previewing php/jquery form in fancybox, then submit or return to form

Question

I've got a basic html/php form, with jquery validation. I want the user to be able to click a link that says "preview", have fancybox load up, and then I'll present a preview of the data, which means combining elements. For instance, the user can choose the background of the iframe. Here is the basics of my form -

    <form action="loggedin.php"  enctype="multipart/form-data" id="message_form" method="post">
    <h4>Who would you like to send a message to?</h4>
    <input type="text" size="35" id="recipient" name="recipient" value="Enter Name">
    <h4>Choose A Background: </h4>
    <input type="radio" value="plain" class="stationery_radio" name="stationery_radio" checked />
    <label for="plain">Plain</label>
     .....  

And this is the info I want in my fancybox:

    <a class="fancybox" href="#preview_message">Click Here To Preview Your Form</a>
    <div id="preview_message" style="display:none;">
    <h2>To: <?php echo ($message_form['recipient']) ?></h2>
    .....

But I can't use the POST, as I haven't really submitted the form yet. How can I sent the data to my fancybox where the user can look at it, and either submit the form or return to edit? Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

What I would do is to create another .php file (e.g. preview.php) where you can (pre)submit the form via ajax. This file would basically echo the POST values of your form fields like $_POST['recipient'], etc.

Additionally, within the same file (preview.php) you may have some links to either submit the actual form or close fancybox.

Here is an example of the preview.php file

<?php 
function check_input($data){
   // sanitize your inputs here
}
$field_01 = check_input($_POST['field_01']);
$field_02 = check_input($_POST['field_02']);
$field_03 = check_input($_POST['field_03']);
// ... etc
?>
<div style="width: 340px;">
  <h3>This is the preview of the form</h3><br />
  <p>Field 01 : <?php echo $field_01;?></p>
  <p>Field 02 : <?php echo $field_02;?></p>
  <p>Field 03 : <?php echo $field_03;?></p>
  <a class="submit" href="javascript:;">submit</a>
  <a class="closeFB" href="javascript:;">back to edit</a>
</div>

notice style="width: 340px;" so fancybox will know what size of box to display (height would be auto)

Then in your main page, add the preview button

<a class="preview" data-fancybox-type="ajax" href="preview.php">Preview</a>

notice the data-fancybox-type="ajax" attribute, which tells fancybox the type of content.

Then the script to submit (preview) the form via ajax :

jQuery(document).ready(function ($) {
  $('.preview').on("click", function (e) {
    e.preventDefault(); 
    $.ajax({
      type: "POST",
      cache: false,
      url: this.href, // our preview file (preview.php)
      data: $("#message_form").serializeArray(), // all the fields in your form (use the form's ID)
      success: function (data) {
        // show in fancybox the returned data
        $.fancybox(data,{
          modal : true, // optional (no close button, etc. see docs.)
          afterShow: function(){
            // bind click to "submit" and "close" buttons inside preview.php
            $(".submit, .closeFB").on("click", function(event){
              if( $(event.target).is(".submit") ){
                $("#message_form").submit(); // submit the actual form
              }
              $.fancybox.close(); //close fancybox in any case
            }); // on click
          } // afterShow
        }); // fancybox
      } // success
    }); // ajax
  }); // on click
}); // ready

Of course, the DEMO at http://www.picssel.com/playground/jquery/postPreview_05Jun13.html.

NOTES:

• this is for fancybox v2.1.4+
• .on() requires jQuery v1.7+