbox" />Agency</td>
<td><input name="advert" type="checkbox" />Advertisement</td>
<td><input name="employee" type="checkbox" />Empoloyee</td>
<td><input name="other" type="checkbox" />Other</td>
</tr>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Please list the name of the above agency, publication with the advertisement, employee, or other referall.<br/>
<input name="referral" type="text" size="60" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Position Applied For:<br/>
<input name="position" type="text" size="50"/></td>
<td>Pay Desired:<br/>
$<input name="pay" type="text" size="20" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<?php
require_once('../recaptchalib.php');
$publickey = "6LcuhsgSAAAAAHtXF5i5f5XEAZmjyAtYvHGGQlhf ";
echo recaptcha_get_html($publickey);
?>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<input type="submit" name="post" value="submit" />
</table>
</fieldset>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
Thanks for any advice you can give me!
UPDATE:
Finally have this working! Thank you everyone for the help. For what ever reason and please correct if this is not right, I moved my headers up at the top of all of my other variables and it now works like a charm. FYI: I was working on this locally with WAMP and had a dumby sendmail configured to send through my gmail account. It work with very simple forms but apparently this one was a little too advanced, so I finally uploaded and finished testing it on my live server.
Something extra that maybe someone can help me with is validating a social security number and show the * when someone inters in numbers. Can that be done with javascript?

Answer 1

why not assign the email address to the value of the area if you can always reverse if your going to insert it in the database it like
<select name="cities">
<option value="test1#yahoo.com">Newburgh, NY</option>
<option value="test2#yahoo.com">Jacksonville, NC</option>
<option value="test3#yahoo.com" >Austin, TX</option>
</select>
$to=$_POST['cities'];
mail('$to', '$subject', '$message);
if you need to insert the location in database just reverse it
if($citiies==test1#yahoo.com)
{
//insert into database NY
}
this code is shorter and looks cleaner but you will need to if else it again if your going to store the
location in the database
it will be shorter because you will not compare values just send it to what the value assign is