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The rattling study CGI utilised to beam chills up my spine. For eld I
put it in the ‘too-hard-basket’. But same most things in life,
CGI is not as scary as it seems. If you hit a cgi directory on
your website and you undergo how to protocol files, chances are you can
have a CGI playscript up and streaming in inferior than 20 minutes.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is not a planning module but
a accepted that allows visitors to interact with your website.
CGI scripts crapper be cursive in a sort of assorted languages
but most are cursive in Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting
Language).

This article gives you info of fivesome liberated CGI scripts that
will do the following:

1. Mail discover your Newsletter from your computer 2. Track the number
of nowadays your liberated E-Book is downloaded 3. Rotate banners on
your website 4. Create your possess machine responders 5. Allow
visitors to propose your website to friends

At the modify of this article are info of where to download
these 5 liberated scripts. But first, here are whatever base guidelines
on how to configure and establish CGI scripts:

1. CGI programs commonly become in a fix file. Unzip the enter and
open the README file. This writing module provide you instructions
for configuring the information file.

2. Open the information enter using a book application much as NOTEPAD
(the information enter module commonly hit the enter spreading .cgi but
may hit another extensions much as .pl).

In most CGI programs you module hit to configure the accumulation 4
items:

(a) the line to perl

This is where the perl information resides on your server. The path
will commonly be:

#!/usr/bin/perl

but could be:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl

If you’re unsafe what your ‘path to perl’ is, analyse your web
host’s online ‘manual’ or FAQs. If you can’t encounter it there,
simply communicate your scheme host.

(b) the line to sendmail

Most CGI programs inform you when your visitors hit complete a
particular action, and for that, the information needs to undergo where
the ’sendmail’ information resides on your server. The line to your
UNIX sendmail information module commonly be: /usr/sbin/sendmail

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

Again, analyse the substantiation on your scheme host’s website, or
simply communicate your scheme host.

(c) the unconditional line to your CGI directory

The unconditional line tells the CGI information meet where to find
the enter (or files) that it needs to open. Unfortunately, the
absolute line to your CGI directory is not something you module be
able to surmisal or reason - it is completely capricious and depends
entirely on how the grouping chief at your scheme patron has
partitioned your host’s hornlike drive.

The easiest artefact to encounter discover your unconditional line is to communicate your
web host. Another artefact is by using telnet - meet identify in pwd
(print employed directory) and that should provide you your absolute
path.

(d) Your telecommunicate come

This is the come that the CGI information module ingest to inform you
when an state has been completed.

3. Uploading

Upload the information files to your cgi-bin (or a directory off
your cgi-bin) using code mode. Never ingest BINARY mode, as this
will endeavor disturbance with the line-breaks in the script.

4. Set the File Permissions using CHMOD

CHMOD (changing mode) is the constituent for environment security
permissions on files. The README enter module commonly verify you the
permissions that you requirement to ordered for apiece file. The playscript file
will requirement to be ordered to 755. This allows the file’s someone to
read, write, and fulfil the file; anyone added crapper exclusive feature and
execute it.

You crapper ordered the permissions using telnet, but the easiest artefact is
to ingest the built-in choice in your protocol program.

5. Calling the Script

Now that you’ve organized the script, uploaded it and ordered the
permissions, it’s instance to essay it out! You do this by ‘calling
the script’ using a address in an HTML document. This is what the
URL for occupation your playscript module ordinarily countenance like:

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

Again, the README enter should hit limited manual on how
to call the script. In addition, most CGI programs are
accompanied by a scheme tender that contains the modify your visitors
would ingest to call the script.

And today here are the info of the 5 liberated CGI scripts I
mentioned earlier:

———————– Subscribe Me Lite
———————–

Subscribe Me Lite is a information that allows prospects/customers
to automatically hold and/or unsubscribe themselves from
your transmitting list. It has a built-in accumulation transmitting modify for
sending discover your account or updates.

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

———————– Rob’s File Tracker
———————–

Rob’s File Tracker is a perl playscript that counts enter downloads
or click-thrus to some file. Very multipurpose if you poverty to undergo how
many grouping are downloading your liberated E-Book.

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

———————– AdRotate Pro ———————–

AdRotate Pro is an ad turning information that’s cushy to falsehood and
easy to use. Features allow oceanic rotations, expiry by
date, views or clicks, choice ads for when every ads are expired,
and client reports.

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

———————– MasterRecommend ———————–

This playscript allows visitors to propose your website to a
friend by sending an email, without leaving your website. The
program module also beam you a double of your visitor’s message
(nice to undergo what your visitors conceive most your website).

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

———————– Master Auto-Responder
———————–

This is a accepted auto-responder program. The playscript allows you
to ordered the “From:” and “Subject:” lines for your
auto-response.You crapper also opt to obtain a double of each
email that the auto-responder receives.

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

If you requirement more support instalment your CGI scripts, here are two
excellent liberated tutorials:

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