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Form Maker - CGI Forms Manager
Requirements
This script requires Perl on either a UNIX or WINDOWS server.
Configuration
This Script requires no Configuration, however if you have trouble installing the Script, you can hard code some values in the _key.cgi file.
Installation - Linux/Unix/Mac Servers
[script] refers to the first portion of the name of the CGI Scripts you purchased.
- Setting the Path to Perl. Open all CGI Scripts (except [script]_key.cgi) in a Plain Text Editor and make sure the first line of the CGI Script is the Path Perl for your server. Most Users can skip this step being the default Path to Perl shipped in the CGI Script is very common.
NB: if you do not you a Plain Text editor such as Windows NotePad or Mac Textedit (in Plain Text Mode), your Text/HTML editor will add extraneous code to the CGI Script when you save it which will result in a server 500 Error.
- Upload all CGI Scripts to your cgi-bin or any cgi enabled
directory and CHMOD
all the CGI Scripts to 755. It is imperative that you upload (transfer) all CGI Scripts to your server in ASCII mode.
If you forget to CHMOD all CGI Scripts to 755, Step 3 will
yield a Server 500 Error.
If you do NOT upload (transfer) all CGI Scripts to your
server in ASCII mode, Step 3 will yield a Server 500 Error.
- Load your Browser, point it to the [script]_setup.cgi file and follow the on-screen instructions for installation. For example, in your browser, type :
http://www.yourdomainname.com/cgi-bin/[script]_setup.cgi
- Enter a Username and Password. This will be your Username and Password for the Administration Section. If the Setup Routine is successfully processed a link to the Administration Section will appear on the resulting page. Click the link to access the Administration Section with the Username and Password you just entered in the Setup Script.
Should you encounter any Permission problems with the Setup Routine follow the instructions returned by the Script.
Upon successful completion of the Setup Routine the [script]_setup.cgi_setup.cgi script attempts to delete itself. This ensures the Setup Routine can not be repeated by another Surfer who would effectively reset your Administration Section Username and Password. Manually delete the [script]_setup.cgi
CGI Script you uploaded if the Setup Routine could not automatically
delete it (Refresh your FTP directory listing to check).
Should you ever forget your Administration Section Username and Password you can repeat this Step to set a new Username and Password.
Common Installation Problems - Linux/Unix/Mac Servers
NB: Shared Secure Servers, VPS, SBOX and Free Servers.
- Server 500 Error. This most often occurs because Step 2 was not followed precisely. Make sure the CGI Scripts you are uploaded are CHMOD to 755, the folder the CGI Scripts reside in is also CHMOD to 755, and the CGI Scripts were transferred in ASCII Mode. Auto-Detect only detects the extensions you specify in your FTP client's Settings.
- I can initially load the Setup Script and punch in my Username and Password, but when I submit the Form, I receive 404 Error Page or an alternate Error Page stating "Page Cannot be found".
This suggests your Server is operated by a very nervous System Administrator employing strict security measures, you're using a Shared Secure Server which dynamically sets your domain name to something other than the a standard Top Level Domain (www.yourdomainname.com) or sbox is employed by your server.
In any case, open [script]_key.cgi in Plain Text Editor (not a WYSIWYG Text Editor, nor a Rich HTML Editor) and enter the URL to the folder you uploaded the CGI Scripts to in the $SecureServer Variable. If you uploaded the CGI Scripts to your cgi-bin, then you'd set the following:
$SecureServer = "http://www.yourdomainname.com/cgi-bin";
Do NOT enter the CGI Script name, do NOT enter a trailing slash. After setting the Variable refresh the Setup Routine's Page that asks you to enter your Username and Password. Unless you refresh the initial Setup Page, the Form's URL will not be updated to reflect your Variable value.
- I cannot find the correct path to my WebSpace or the required Data Directories and/or Password file cannot be created.
You need to find that Path. Ask your host, or Download a copy of our free E-Vars CGI Script and install it on your server. CHMOD it to 755 then load it in your Web Browser which will print your Server's environment variables and other useful information. Determine your Server's Document_ROOT or Absolute Server Path to the folder your home page (index.html) resides in. You may need to append "/www" or "/httpdocs" to your Document_ROOT or Absolute Server Path to complete the path to your Writable WebSpace.
