I tried calling but got your voicemail, I guess we can go this way through the forum
the first issue, is that you have 2 instances of the server validation behavior, and you should only have 1.
remove the first one, then edit the remaining one to add any additional validations. In the validation, set the Error redirect to go back to the same page and include a url variable:
abstracts-updated.php?valid=false
this way you can if there is validation failing causing the insert and email not to be sent.
also, add the session dump code:
<pre><?php var_dump($_SESSION); ?></pre>
this will have information on what is going on, post the session contents back after trying to submit the form, i can use that to help troubleshoot.
