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This resource page is a supplement
to the January 29, 2001 issue

"Now You Can Use CGI/Perl
to Add Great Functionality
To Your Website"


This resource page is a supplement to the January 29, 2001 issue of the Ask Vicki ezine. If you stumbled on this page and you're not yet a subscriber, you can subscribe FREE from here: www.eHits.com/AskVicki


Dear Vicki,

During my website design "ongoing learning experience" I have discovered that the Internet offers many great free resources such as design templates and clipart.

Unfortunately the "good stuff" such as intelligent email forms, postcard systems, databases, counters, stats programs, and tell-a-friend systems are all "CGI" programs.

CGI and Perl scripts require special configuring and installation on my ISP's server. Because I'm not a "programmer type" I have to pass up all these powerful cool scripts. What am I to do?

Signed,

Novice from Newark


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Dear Novice,

Great question, and I've got a great news answer. Even a novice can add CGI functionality to their website, and do things like: Create your own search engine (this is a real traffic builder), start a classifieds website, start your own FFA ("Free For All" links) site, implement powerful traffic building scripts into your website, add user polls, a tell-a-friend button, and lots more. You can even capture "environmental variables" of your visitors, such as their IP number and their browser type & version.

In a moment I'll tell you how you can get CGI scripts installed on your website's server.

Before we dive in, I'd like to offer you an evaluation copy of Traffic 2000, which you can download while you are reading this. Just click to www.Traffic2000.com/download (this page will open in a new window) This is the best marketing course you'll find anywhere, it's won awards and is recommended by 33 (yes 33!) top ezine publishers. The download takes about 5 minutes, so start it now and by the time you get to the bottom of this webpage it will be downloaded.

Now back to our discussion. First, here's a quickie on CGI.

CGI ("Common Gateway Interface") is a standard for running external programs from a www server. Most CGI programs are written in a powerful language called "Perl". CGI can do some really cool stuff, like look up something in a database and then present it as part of your HTML webpage.

When you purchase a CGI script, in many cases the seller will install and configure it for you for $50 or $100. Some CGI scripts (usually the more expensive ones) come with free installation.

There are some excellent resource websites which offer free CGI programs. Unfortunately, most of us can only wish to have these programs as part of our website.

Now for the good news I promised you.

There are companies which will install and configure CGI programs, on your server, for a very low fee. Several charge under $20. Here's a listing:


When choosing a CGI installation service, check out their guarantee. Make sure you can get a refund if the CGI program cannot be installed on your server. Some firms may feel they should get paid either way because they put some time and effort into trying to get it installed before discovering an incompatibilty. Other firms have a guarantee statement on their website. Also, ask for client references. Finally, inquire about which specific scripts they have installed in the past, and also ask which ones they recommend in your case.

Here's something most people don't know. There are web hosting companies that offer free CGI installation. Some will only install CGI scripts from their own library (because they've automated the installation process) while others will install any CGI script you give them. So if you plan on using a good deal of CGI in the future, you may want to consider shopping for a new web hosting company.

Now that you have the ability to utilize some fabulous functionality for your website, you'll want to check out The CGI Resource Index. They have approx 2,000 CGI scripts. Most are free, some shareware, some for purchase.


Some of the information on this webpage was extracted from Traffic 2000. This award winning marketing course has received some national press coverage, and it is recommended by 33 ezine publishers, who have put their reputations on the line to say that this course is GREAT. I highly recommend you click over and check out the site: http://www.Traffic2000.com You can download a free evaluation version of the course from http://www.Traffic2000.com/download

See you next week!

Victoria Steele



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