Once you've determined your Absolute Server Path, open [script]_key.cgi in Plain Text Editor (not a WYSIWYG Text Editor, nor a Rich HTML Editor) and set the $DefaultData Variable. For example:
$DefaultData = "/var/username/www/htdocs";
Finally, on some Server's it's necessary to CHMOD the folder just above your WebSpace to 777 granting permission to the CGI Script to create the Required Directories at WebSpace Level. In the example above, the "htdocs" folder would need to have it's permissions set to 777.
- We offer a very reasonably priced Custom Installation Service. We'll Setup the CGI Script for you and send you the Log in details which you can update at your own leisure. If we cannot successfully Setup the CGI Script we will refund both the Installation fee and the purchase price of the CGI Script. To Order Custom Installation, please fill in our Secure Installation Order Form.
Installation - Windows Servers
[script] refers to the first portion of the name of the CGI Scripts you purchased.
- Your Windows Server may not execute CGI scripts even if Perl is Supported. Many Server Administrators do not modify the Registry to accommodate Scripts with a .cgi extension. In this case, contact us for a copy PL Version.
- Setting the Path to Perl. Your Server may or may not require the Path to Perl. It's highly likely you don't need it, and you can ignore this Step. However you may want to check with your Host if you can not load the Setup Script in your web Browser.
NB: if you do not you a Plain Text editor such as Windows NotePad or Mac Textedit (in Plain Text Mode), your Text/HTML editor will add extraneous code to the CGI Script when you save it which will result in a server 500 Error.
- Upload all CGI Scripts to your cgi-bin or any cgi enabled directory. It is imperative that you upload (transfer) all CGI Scripts to your server in ASCII mode.
If you do NOT upload (transfer) all CGI Scripts to your
server in ASCII mode, Step 3 will yield a Server 500 Error.
- Load your Browser, point it to the [script]_setup.cgi file and follow the on-screen instructions for installation. For example, in your browser, type :
http://www.yourdomainname.com/cgi-bin/[script]_setup.cgi
- Enter a Username and Password. This will be your Username and Password for the Administration Section. If the Setup Routine is successfully processed a link to the Administration Section will appear on the resulting page. Click the link to access the Administration Section with the Username and Password you just entered in the Setup Script.
Should you encounter any Permission problems during the Setup Routine, you need to contact your Host and request "Full Read/Write Permissions" be applied to at least one folder on your Server. Many Servers have at least one writable folder, often named "database". See Common Installation Problems below for more information.
Upon successful completion of the Setup Routine the [script]_setup.cgi_setup.cgi script attempts to delete itself. This ensures the Setup Routine can not be repeated by another Surfer who would effectively reset your Administration Section Username and Password. Manually delete the [script]_setup.cgi
CGI Script you uploaded if the Setup Routine could not automatically
delete it (Refresh your FTP directory listing to check).
Should you ever forget your Administration Section Username and Password you can repeat this Step to set a new Username and Password.
Common Installation Problems - Windows Servers
NB: Shared Secure Servers, VPS, SBOX and Free Servers.
- Server 500 Errors are usually misleading on Windows Servers. It seems to be the default error page for just about every error. Make sure you typed in the correct Website Address (URL) to the CGI Scripts on your server. Make sure the CGI Scripts were transferred in ASCII Mode. Auto-Detect only detects the extensions you specify in your FTP client's Settings.
- I can initially load the Setup Script and punch in my Username and Password, but when I submit the Form, I receive 404 Error Page or an alternate Error Page stating "Page Cannot be found".
This suggests your Server is operated by a very nervous System Administrator employing strict security measures, you're using a Shared Secure Server which dynamically sets your domain name to something other than the a standard Top Level Domain (www.yourdomainname.com) or sbox is employed by your server.
In any case, open [script]_key.cgi in Plain Text Editor (not a WYSIWYG Text Editor, nor a Rich HTML Editor) and enter the URL to the folder you uploaded the CGI Scripts to in the $SecureServer Variable. If you uploaded the CGI Scripts to your cgi-bin, then you'd set the following:
$SecureServer = "http://www.yourdomainname.com/cgi-bin";
Do NOT enter the CGI Script name, do NOT enter a trailing slash. After setting the Variable refresh the Setup Routine's Page that asks you to enter your Username and Password. Unless you refresh the initial Setup Page, the Form's URL will not be updated to reflect your Variable value.
