does anyone know of a free script for order forms? Thanks!

You could get e-mail forms from http://www.bravenet.com . I'm not exactly sure if that's what you're asking.

i don't know what you're planning but remember about security. you might not want to transmit confidential information without an ssl. it just depends on what the information is :)

place orders. I would like the forms then available to be directly emailed to me if anything like this is possible. I guess it has to be since there is so much shopping on the internet nowadays. But how do they use forms for customers to order and then send to the company to place the order? I would like my customers to be able to submit the forms (after completion) directly to me via email.
Thanks.

usually how it's done is that the 'check out stand' is on the ssl (secure socket layer). as the user shops, the items are placed into the session. once the user is ready to 'check out' they get redirected to a secure area (ssl) to put in their credit card information or anything else confidential.

everything is added up and at this point you have 2 choices. the 1st, gather the information and place it into a database where it can be retrieved later (or at the end of the day) and processed. usually large companies do this. the 2nd, gather the information and email it to a personal email account. usually smaller or individuals do this 'cos it's easier then maintaining a database. the email one isn't secure but people do it :/

what ever host you get that provides an 'off the shelf' shopping cart can email orders to you. you just have to tell them that's what you want to do and they'll do it. you might be able to do it with javascript but that's not secure at all.

it's your choice i'm just letting you know the options.

If you have customers pay you through PayPal (http://www.paypal.com), there's a small form they can fill out telling you what they've paid you for. Then you receive an email informing you that someone has sent you money. Paypal is secure, although you have to have an account in order to receive or send payments. All you'd have to do is provide a link....

Oh, but if you're selling something, Pay Pal takes a percentage. It's not much, but if you're selling things that aren't very expensive, it's something to take note of.

yes, paypal will work if you don't want to retain user information youself. i think paypal will do it as part of the transaction.

you'll still need something that will add up all the items and maintain persistence while the user shops. persistence meaning that if the user selects item 1 then item 2, you have to remember which items they've selected. this can be done with javascript and cookies. it's not the best way but it'll work (most of the time.)

you'll also need something that'll email you the order form to you. i'm pretty sure javascript can do this too but i'm not sure. in order to send emails you need a mail server. i'm almost positive that javascript will just open your mail client and not send the email. maybe there's a javascript expert on this forum that'll know for sure :)