require for input value on custom contact form

Question

I am creating a custom contact form (so that my site will have two separate contact forms). I used the tutorial here

However my issue is I need to set some of the form inputs to require a value.

I added code that I thought would make it work (adding class="required-entry input-text validation-failed" to each of the form inputs) however my form still allows me to submit it without entering any values in my required fields. I am not sure what I need to change/add to my below code

Here is my form.phtml code

     <div class="box simple_contact">
        <div id="messages_product_view">
           <?php echo $this->getChildHtml('global_messages') ?>
        </div>
        <form id="simple_contact_form" name="simple_contact_form" action="<?php echo $this->getUrl('inchoo-simplecontact/') ?>index/sendemail" method="post">

       <fieldset class="group-select">
         <ul>
           <li>
            <div class="input-box">
                <label for="name">Name<span class="required">*</span></label><br />

                <input name="name" id="name" title="Name" value="" class="required-entry input-text validation-failed" type="text" />
                <div class="validation-advice" id="advice-required-entry-name">This is a required field.</div>
            </div>

            <div class="input-box">
                <label for="email">Email<span class="required">*</span></label><br />
                <input name="email" id="email" title="Email" value="" class="required-entry input-text validate-email validation-failed" type="text" />
                <div class="validation-advice" id="advice-required-entry-email">This is a required field.</div>
            </div>
            <div class="input-box">
                <label for="phone">Phone<span class="required">*</span></label><br />
                <input name="phone" id="phone" title="Phone" value="" class="required-entry input-text validation-failed" type="text" />
                <div class="validation-advice" id="advice-required-entry-phone">This is a required field.</div>
            </div>

            <div class="input-box">
                <label for="businessname">Business Name<span class="required">*</span></label><br />

                <input name="company" id="company" title="Company" value="" class="required-entry input-text validation-failed" type="text" />
                 <div class="validation-advice" id="advice-required-entry-company">This is a required field.</div>
            </div>

            <div class="clear"></div>

            <div class="input-box">
               <label for="comment">Question/Comments</label><br />

                <textarea name="comment" id="comment" title="Comment" class="required-entry input-text" style="height:100px;" cols="50" rows="3"></textarea>
            </div>
            </li>
            </ul>
</fieldset>
<div class="button-set">
    <p class="required">* Required Fields</p>
    <button class="button" type="submit"><span><span><?php echo Mage::helper('contacts')->__('Submit') ?></span></span></button>

</div>
<br /><br />
 </form>

 </div>

Then my IndexController.php file

    class Inchoo_SimpleContact_IndexController extends Mage_Core_Controller_Front_Action
     {
      public function indexAction()
       {
       //Get current layout state
        $this->loadLayout();   

       $block = $this->getLayout()->createBlock(
         'Mage_Core_Block_Template',
         'inchoo.simple_contact',
         array(
             'template' => 'marketingform/simple_contact.phtml'
          )
       );

    $this->getLayout()->getBlock('content')->append($block);
    //$this->getLayout()->getBlock('right')->insert($block, 'catalog.compare.sidebar', true);

    $this->_initLayoutMessages('core/session');

    $this->renderLayout();
}

public function sendemailAction()
{
    //Fetch submited params
    $params = $this->getRequest()->getParams();

    $mail = new Zend_Mail();
    $mail->setBodyHtml("Name: " .$params['name']. "<br /> Email: " .$params['email']. "<br /> Phone: " .$params['phone']. "<br /> Business Name: " .$params['company']. "<br /><br /> Questions/Comments: <br />" .$params['comment']);
    $mail->setFrom($params['email'], $params['name']);
    $mail->addTo('me@foobar.com', 'Marketing Dept');
    $mail->setSubject('A Marketing Request');
    try {
        $mail->send();
    }        
    catch(Exception $ex) {
          Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->addError(Mage::helper('contacts')->__('Unable to send your message. Please, try again later'));

    }

    Mage::getSingleton('customer/session')->addSuccess(Mage::helper('contacts')->__('Your message has been sent to our marketing department.'));
    //Redirect back to index action of (this) inchoo-simplecontact controller
    $this->_redirect('marketing/');
  }
}

?>

Answer 1

Please see the original Magento contact form controller, i.e. app/code/core/Mage/Contacts/controllers/IndexController.php -> public function postAction(). For example you have to add this in your sendemailAction function below $params = $this->getRequest()->getParams(); (don't forget to surround it with try/catch block):

        $error = false;

        if (!Zend_Validate::is(trim($params['name']) , 'NotEmpty')) {
            $error = true;
        }

        if (!Zend_Validate::is(trim($params['email']), 'EmailAddress')) {
            $error = true;
        }

        if ($error) {
            throw new Exception();
        }

This is PHP validation. If you like JavaScript validation - you can see again Magento original contact form for reference, i.e. app/design/frontend/base/default/template/contacts/form.phtml. So you have to add this at the bottom of your form:

<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
    var simpleContactForm = new VarienForm('simple_contact_form', true);
//]]>
</script>