Adding a guestbook or form to your web page is a fairly simple task, but does require some work from you, the client. Forms work through the use of CGI (common gateway interface) Scripts that are basically programs that reside on our server and when called upon, perform an action. The action being an E-Mail form in this case. This program works by taking the data that someone has typed in, places it in a text file, and then e-mails this text file to the administrator of your web page. There are three Items required to make a form work:

1. A path is needed to tell the browser where the CGI program is located & where the text file is. Once you know that your ISP has a CGI-Email program, you need to ask them for the path to it. You need this path to continue. A sample path looks like this: /cgi-bin/cgiemail/guestbok.txt
2. The HTML code will have to be implemented into your page
3. A text page will have to be created, both as a response to those who fill out the form and for the information to be E-Mailed back to you.

1. First decide what type of input boxes you will have. Here are some examples:

• Fill in the blank:
  Pull-Down Menus	Select Here... #1 #2 #3 #4 #5
  radio buttons:	Check Here: Or Here: Or Here:
  Check boxes:	Click Here: And Here: And Here:
  Text Areas:

• 2. Now you can begin your HTML code for your form

  Start with this line: <FORM METHOD="POST" FORM ACTION=" [......PATH......] " >

  This is the programming for the different types of input fields.

So that you can understand the code here is some help:

• NAME is the name for the input field and can be anything you want it to be. This is the same name you put in the text file explained next.
  
• SIZE defines the size of a text input field.
  
• TYPE is the type of input field. It can be text, radio, or checkbox.
  
• SELECT must have a beginning tag and an ending tag. The different options are separated by the OPTION tag.
  
• TEXT AREA must have a beginning tag and an ending tag. They also use the ROWS & COLS tag to define the size of the box.
  
• VALUE is what will be printed on the e-mail. Match this to the text you write beside it.
  

The last thing to do to complete the code is put a SUBMIT button and/or CLEAR button in your HTML and then end the form with the closing form tag. The buttons are automatically created with the text that you type in the VALUE statement. It looks like this:

3. Finally, you need to create a text file. The CGI program reads the input from the HTML page and places the information into this text file and then mails it. In creating this file, topics such as Name, Address, etc... aren't necessary, but if you use them place them first, followed by the variables that are inside brackets. Save this text file with the same name you specified in the beginning of the FORM tag. Here is an example:

First Name: [Name1]
Last Name: [Name2]
Address: [Address]
Your E-Mail: [Email]

• If you're confused, the table below shows my actual Guestbook text file.

  From: [Name]<[email]> To: [email protected] Subject: GUESTBOOK ENTRY [Name] [email] [url] [hometown] [browser] [browser2] [times] [timespent] [computer] [monitor] [how] ([specify]) [more] [maillist] [guest] [comments]

Now you should have the knowledge needed to add a guestbook or form to your web page. If you have any other questions, just contact the tech support staff of your ISP.