Website Design Resources Pg7 » Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
- HyperText Markup Language / eXtensible Markup Language ( HTML/XML )
- Cascading Style Sheets ( CSS )
- Javascript / DHTML
- Really Simple Syndication ( RSS )
- Weblog
- Google Sitemaps
- Common Gateway Interface ( CGI )
- Active Server Pages ( ASP )
- Multiple IE Versions
- Accessible Web Design
CGI scripts are the traditional method for performing a wide variety of functions such as searching, server-side imagemap handling, and gaming; however, their most common usage is form processing. Most server administrators follow the convention of keeping CGI scripts in a special directory named cgi-bin (short for cgi-binaries). When a CGI script is requested by the browser, the server runs the script and returns the dynamic content it produces to the browser.
A CGI script can be written in a number of programming languages from Perl to C/C++. Although it is true that creating Perl and C scripts from stratch requires programming experience, you can take advantage of the power of scripts by using one that is already made.
Many web hosts offer a library of standard CGI scripts. Most hosting providers will allow you to upload your own scripts to the server.
There are a number of excellent resources for CGI scripts on the Web, including scripts that process forms and send their contents in formatted email messages. Many are available for free and come supplied with exhaustive documentation. Some of the most popular CGI archives are: Matt's Script Archive and The CGI Resource Index which provide information, documentation and tutorials regarding CGI programming.
If you would like a customised CGI form script with full spam protection and autoresponder with submit details, contact us for a quote. We are also open to requests for free forms if you are able to offer us a permanent link from your site on a PR4+ page.
Please note: A number of CGI scripts are written for Linux servers only e.g. Matt's Script Archive FormMail script. For information on a form script for Windows see Active Server Pages scripts.
