New to website software? This guide should help

If you're new to the world of internet software then this short guide is intended to get you up to speed. Website software is software that runs on your website rather than your desktop. You upload this software to your web hosting account along with your html files and graphics files. These software packages can range from very simple, such as HTML form to email scripts and tellafriend scripts to very powerful such as search engine software or affiliate software. We provide a range of website software products to give your website the edge over the competition, providing more traffic, or increasing revenues. Please use the links on the left of this page to see what each of our products can do for you. First you may want to read through the table below to get an understanding of the terms used:-

Terms

CGI

Common Gateway Interface software is the standard for internet applications such as affiliate programs and search engines. It's simplest to think of a ".cgi" file as a special kind of ".exe" file. CGI software can be programmed in a number of languages, the most popular of which is Perl.

Perl

Perl is a programming language commonly used in CGI software. Perl applications are commonly referred to as scripts. So a Perl script is a Perl application. The majority of webspace providers support Perl scripts. If you are unsure whether your ISP supports Perl scripts then review their documentation or contact them regarding this matter.

Script

A Script, referred to as a CGI script or a Perl script, is an website application intended for use over the internet.

Unix

This is an operating system used on many internet servers. All of our software is programmed for Unix servers. Most of our software is also available on NT servers. If you have a Unix server with Perl installed then you will be able to use all of our software. If you have an NT server with perl installed then you will be able to use most of our software.

ISP/Server

Internet Service Provider's range from who you connect to the Internet through to who is hosting your website. The ISP that hosts your website will be running an operating system on their servers. This is usually Unix or NT.

LWP

The LWP Perl module is required for some of our scripts. It allows our programs to perform special tasks giving more functionality. Most ISP's that have Perl installed will have this module already installed. If your ISP does not have this module installed then they will install it for you upon request.

Now that you have read through the terms above you will hopefully have a better understanding of Internet software, and be able to choose the correct software products for you.

Server Support

If you are unsure whether your hosting server supports Perl scripts then you can use the form below to contact your ISP.

ISP email

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Subject

Message Hi ::toname::, I have been looking at CGI scripts for my website. The scripts are coded in Perl and I'm told perl is required to be on my server. My website is hosted with you so can you tell me if Perl is installed? If so what is it's path, and also what is the path to SendMail (Unix) or my SMTP server (Win32)? If Perl is not installed on your servers then would it be possible for you to install it? Perl is required by a majority of cgi scripts and would allow all your members to run a wide variety of useful applications. See http://www.activeperl.com for instructions on how to download and install the Perl language for free. Thank you for your time.

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Join the CosmicPerl.com CGI Scripts Mailing List

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