Getting input to my site

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

I'm don't really want a forum per se on my site, I just want people to have the option of posting onto it to communicate. It's not going to be a big thing, so I don't want to use a server or download anything.

So, what's the code to allow people to post input to my site? Like maybe a text box to type into and a name box for, well, names.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Corey Bryant · Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 4:23 pm

Do you want a guestbook? Or do you want people to reply to different messages? What server-side language does your server support, PHP or ASP?

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

Not really a guestbook, maybe more like a message board.

Just something where someone can type in a name and then a body for text that they can type in, and then submit to the page. Preferably the message box is on the same page where what they type will show up on.

And I use Comcast for my website, so I don't know if that is PHP or ASP. How can I find out, and what difference does it make? Thanks.

Corey Bryant · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 5:50 am

Well you are going to need some type of server side language - to write these messages on the server (probably into a database). PHP is usually for UNIX platforms and ASP is usually for Windows platforms.

So you would like a forum it seems? You also might check out http://www.forumcrafters.com for more information.

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

Mainly I just want to know the HTML code for a test box, and the code that allows people to send what they typed directly to my site. Do know if there is anything like that? I don't really want to use a pre-made forum if I don't have to.

Corey Bryant · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:14 pm

And when they hit submit - where do you want this information to go? To your e-mail? This can be accomplished a few different ways.

You could do it via a mailto: on the submit. It is not always reliable and can generate some warnings to the client. Check out: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=279460 and then more info on why not to use it: http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol3/form_no4.htm

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

Well I liked the [url]http://www.response-o-matic.com/[/url] page. It helped me get a text box on the site. But the text that people type in gets sent to my email. If it's possible, I would like the text to get sent directly to the site, so that everybody could see it. Any ideas? Thanks.

Corey Bryant · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 7:09 pm

You are going to have to use PHP or ASP language. And then some type of a software like a guestbook or forum. Basic HTML cannot write to the server.

mjpliv · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 406 Location: Nova Scotia

If you have access to the CGI folder of your hosting service server, maybe you would be interested in a personal BLOG (web log). Start searching through some of the freeware sites (start with www.no-nags.com ) and do google searches for free perl scripts. You will probably find exactly what you are looking for.

Pretty much every one of these "programs" will require that you have access to the CGI folder of your hosting service. Most "free" hosting services do not offer this as a feature.

There are several Blogs offered through other servers such as http://www.livejournal.com. Once you are set up there you can link from your website to your Blog site.

If you decide to look into it further, do a little web research on the perl and PHP languages. They are not that difficult and you will find support forums out there just like this one.

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

Well since I'm using Comcast to make my site, I can edit all of my stuff that I have already posted, but I don't know where the CGI folder you're talking about would be.

All right, so PHP. What would I need to be able to access to use that for my site.

Thanks for the all the help and links by the way.

mjpliv · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 406 Location: Nova Scotia

I would suggest you start with perl. It is probably the easiest to learn and was developed primarily to manipulate text. PHP is similar but more involved and is needed to work with database servers. This forum is written in PHP.

The first place to start is to download some basic tools. These are a server platform to test your perl scripts and the most recent perl package. If you follow this link -

[url]http://www.indigostar.com/indigoperl.htm [/url]

You can download a copy of Apache server pre-compiled to run with perl and PHP. Took me about 5 minutes to download and install. I use it for testing all my scripts before uploading to remote servers. It comes complete with Apache documentation, perl docs and links to the PHP support pages.

Then I suggest you do a little reading and here is a good place to start - http://www.codebits.com/p5be/ or perhaps pick up a Perl for Dummies book. Don't get discouraged! There is a bit of a learning curve but if you stick with it you will be writing perl scripts in no time at all.

mjpliv · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 406 Location: Nova Scotia

In reference to using Comcast I am assuming that this is your ISP. Most ISP will provide 5 - 10 megs of server space for personal websites but do not provide access to thier CGI folders. One reason for this is that it makes them vunerable to attack by malicious scripts. Think about it, would you give everybody access to your computer to run whatever programs they wanted.

Unless you have a static IP (unlikely) you will have to look for a hosting service and register a domain name. This can be done for a few bucks a month. Some offer small amounts of disk space some offer a lot. Usually you get what you pay for. I use www.hostsave.com which gives me a gigabyte of space for 9.95 US per month and discounted domain registration. There uptime claims are accurate but like any other service they have there good points and thier bad points. Shop around. Just remember, if the claims are too good to be true then they probably aren't.

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

Well it sounds like Perl's the way to go then. I have an HTML for beginners book, but I could probably get a Perl one too, or just look it up online.

With Comcast, I pay about $50 a month for cable internet and TV. So it'f not free. I have about 5 gigs of storage I can still use (does that make sense?), so I think that's plenty.

I do have a static IP with Comcast. I don't have my own domain name, but that's okay for now. I'm not willing to invest more money into my site until I know that I can make it pretty well.

mjpliv · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 406 Location: Nova Scotia

If you have a static IP (I am surprised to hear that you do) why not host your own website? The apache server/perl/PHP package is the way to go -

[url]http://www.indigostar.com/indigoperl.htm [/url]

It literally takes minutes to get it up and running. You can create all of your HTML forms on your regular website and have the cgi calls linked to your own computer at home. That will give you access to your own personal cgi-bin folder and as much web space as your hard drive can handle. But keep in mind there are some security issues to consider. I would set it up behind a firewall thats only accepts connections from your ISP site. It also means that your HTML forms will not function if you turn off your PC.

Jamisans · Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 17

Yeah, Comcast gives out static IPs unlike AOL and others.

I'll check out that site and see what sounds good to me.

I do have a Firewall already, and so I could set it up that way.

So what you're saying is that I could use my harddrive as a kind of server, but if I turned it off, my site wouldn't be up anymore? I'm not the only person that uses the computer, and we kind of like to turn if off at night.

But I'll read more about that stuff and see what I can learn. Thanks again guys.