How important is it to use a Mailer class instead of the mail() function in PHP for sending emails from a contact form?

It is important to use a Mailer class instead of the mail() function in PHP for sending emails from a contact form because the Mailer class provides more flexibility, security, and features for sending emails. It allows you to easily set up SMTP settings, handle attachments, and customize email headers. Using a Mailer class also helps in separating concerns and making your code more maintainable. 

// Example code using PHPMailer class for sending emails from a contact form

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

require 'vendor/autoload.php'; // Include PHPMailer autoloader

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

try {
    // Server settings
    $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;

    // Recipients
    $mail->setFrom('from@example.com', 'Your Name');
    $mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');

    // Content
    $mail->isHTML(true);
    $mail->Subject = 'Subject of the email';
    $mail->Body = 'This is the HTML message body';

    // Send the email
    $mail->send();
    echo 'Email has been sent';
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo "Message could not be sent. Mailer Error: {$mail->ErrorInfo}";
}

Keywords

PHP Mailer class mail() function email sending contact form

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