Free Article HomeSubmit Article l Contact Us


Why Aren't You Using CGI 
The very name CGI used to send chills up my spine. For
years I put it in the 'too-hard-basket'. But like most
things in life, CGI is not as scary as it seems. If
you have a cgi directory on your website and you know
how to FTP files, chances are you can have a CGI
script up and running in less than 20 minutes.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is not a programming
language but a standard that allows visitors to
interact with your website. CGI scripts can be written
in a number of different languages but most are
written in Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting
Language).

This article gives you details of five free CGI scripts
that will do the following:

1. Mail out your Newsletter from your server
2. Track the number of times your free E-Book is
downloaded
3. Rotate banners on your website
4. Create your own auto responders
5. Allow visitors to recommend your website to friends

At the end of this article are details of where to
download these 5 free scripts. But first, here are
some basic guidelines on how to configure and install
CGI scripts:

1. CGI programs usually come in a zip file. Unzip the
file and open the README file. This document will give
you instructions for configuring the program file.

2. Open the program file using a text editor such as
NOTEPAD (the program file will usually have the file
extension .cgi but may have other extensions such as
.pl).

In most CGI programs you will have to configure the
following 4 items:

(a) the path to perl

This is where the perl program resides on your server.
The path will usually be:

#!/usr/bin/perl

but could be:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl

If you're unsure what your 'path to perl' is, check
your web host's online 'manual' or FAQs. If you can't
find it there, simply ask your web host.

(b) the path to sendmail

Most CGI programs notify you when your visitors have
completed a particular action, and for that, the
program needs to know where the 'sendmail' program
resides on your server. The path to your UNIX sendmail
program will usually be: /usr/sbin/sendmail

But it could also be something like this:
/usr/lib/sendmail

Again, check the documentation on your web host's
website, or simply ask your web host.

(c) the absolute path to your CGI directory

The absolute path tells the CGI program exactly where
to find the file (or files) that it needs to open.
Unfortunately, the absolute path to your CGI directory
is not something you will be able to guess or deduce -
it is completely arbitrary and depends entirely on how
the system administrator at your web host has
partitioned your host's hard drive.

The easiest way to find out your absolute path is to
ask your web host. Another way is by using telnet -
just type in pwd (print working directory) and that
should give you your absolute path.

(d) Your email address

This is the address that the CGI program will use to
notify you when an action has been completed.

3. Uploading

Upload the program files to your cgi-bin (or a
directory off your cgi-bin) using ASCII mode. Never
use BINARY mode, as this will play havoc with the
line-breaks in the script.

4. Set the File Permissions using CHMOD

CHMOD (changing mode) is the term for setting security
permissions on files. The README file will usually
tell you the permissions that you need to set for each
file. The script file will need to be set to 755. This
allows the file's owner to read, write, and execute
the file; anyone else can only read and execute it.

You can set the permissions using telnet, but the
easiest way is to use the built-in option in your FTP
program.

5. Calling the Script

Now that you've configured the script, uploaded it and
set the permissions, it's time to try it out! You do
this by 'calling the script' using a URL in an HTML
document. This is what the URL for calling your script
will normally look like:

http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/script.cgi

Again, the README file should have specific
instructions on how to call the script. In addition,
most CGI programs are accompanied by a web page
that contains the form your visitors would use to
call the script.

And now here are the details of the 5 free CGI
scripts I mentioned earlier:

-----------------------
Subscribe Me Lite
-----------------------

Subscribe Me Lite is a program that allows
prospects/customers to automatically subscribe and/or
unsubscribe themselves from your mailing list. It has
a built-in mass mailing form for sending out your
newsletter or updates.

More Information:
http://www.cgiscriptcenter.com/subscribe/index2.html

-----------------------
Rob's File Tracker
-----------------------

Rob's File Tracker is a perl script that counts file
downloads or click-thrus to any file. Very useful if
you want to know how many people are downloading your
free E-Book.

More Information:
http://www.robplanet.com/cgi racker/

-----------------------
AdRotate Pro
-----------------------

AdRotate Pro is an ad rotation program that's easy to
setup and easy to use. Features include unlimited
rotations, expiry by date, views or clicks, default
ads for when all ads are expired, and customer
reports.

More Information: http://www.vanbrunt.com/adrotate/

-----------------------
MasterRecommend
-----------------------

This script allows visitors to recommend your website
to a friend by sending an email, without leaving your
website. The program will also send you a copy of your
visitor's message (nice to know what your visitors
think about your website).

More Information:
http://www.willmaster.com/master/recommend/MasterRecommendmanual.html

-----------------------
Master Auto-Responder
-----------------------

This is a standard auto-responder program. The
script allows you to set the "From:" and "Subject:"
lines for your auto-response.You can also choose to
receive a copy of each email that the auto-responder
receives.

