How to make a contact form send message to my web account

I have been using a php form successfully for years. However, I cannot figure out how to make it fluid. So I went looking online for other ready made forms to use, and everything I find ends up with the same issue. I is the form action or method. Sometimes the message appears to send, but then where is it going?

Whether I try using a php file for the action or javascript the form still does not work. I think that the method response is incorrect but I am only using what someone else set up. What are the files involved and how are people making these things work?

It is driving me crazy trying to figure this thing out. I am sure that I am overlooking something real simple.