- I cannot find the correct path to my WebSpace or the required Data Directories and/or Password file cannot be created.
You need to find that Path. Ask your host, or Download a copy of our free E-Vars CGI Script and install it on your server. You will need to rename the E-Vars CGI Script to "myserver.pl" if your Server only executes Scripts with .pl extensions. Upload it to your cgi-bin or any cgi executable folder then load it in your Web Browser which will print your Server's environment variables and other useful information. Determine your Server's Document_ROOT or Absolute Server Path to the folder your home page (index.html) resides in. You may need to append "\\www" or "\\httpdocs" to your Document_ROOT or Absolute Server Path to complete the path to your Writable WebSpace.
Once you've determined your Absolute Server Path, open [script]_key.cgi in Plain Text Editor (not a WYSIWYG Text Editor, nor a Rich HTML Editor) and set the $DefaultData Variable. Be sure to separate folder names with two backslashes, not one slash. For example:
$DefaultData = "C:\\html\\username\\htdocs";
- We offer a very reasonably priced Custom Installation Service. We'll Setup the CGI Script for you and send you the Log in details which you can update at your own leisure. If we cannot successfully Setup the CGI Script we will refund both the Installation fee and the purchase price of the CGI Script. To Order Custom Installation, please fill in our Secure Installation Order Form.
License and Disclaimer
The following constitutes an agreement between you (the end user/purchaser) and us, PerlScripts JavaScripts.com (a wholly owned subsidiary of InterActive Scripts). By purchasing and using our software, products or services you agree to and accept the licensing agreement stated on this page. All documentation, goods and services are provided "as is" and without warranty. We hereby disclaim all warranties relating to any documentation, goods and services, whether express or implied, including warranties of suitability. In no event shall we be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential damages resulting in loss of revenue or data, incurred by you or any of our products, information or services. We reserve the right to revise the terms and conditions stated on this page at any time without notice. You agree to be bound by such revisions, and you are encouraged to periodically revisit this page to review the then current terms and conditions.
We grant you the right to use one copy of the software, product or service purchased, for testing and familiarization purposes. We also grant you the right to implement, install and use one copy of the software, product or service purchased on a single web site domain for use by one entity once the evaluation copy is removed / deleted.
By purchasing a product you are also subscribing to our periodic newsletter which will notify you of new software releases, updates and special offers. In accordance with United States and International anti-spamming laws, an unsubscribe link that removes you from all future mailings will accompany each e-mail notification.
For taxation purposes, we must keep accurate transaction and installation records. At the time of software installation, you will be asked to enter information such as your web site's domain name and your product's serial number. This information is used to validate copies of our software.
We reserve all rights. Written permission must be obtained from us before you may copy, reproduce, publish, modify or alter in any way, any media, software, documents or products, in part or in whole, contained within our web site or traded by us. All media, software, documents and products are the property of PerlScriptsJavaScripts.com. We retain ownership and copyright of software products purchased from us and all copies of the software. As a licensee you may make one copy of the software product solely for backup purposes. Removal of any copyright messages, publicly visible or otherwise without prior written permission from us is expressly forbidden. Unauthorized reproduction of any of our software, documents or products is prohibited by Federal and International laws and subject to criminal prosecution.
Any use of software and accompanying documentation on our Web site is subject to the terms of a software license agreement between you and us. You must read this license agreement in it's entirety and agree to it's terms prior to installing or using the software. All ownership rights and rights not implied are reserved. We reserve the right to revoke these permissions and terminate this agreement at anytime or at it's own discretion without reasonable notice. We reserve the right temporarily or permanently discontinue any software product or the support associated the product at anytime or at it's own discretion without reasonable notice. You agree and accept that we shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such cessation.
You agree that any issue or dispute that may arise between PerlScriptsJavaScripts.com and yourself in respect to this web site or it's goods or services will be resolved and governed by and within the courts and laws of Melbourne Australia. If your local laws do not allow for such an agreement, you must delete all copies of products supplied to you by us and you are hereby notified of the termination of this license.
Which display method should I use?
There are two methods available for displaying content on your web pages. Both support multiple instance of content display on the same page, and both support multiple pages.