More Information:
http://mastercgi.com/howtoinfo/howautoresponderswork.shtml

If you need more help installing your CGI scripts, here
are two excellent free tutorials:

http://spider-food.net/install-a-cgi-script.html
http://www.stefan-pettersson.nu/scripts utorials/installcgi.html

Author Info:

Michael Southon is the author of the popular new E-Book, 'Ezine Writer!'. Discover the #1 Secret of Internet Marketing - More Traffic, More Sales: http://www.ezine-writer.com/

 
30 Most Recent Articles :
A Disputed New Business:Virtual Property Exchange

In many ways, the in-game economy is similar to a real world economy - goods and services are traded to mutual advantage and are mediated in currencies(gold,platinum,credit,etc.). An online broker, who goes by the screen name Rolala, was not a fan of online games until his 15-year-old son be[ Read Article]

THE UNITED STATES, A Terrorist Nation

I love the United States of America, but I cannot tolerate the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. No I am not shouting at you, I am simply making a distinction, a difference that thirty-seven states of the union have noticed and moved to rectify. You see, AMERICA isn’t America anymore, nor does it in anyw[ Read Article]

Dollars and Sense

When I speak of the Federal Reserve and the fiat monetary system that controls our lives I feel as though my words are falling on deaf ears. I have the sense that the simplest conversations suggesting that change must be made invoke fear and condemnation from my fellow citizens. When will we tak[ Read Article]

Constitutionality

Is the 16th Amendment constitutional? Of course it is, the Supreme Court has made that as clear as it did the issue of slavery. But let us remember that it took the lives of more than 365,000 brave American men and the destruction of the Republic to wrest the matter from the courts and resolve the[ Read Article]

Five Secrets to Effective Pay-Per-Click Advertising

With so many companies swarming the World Wide Web with their products, how can you and your products and services stand out? Your ready answer would most likely be effective marketing. But how? How can you catch the eye of a surfer skimming carelessly through web pages? How can you keep the at[ Read Article]

How to Sell Bonds

If you want to make good money with banks, or any institution, Government and agency bonds are where it is at. Simply because all Government bonds and agencies are AAA rated, and banks can buy millions of dollars of any bond without incurring any credit risk. All banks own bonds of some sort, a[ Read Article]

Closing in the Car Business

The “P” Word. Closing is all about helping car customers make positive decisions. It is not about pressure or manipulation. Your customers need help overcoming the “P” word. Procrastination! Procrastination is natural when it comes to making a buying decision. Your customer is trying to avoid [ Read Article]

If You Build It They Will Come, or Will They?

All right, so you invested your time and energy to build your organization a great new web site, but you are not getting quite the results you were hoping for. Few customers are visiting or interacting with you and rarely do you get prospects to contact you through the site. So what can you do to [ Read Article]

Confessions of a Yoga Teacher

The following are questions that Yoga teachers still need to answer, despite overwhelming evidence that Yoga is ?the mother of all health maintenance systems.? Mainstream thought is finally catching up, with the progress Yoga is making, but it has taken 5,000 years for us to get this far. Serio[ Read Article]

Vertical Creep in Search Results :: Should Organic Optimizers be Concerned?

I thought for this week I’d give a summary of some of the more interesting Search Engine Strategies sessions which are currently going on in New York City. I was at SES as a speaker last year in New York and I have to say, there is a wealth of information there even if some of it is contradict[ Read Article]

How to build link popularity fast and free

We all knew that back link or link popularity is a big factor to get good position in any search engines. But building link popularity some times really hard if you don't know how to do it. One of the hardest problem for new webmasters is to get back link to their newly stablis[ Read Article]

Does Chiropractic Care Really Make Sense?

The Role of Chiropractic in Treatment Beyond the Resolution of Symptoms Do you have the same nagging injury that never seems to go away? Are you suffering needlessly with pain? Are you fed up with taking painkillers? Do you want to find out what is causing your pain? If your answer is ‘ye[ Read Article]

The Economic Implications of Buying Drugs Online

Although the Internet is fairly new (at least to the mainstream) online shopping has grown by leaps and bounds. Now you can buy almost anything you need, from food to fishing equipment, right through your computer. Of course, this has meant that commerce has been forced to adapt to the changing co[ Read Article]

Manning and Manning-Can Either Brother Win the Big One?

It was just over a year ago, after the Colts lost to the Pats in their post-season contest, that Boomer Esiason said on national television, "I think maybe Peyton (Manning) is this generation's Dan Marino." Esiason went on to state that Manning "is a great football player, but he's not going to get[ Read Article]

Branding, Branding, Branding - MSN fails to keep it Straight

Sometimes you see promotions come along and you wonder: did they just do that? The current MSN promotion called msnsearchandwin is a prime example of this. Not only do they use “black hat” or at least “questionable” tactics on the site, but the messaging is inconsistent. In this article [ Read Article]

The New MSN Search Interface :: A positive change or the antithesis of transformation?

