Why is the php mail function not working?

Question

I had a templet that had a contact section that was supposed to send an email from the page. I'm using Cloud 9 ide.
My code is as follows, this is the html code:

<div class="w-form">
   <form action="contact.php" method="post">
      <label for="name">Name:</label>
      <input class="w-input" type="text" placeholder="Enter your name" name="cf_name">
      <label for="email">Email Address:</label>
      <input class="w-input" placeholder="Enter your email address" type="text" name="cf_email" required="required">
      <label for="email">Your Message:</label>
      <textarea class="w-input message" placeholder="Enter your Message Here" name="cf_message"></textarea>
      <br>
      <input class="w-button" type="submit" value="Send">
    </form>
    <div class="w-form-done">
       <p>Thank you! Your submission has been received!</p>
    </div>
    <div class="w-form-fail">
       <p>Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form :(</p>
    </div>
 </div>

Here is the php code referenced in the form's action value called "contact.php"

<html>
    <body>
<a  href="index.html#contact">Click to return to the home page.</a>
</body>

</html>
<?php
$field_name = $_POST['cf_name'];
$field_email = $_POST['cf_email'];
$field_message = $_POST['cf_message'];

$mail_to = 'arendtjda@gmail.com';
$subject = 'Message from a site visitor '.$field_name;

$body_message = 'From: '.$field_name.'\n';
$body_message .= 'E-mail: '.$field_email.'\n';
$body_message .= 'Message: '.$field_message.'\n';
$body_message .= 'CHANGE EMAIL TO';

$headers = 'From: '.$field_email."\r\n";
$headers .= 'Reply-To: '.$field_email."\r\n";

$mail_status = mail($mail_to, $subject, $body_message, $headers);

if ($mail_status) { ?>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
        alert('Thank you for the message. We will contact you shortly.');
        window.location = 'index.html#contact';
    </script>
<?php
}
else { ?>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
        alert('Message failed. Please, send an email to arendtjda@gmail.com');
        window.location = 'index.html#contact';
    </script>
<?php
}
echo('')
?>

The result is nothing. I know that the body of the email is being formed correctly because I changed the java script in the php form where it alerts the user that the email was sent to include the body. So how come this doesn't work? I am a beginner and I don't know how to change server side settings. If that is needed, Please include detailed instructions on how to change the server settings.

Thanks for all you help.

Just a thought. Probably shouldn't put an actual e-mail in your post. — IE5Master, Oct 01 '15 at 17:57
Your workspace VM needs a mail server configured. (That's out of scope here.) — mario, Oct 01 '15 at 17:57
The PHP Mail Function must be run in a Web server to be worked. Try to check the output errors or any fallback issues. — Mouhamad Ounayssi, Oct 01 '15 at 17:59
I would recommend using PHPMailer to do this. PHP Mail function is very tricky and difficult to do correctly considering many factors such as server configuration, and PHPMailer is how many or most of us resolve this. — Goose, Oct 01 '15 at 18:02

Why is the php mail function not working?

0 Answers0