Example of JS / jQuery to submit a form handled by PHP

Question

I have PHP code like this: (for signing out - located in a php page together with other php handlers for different functions and this file is included in pages like index.php or other relevant pages.)

if(isset($_POST['signout'])) { // logout button
  // Clear and destroy sessions and redirect user to home page url.
  $_SESSION = array();
  session_destroy();
  // redirect to homepage (eg: localhost)
  header('Location: http://localhost/index.php');
  }

I normally use a <form action="index.php" method="post"> where the function is currently included and <input type="submit" name="signout"> for such things but this time i would like to use an anchor tag like: <a href="" >Sign Out</a> for signing out.

Would anyone be kind enough to show an example code that will trigger a submit that will be handled by the given PHP code above.

Either a jQuery or Javascript solution would do. I would just like to see a complete example on how this works.

Just get rid of the $_POST['signout'] requirement and throw this in something like logout.php that you can link to. — Brad
– Brad, Commented May 28, 2013 at 21:17
Hi, the $_POST['signout'] is located in a php file with other functions and this file is currently included in the relevant pages like index.php or client_panel.php - I am currently wondering how can i use the anchor tag to be submit a value to be handled by this function as I have designed and located the Signout on a sidebar of <li> that has other links to pages like <a href="update_profile.php">Update Profile</a>. — GitKidd
– GitKidd, Commented May 28, 2013 at 21:25
Well, you could display your form submit button as a link or use JavaScript to send a POST. Or, you could modify your existing code. — Brad
– Brad, Commented May 28, 2013 at 21:26
Since sign out is an action, you should really use a POST request. You should be able to style a <button type="submit"> like an anchor tag if you want to. — Bergi
– Bergi, Commented May 28, 2013 at 21:28
@Brad Yes but I don't know how to achieve that as I just started developing and completely new to JS/jQuery - that's why I wanted an example on how to achieve this so that I can somehow understand and use it in the future. — GitKidd
– GitKidd, Commented May 28, 2013 at 21:30

symcbean · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-28 21:30:34Z

1

There's good reason for using a POST for submitting authentication tokens which usually commences or alters the session state - but these don't really apply to the problem of closing the session - why not just just trigger this via a GET?

But if you really must do a POST, and you really must do it via a a href (rather than styling a submit button) and you really must do it via javascript (which will break if the client has javascript disabled) then...

<script>
function sendForm(formId) 
{
   if (document.getElementById(formId).onsubmit()) 
      document.getElementById(formId).submit();
}
<script>
<form id='logout'>
<input type='hidden' name='signout' value='1'>
</form>
<a href="javascript:sendForm('logout');">logout</a>

answered May 28, 2013 at 21:30

symcbean

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1 Comment

GitKidd Over a year ago

Thank You @symcbean . By the way, I just tried this code but it seems to break the rest of the page when the code <a href="javascript:sendForm('logout');">logout</a> is included. This also happens when I try to use a onclick when the a anchor is inside a <li> . Also, how do you suggest I achieve this via the GET method. I have already tried using the CSS trick for making a submit look like a link. I am just looking for different ways to achieve this especially that I see most of the codes I try to study use this method of using an anchor as submit. Apologies as I am still learning.

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