How can using a proper Mail class like PHPMailer or SwiftMail improve the functionality of PHP contact forms?

Using a proper Mail class like PHPMailer or SwiftMail can improve the functionality of PHP contact forms by providing more robust features for sending emails, such as better error handling, support for attachments, and improved security measures against spam and phishing attacks.

// Example PHP code using PHPMailer to send an email in a contact form

use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

// Create a new PHPMailer instance
$mail = new PHPMailer();

// Set up the email parameters
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
$mail->Password = 'your_password';
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
$mail->Port = 587;

$mail->setFrom('from@example.com', 'Your Name');
$mail->addAddress('to@example.com', 'Recipient Name');
$mail->Subject = 'Subject of the email';
$mail->Body = 'Body of the email';

// Send the email
if(!$mail->send()) {
    echo 'Message could not be sent.';
    echo 'Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
    echo 'Message has been sent';
}