Now, instead of wide blue bars there are sleek silver-grey bars. Also, the top bar where the search box is became narrower. To me this makes the page seem less “closed in” and more visually appealing. I now feel as if I can trust the results more because they have more room. I’ve also noti[ Read Article]

Malta Holidays

With Malta visitor numbers static in recent years and facing new competiton from former Eastern Bloc countries offering cheap holidays, the recent announcement by the Maltese government that negotiations were at an advanced stage with two low cost airlines has[ Read Article]

Drug Rehab Treatment Centers as an Experience, not a Punishment

Choosing a drug rehab treatment center is a decision that calls for both negative and positive emotions. Nobody wants addiction to overtake their life to the point that rehab is the necessary step. However, the decision to go to one is something to look forward to, as it is the decision to rebui[ Read Article]

Some ways to improve your king content

There are thousands of articles, books and forum posts which showed that content is king in search engine optimization (SEO). In this article, you can find some ways that can help you improve this king content for your web site. * Content for people first, not for search engines - Some webmaste[ Read Article]

Aerosmith Just Keeps On Rockin’

For over three decades, Aerosmith have been one of rock's most revered and popular bands, crafting classic songs full of raw guitar runs and intensely energetic vocals. The band first reached fame in the 1970’s with a string of hits including "Dream On," "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way." During t[ Read Article]

Chicago Cubs Pitcher Mark Prior Re-signs

After many trips through the rumor mill, Mark Prior accepted the Chicago Cubs’ offer on January 27 to a one-year, $3.65 million contract. That is $900,000 more than the salary he would have earned under the contract he voided in November. Since Prior's definitive season in 2003 (18-6), he has cooled[ Read Article]

Social Networking - The Next Great Marketing Medium?

There has been a virtual explosion of social networking sites in the past couple of years. Even the big players like Google, Yahoo and MSN are getting into it. With so much interest in how social networks work, one begins to wonder if there is marketing potential within these social network[ Read Article]

How to choose paid directory for web site listing?

How to choose paid directory for web site listing? Search Engines are the major source of traffic for any website. High search engine ranking can boost number of your visitors and in turn leads to increase in sales. The best way to get top search engine placement is to improve link popularity [ Read Article]

Addiction Treatment Centers Using Experiential Therapies

Life is experience. Substance dependence overtakes a person’s ability to make her own decisions to experience life, and life is no longer actively participated in. Therefore, in overcoming addiction, it is vital to learn to re-experience life. This lesson helps a treatment center resident reint[ Read Article]

The DH: Making Life Tough for AL Pitchers

In 1973 Major League Baseball instituted three rules designed to lessen the power of pitchers and create more offense. One theory at work was that the game needed to be energized and that more hitting would create additional runs and excitement. Both the National and American Leagues lowered th[ Read Article]

Vacation on the Beach the Smart Way

Vacation on the Beach the Smart Way Almost everyone agrees; there is no more relaxing way to vacation than to take it to the beach. For the vacationer/traveler who hasn't considered a beach house rental before, they represent an affordable and fun family oriented alternative. There is an intell[ Read Article]

Malta Holidays and Hotels Buzzed by New Jets

With Malta visitor numbers static in recent years and facing new competiton from former Eastern Bloc countries offering cheap holidays, the recent announcement by the Maltese government that negotiations were at an advanced stage with two low cost airlines has sparked hopes that the island will see [ Read Article]

The Rising Cost of Prescription Drugs

If you’re like many Americans, the rising cost of prescription drugs may be costing you your health. In particular, seniors living on a fixed income with no insurance are finding it difficult to pay for necessary prescriptions out-of-pocket, and as a result, may be failing to receive the treatment[ Read Article]

Who's Tops in Hockey and Who's Not

The National Hockey League needs to do more to encourage better coverage of the hockey games. With so many other sports realizing national coverage, the NHL is sometimes forgotten. However, this year, there's a race for the Stanley Cup, and only one is set to win it. But which team will that be? [ Read Article]

The Danger Of Rounding Up Your Debts

Rounding up your debts is one of the biggest dangers to your financial position. It's also one of the easiest ways for your debts to get out of control. This way of thinking is best summed up by the following comment; ‘I already owe $27500 so what’s another $500. It takes my debt to a nice round [ Read Article]

 

World Top Stories :
U.N. Nuclear Monitor Strikes Deal with Iran, Reports Say
The leader of the United Nations nuclear monitoring arm announced what appeared to be a significant concession from Tehran on an investigation into potential military uses of Iran’s nuclear program.<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> <a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=51222593311b4ae4ad54c1e231dc1ee1&p=1"><img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=51222593311b4ae4ad54c1e231dc1ee1&p=1"/></a>


 

Copyright © 2006 Realook.com All Rights Reserved.