1. JavaScript Method
This method can be used on any web page, in any file, PHP, CGI, HTML, ASP or any other whether it's a static file or dynamically generated file. The draw back with this method is that some spiders may not see the content displayed on your web page, so they may not index your content.
2. SSI Method
This method can be used on static files only, on servers that support SSI. Most Linux / Unix server support SSI. Some Windows and Mac servers also support SSI but usually have their own rules, such as naming a file with a certain extension. The benefit of using the SSI method is that the content displayed on the web page will seen and indexed by all spiders, because the content is generated on the server, and served as an actual part of the page.
By default most Unix / Linux servers will allow SSI tags to be included only in HTML files with an extension of .shtml. Most will usually allow an override to be set, which is an Apache directive that tells Apache how to act. In this case, you can use the following Apache directive to tell Apache to parse SSI in HTML files with file extensions of .htm and .html
To do this, create a file named: .htaccess
Because this file starts with a "." you may or may not be able to see if on your server when you FTP in. Check your home directory (the directory your home page resides in) to see if there is a .htaccess file already there. If there is, simply edit it, adding these two directives :
AddType text/html .shtml .shtm .htm .html
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml .shtm .htm .html
If you cannot see a .htaccess file in your home directory, create a new file, add the above two directives, save is with the name of .htaccess and upload it to your home directory.
If your server permits overrides, you can now use SSI tags in HTML files with any of the following extensions : .shtml .shtm .htm .html
You can check to see if SSI is supported by adding the SSI tag to your HTML file and loading it in a browser. If you see the quote displayed, it's working. If you do not see the quote displayed, view the source code of the page. If you see the actual SSI in the source code, it means your server is not parsing the SSI tag, and probably doesn't permit SSI overrides. In this case, you can write to your host to ask if they will enable it for you, or change hosts. At LinuxHostingPlans.com, our sister site, we not only permit it, but we'll take care of it for you if necessary.
Adding quotes
To add new quotes or content to the Quote of the day content pool, log in to the Administration section then :
1. Click Quotes
2. Paste your content or quotes into the text box.
3. Click the Add quotes button.
Your pasted data should have one quote on each line. You can include all characters, all HTML and CSS code, all JavaScript code, almost anything in fact, so long as each quote is on one line. The only character not permitted, and stripped from your quotes is the pipe (|). This is used as a database delimiter.
If you'd like to edit the database directly, you must adhere to the following rules. You can edit the database, which is a regular text file, by FTPing into your server and downloading the file named : quotes.list. For the full path to this file, hover your mouse over the Want to edit the quote file directly? phrase while your on the Quotes page in the Administration section.
If you have yet to add any quotes, you will not see that file. Simply add one quote using the Control Panel to have the file created. The database uses the following format, with 1 quote on each line:
Unique ID || Counter || Creation date || Quote
Unique ID : is any number but must be unique to each quote.
Counter : this is the number of times the quote has been displayed. You can set the Quote of the day scripts to display this number with the quote from the Settings page. You can also set these number when editing quotes via the Administration section.
Creation date : this is a unix timestamp, the number of seconds since Jan 1st, 1970. Used to calculate the daily average. If set to 0, the date the quote was added will be recorded as Jan 1st, 1970. The timestamp for Jan 1st, 2009 is 1230768000. You can convert dates to timestamps, and timestamps to date using this free epoch converter utility.
Quote : this can be any content, including HTML img tags, and all regular HTML, CSS and JavaScript code, provided the entire quote is on one line. The only character not permitted is the pipe (|).
To add your quotes directly to the database file :
Step 1.
Open the quotes.list file in a plain text editor and add your quotes. E.g.
1||100||1249657442||An apple a day keep the doctor at bay
2||0||1249657442||The language of truth is simple Euripedes
3||200||1249657442||The world slows down when you're around
Note that each new quote starts with a Unique ID number, followed by a double pipe (||) delimiter, followed by the Count, followed by a double pipe (||) delimiter, followed by a unix time stamp, followed by a double pipe (||) delimiter, followed by the actual quote that will be displayed.
Once done, save the file and upload it to your server so that it overwrites the existing server copy.
Step 2.
