GUESTBOOK

Modify an existing guestbook

• Creating a "guestbook" which visitors to your website can fill out and automatically email to you requires creating a FORM. Insert form elements in HomePage by selecting the "Insert" menu at the top of the screen, and then "Form," followed by your desired form item: (In Frontpage, select INSERT, then FORM, then FORM again.)
• All the form elements must be included in a defined "Form Area," which you can insert from the same menu.
• You can create a form webpage with HomePage or Frontpage, but it generally cannot work until you create a CGI program for the server which processes the information and creates an email message. CGI stands for "Common Gateway Interface." (If your server as Frontpage 2000 extensions installed, you can use those instead, but those procedures aren't covered here.)
• If you are interested in learning more about CGI and Perl, which is a common scripting language used to write CGIs, many resources are available:

  CGI Sites:

  • The CGI Collection
  • The Common Gateway Interface
  • CGI scripts for Win NT
  • Selena Sol's Public Domain CGI
  • Smiley's CGI/PERL Source Page
  • Ranson's Freeware CGI Scripts
  • Matt's Script Archive

  Counter CGI sites:

  • Mailto 1.6
  • EasyCounter
  • AccessCounter CGI
  • Web-Counter Usage Page
  • WWW Homepage Access Counter
  • Digit Mania

  Perl Sites:

  • PERL -- Practical Extraction
  • Perl CGI Scripts by Ziga Turk
  • Perl reference materials
  • Macintosh, Perl, Scripting, & WWW Authoring Resources
    
    

SIMPLE GUESTBOOK/FORM SOLUTION:

• The easiest way to create a guestbook or other web form is modify an existing form which is setup to use a CGI program that will run anywhere (most CGIs will just work for webpages on the same server). This type of webpage is available for you to use! To use it:
  1. Save this workshop evaluation page into your website folder. (right click the link and choose SAVE LINK AS on Windows or click the link and hold down the mouse on a Macintosh.)
  2. Open this saved page in your webpage editor and modify it as desired.
  3. More info on using this form type is available from Freedback.com.
• The key ingredient which will make this form work for you is the address to which the webpage will "Post" its data: http://cgi50.freedback.com/mail.pl
• This free CGI script was originally offered for public use by a MIT grad student, now a private company has taken over the service. As a result, after submitting a form visitors will see some advertising banners. This is the trade-off for using a free CGI form.
• CGI programming can easily become complicated. Understanding of and modification of CGI scripts are part of the webmastering TEKS for Technology, however. Good luck!

Targets/Anchors | Tables | Images | Multimedia | Javascript Rollover Images | Frames | PDFs | HyperStudio: | Guestbook | Uploading http://www.wtvi.com/html

   -

Home - Basic Course - Intermediate Course - Tools for the TEKS

---

Course and Website by Wesley A. Fryer of Lubbock, Texas.
Site sponsored by WesTech Vision Inc.