New to CGI - Need info on using CGI scripts
Hi,
I am new to webmastering and am interested in CGI scripts for surveys now and banner rotations in the future. Right now the survey I am looking for is one that you can place on your home page and when the visitor votes the home page just refreshes and displays the results. I have seen a lot of scripts out there that take you off the site, include pop-up windows or have banner advertising on them and I am trying to avoid those.
Does anyone know a good script. It doesn't have not be free as long as it is not much $$$.
In addition how do I go about downloading a script and then have my webhosting co. install it?
Thanks!
Chris
fairhousing posted this at 19:46 — 16th May 1999.
They have: 1,587 posts
Joined: Mar 1999
Hey Chris,
Well I'll assume you've got cgi access. With that go to www.cgi-resources.com and you'll find what your looking for, try "Survey Says". It worked the best for me in a pop up window out of the 4 or 5 others I tried. O'yeah, warning seeing that you're new to cgi be prepared to be fustrated, hehe.
Good Luck!
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JP Stones posted this at 20:06 — 16th May 1999.
They have: 2,390 posts
Joined: Nov 1998
Survey Says is at:
[url]http://scripts.riffnet.com/ [/url]
I recommend it.
JP
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The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Center.
http://www.what-next.com
Anonymous posted this at 03:01 — 17th May 1999.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
hi chris!
!!!
your first question is easy to answer: there are about thousands of good scripts on the net, just use a search-engine to find the script that fits to your requirements, or have a look at the resources-section at www.webmaster-forums.com
downloading a script is the same as getting any file, from the internet, a simple download...
to make it run on a www-server, go to www.cgi101.com and read the tutorial. in chapter 2 you'll find a description how to upload and to make it run on a unix-based system!
you should also ask your ISP what to do and where to put your scripts, most ISP's create a directory for you to put your scripts in.
if you got any problems, just come back and ask, but to explain perl-programming in general would probably be a little too much for this forum....
it's always a good thing to read the readme's and faq's you'll find with your script, cause every script needs to be modified for a new web-site...
cu
patrick
JP Stones posted this at 17:18 — 17th May 1999.
They have: 2,390 posts
Joined: Nov 1998
...and I guarantee that no matter how well you follow Patrick's faultless instructions - it will not work first time, but don't worry it never does
If you have any problems just ask here and someone will try and help you.
JP
----------
The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Center.
http://www.what-next.com
Anonymous posted this at 17:40 — 17th May 1999.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
100% correct, but don't be so cruel, JP
chris,
i would be happy to hear from you again, could you send me an email and tell what happened? i'm creating a new web-side especially for beginners and would love to hear how to support the "first steps" in cgi, html and so on......
chris posted this at 01:49 — 18th May 1999.
They have: 76 posts
Joined: May 1999
Thanks for your help!
Survey Says is exactly the type of script that I was looking for.
So I just need to download it and then upload it my webhosts server? Or is it a bit more complicated then that?
Thanks,
Chris
Anonymous posted this at 03:48 — 18th May 1999.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
it is a little more complicated, but not too much....hehe...
the download-zip contains a readme.txt that describes nearly everything you need to know, but be aware to upload the script as ASCII, not binary!!! this would be fatal to your script!
remember to upload them into the right directory (it's often called bin or cgi-bin)
then you have to change some paths, that lead to the data files and others.
a common problem is, the perl-interpreter on your provider's server is located not at /usr/bin/perl, then you have to change the first line in your script that says #!/usr/bin/perl to the actual path on your web-server. if you don't know, where it is ftp the server and type the command "which perl" in the command line, it returns the full path to the perl-interpreter
at last, set permissions on the script files by using the chmod 755 command, this will allow the user to run the script. the chmod 777 command described in readme.txt is needed to give writing permission to the script, otherwise it won't be able to create a new data-file!
not that much, is it???
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