How to Install a CGI Script and Increase Web Site Interactivity
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CGI scripts provide an excellent way to increase your website's interactivity. They may appear to be complex, but they're really not hard to learn. Herman Drost walks you through the steps for installing your own CGI scripts.
You may have delayed cgi script installation due to the apparently complex process. Well, I avoided it also for several years, however if you want to increase your web site's interactivity it's a necessity to know how to do it. It's not hard to learn and you don't have to be a programmer.
What is CGI ?
Common Gateway Interface or CGI is a program that can interact with an html form on your web site, and processes the results on your server using a cgi script. The result generated is a dynamic web page. The cgi script is written in a language called PERL ("practical extraction and reporting language").
Uses of CGI Scripts
CGI scripts are most commonly used for creating user interaction with an html form on your web site. Other uses include: autoresponders, shopping carts, counters, mailing list managers, ad management, surveys, polls, discussion boards, content management, calendars and click tracking.
There are 100s of free cgi scripts that can be found on the Net. Just do a search on Google for "free cgi scripts" or visit the resources at the end of this article.
We will create an html email form to collect the name, email address and comments of subscribers using a secure cgi formmail script. An automatic confirmation will be sent and the results of the email form will be passed on to your email address.
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