a ? about forms

[jdcorn]

Hi. I am new to this site.

I am also new to web design...and am trying to get my first web site launched.

I am wondering what I need to look for when picking a web host for making forms work. I know asp and have used some php.

Do the web hosts automatically have what you need to make your forms work - or do you need to make sure they support asp, php or - ??

I am also confused about cgi-bin. What do I need to worry about it? Eventually, I hope to launch an e-commerce site.

Any and all help is appreciated!!

[Jaiem]

Forms are a structure running in HTML (or PHP, ASP, CF or whatever web development language(s) you're using). A form itself has nothing to do with the host.

What happens to the info entered in the form is another matter.

If you want the form to capture the info and email it to someone or store it to a file you'll need some kind of CGI script. MS Front Page as extensions for doing this too, if you're using FP to develop your site.

Also, you need to determine if any of your forms will require secure entry (i.e SSL/secure server). That is something your host has to provide, either included in your plan or as an add-on.

[matt]

Moderator's Comments: No self-promotions.

[akashik]

Originally posted by jdcorn
I am wondering what I need to look for when picking a web host for making forms work. I know asp and have used some php.

Do the web hosts automatically have what you need to make your forms work - or do you need to make sure they support asp, php or - ??

I am also confused about cgi-bin. What do I need to worry about it? Eventually, I hope to launch an e-commerce site.

In general you won't need to look for anything beyond the basic server type (Linux or Windows for the most part). ASP works far better on Windows for instance.

If the host doesn't, then it's easy enough to drop in a CGI script that does handle forms. Places such as http://www.hotscripts.com have a wealth of pre-written scripts that are designed for just that purpose - forms.

The CGI-BIN is just a folder with a special permission set on it to make running scripts a little safer. In most cases you can run scripts anywhere within your hosting account, but the CGI-BIN is the 'preferred' location for them.

Did that help?

Greg Moore

[Mr Chunder]

jdcorn - its quite easy !

Just pick a scripting language that you like ASP, PHP, CGI/Perl, Frontpage, Coldfusion , JSP or one of the out of the box ecommerce sites which are often easy to start with but get cumbersome later on..... whetever.. they pretty much do the same thing !

Lets say you picked PHP as your ideal language, then either setup a development environment on your home machine or if that is too much hassle, order a cheap hosting package and simply upload the files to it as you develop your ecommerce site. Read the advice on this website about picking a host but a cheap but reliable one will do to start with until your technical requirements are better known.

At some point, you will want to release the first version - say it does no official ecommerce, just does brochureware and people send an email if they want to purchase something. In fact, it probably does not need any scripting, just plain old html will do.

Go live with this initial version and then start marketing the website, submit to search engines etc. traffic will start to visit and build up as with any business.

Soon, you can make lots of improvements like putting a shopping cart, credit card transactions, live helper, whatever is necessary for the business etc. etc. There are thousands of places to get free scripts and other little gimmicks to improve the appearance of your website. If you are feeling rich, then get the services of a web designer but more than likely, you can do a lot of this on your own.

Best rule is to start simple and build up over a period of time. Successfull ecommerce is not just about web design and technology, its about building a real business with a real product and a real market to sell those products to. Then worry about the technology you are going to use to get to those markets. Then worry about hosting it.

Best of luck.

[Perpetual]

I am wondering what I need to look for when picking a web host for making forms work

The large majority of web hosts will provide all that is needed (except if for free hosts). There are a lot of good quality and freely available forums (eg. YaBB). They will use a variety of technologies such as php, perl, mySQL, etc. Just make sure you read the requirements of the Forum that you would like to use and compare those with the host provider you are thinking of joining. One important note is to also check the version number of the software installed at the host against those required by the forum.

Most forums are quite easy to set up and CPanel actually has one that can be installed at the click of a button (well almost :P )


Good luck!

[Mr Chunder]

Originally posted by Perpetual


The large majority of web hosts will provide all that is needed (except if for free hosts). There are a lot of good quality and freely available forums (eg. YaBB). Good luck!

Did jdcorns mean "forms" or "forums" ?

Ooops !