Download the file named uid.list from the server, open the file in a plain text editor and add the highest Unique ID from your quotes.list database to the file, on the first line. Save the file and upload it to your server so that it overwrites the existing server copy. The uid is used as a database indexer to ensure there's always a Unique ID for each quote.
The .bak files found on your server in the same directory, are backups of the primary files and can be left unchanged. However, it'd be a good idea to add the exact same content to those. That is, what ever you add to quotes.list, you should also copy n paste to quotes.bak, and the same for the uid.list file. The bak up files are a protective measure used by all of our scripts to prevent data loss. Files can occasionally become corrupted from server crashes, or from multiple simultaneous editing requests. Should this occur, and an empty or corrupted database file is encountered, our scripts will automatically copy the content from the back up file and use it to re-create the primary file. Any time a successful edit is made via the Administration section to any primary file, the back up file will also be updated. This is a measure employed by us as professional, meticulous coders to protect your data. You will not find such measures in most other scripts.
Editing quotes
To edit your quote and content database directly, see Adding quotes. To edit your quotes and content via the Administration section's Control Panel, log in to the Administration section then :
1. Click Quotes
2. Make any edits to the list of quotes displayed in the Current Quotes section.
3. Click the Save changes button.
The quote itself can be anything you like, including HTML code, and can be up to 2000 characters. Some browsers permit more, some permit less. MSIE 5 permits 1024 characters per text field. The Shown column is the counter for each quote and can also be set to any number you like. The Daily Average is the average number of times the quote has been displayed per day. It uses the Creation date column to calculate the age of the quote. The Creation date is automatically set when you add quotes from within the Administration section.
Deleting quotes
To delete quotes from the content database directly, see Adding quotes. To delete your quotes and content via the Administration section's Control Panel, log in to the Administration section then :
1. Click Quotes
2. In the Current Quotes section, place a tick in the checkboxes for the quotes you wish to delete .
3. Click the Save changes button.
Selected quotes, along with their statistics will be immediately deleted.
Displaying quotes
There are two methods available for displaying content on your web pages. Both support multiple instance of content display on the same page, and both support multiple pages, and both require only one line of code be inserted into your file for each quote. See Which display method should I use? for more information on which method to use.
To get the line of code you need to insert into your files, log in to the Administration section, or if already logged in, click Summary then :
1. Copy the code for either the JavaScript tag or SSI tag. You only need one, not both. To copy the code click on the code itself in the white textboxes, then press Control C or Apple C
2. Paste the code into the file you want the quote displayed on, in the relative area you want the quote displayed. You can paste it anywhere with in your file's <body> tag, and you can paste it multiple times in different areas to display multiple quotes.
3. Save the file and upload it to your server.
Remember, if using multiple quotes or content on the same page, it's best you set Quote of the day to sequentially display quotes, so that the same quote is not randomly selected and doubled up on the same page.
Display settings
There are several settings which can be configured to govern the display of quotes on your website. To access these settings, log in to the Administration section, or if already logged in, click Summary then click Settings.
Hour and Minute offset These let you set the scripts to display your local time rather than the server's time, which may be located in a different time zone. If your server is one meridian away from your local area, you would enter either 1 or -1 in the hour offset. Save the settings and check to see if the date and time displayed then matches your local area. It's this data and time that is used to determine the age of the quote.
Random Quotes If set to Yes, the Quote of the day scripts will randomly select a quote from your quote display database each time the script is invoked. If using multiple content areas, or quote displays on the same page, it's best you set this to No so that the same quote is not displayed more than once on the same page. In this case the Quote of the day scripts will display quotes in sequential order, one of the other, until the bottom of the database is reached. The quotes will then start at the top again.
Include creation date if set to Yes, the quote displayed will include the Creation date, and the Separator will be used to separate the Quote from the Date. If set to No, neither the date nor the separator will be displayed, only the quote itself.
Include display count if set to Yes, the quote displayed will include the number of times the quote has been displayed, and the Separator will be used to separate the Quote from the Count. If set to No, neither the count nor the separator will be displayed, only the quote itself.
Show Tooltips if set to Yes, the Quote of the day scripts will display tooltips (tips you'll see when you hover your mouse over certain elements) within the administration section. If set to No, the tooltips will be suppressed.
Changing your password
Enables you to update or change the administration login details. Enter your current login details, enter your new login details and press the button labelled "Change Pass".
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