Where can I find documentation
for preinstalled scripts?
We currently have the following ready-to-use scripts
available:
cgiemail forms-to-email
imagemap multi-clickable images
newcount "hit" counters
How do I implement custom
scripts?
Our servers have the capability to run CGI scripts
based on Perl, Unix SH, KSH, CSH, and C (NOT C++)
languages. Perl is a our language of choice as it is a
world standard and is well suited to CGI. In addition,
Perl code does not require manual compilations whereas C
code must be compiled* on our web servers prior to use.
If you have a custom CGI script that you need to use,
simply upload it to your personal "cgi-local"
Here are some helpful tips to follow when installing Perl
scripts:
- Upload to your cgi-local directory to ensure
proper file permission settings
- Upload in ASCII transfer mode (and NOT BINARY
mode)
- The first line of each script must read:
#!/usr/local/bin/perl
- Use the Perl script checker in your Control Panel
- Reference the script using /cgi-local (and NOT
/cgi-bin)
If a script calls another file within your account,
but the script does NOT require a URL- use
the system path.
eg.
/u/web/<userid>/... <- if file resides in root
/u/web/<userid>/cgi-local/..<- if file resides in cgi-local
Substitute the path to the file beginning with your
userid. Your userid is the directory name of your
account.
*** InterSpace can run only two C compilations for you. As
such, we suggest Perl as an alternative scripting
language. A work around may be available to seasoned C
developers -- contact support@interspace.net
for more information. C++ is NOT supported.
Other Resources
DOS based
Perl editor
comp.lang.perl.misc
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi
How can I make my
CGI-scripts server independent?
If your scripts contain server-dependent code, that
is, code which is specific to a particular server, you
would need to rewrite code if you ever decided to move
your site to a different web server. One such occasion
would be if you decided to upgrade to or downgrade from a
Plan 4 or High Volume account, since these accounts
reside on high volume servers. Another occasion would be
if you ever decided to reuse your scripts for other
accounts, or give your scripts to other people. You
should always try to write code that will run correctly
regardless of what web server it runs on.
The most common kind of server-dependent code is code
which accesses files or programs using an absolute path
(such as "/www26/web/someid/somefile"). Instead
of using the absolute path to your home directory
("/www26/web/someid"), you should instead use
the DOCUMENT_ROOT environment variable
($ENV{DOCUMENT_ROOT} in Perl) to determine the path of
your files or programs within a script.
For example, if a guestbook script reads:
# Path to your guestbook file
$guestbook =
"/www23/web/examp9/data/guest.html";
You should change it to:
# Path to your guestbook file
$guestbook =
"$ENV{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/data/guest.html";
If you are writing scripts for others besides yourself
to use, you may wish to take advantage of the many other
environment variables which allow you to write
server-independent code.
(Note: if you are writing scripts or recipes for use
with procmail, you must use the HOME environment variable
in place of DOCUMENT_ROOT. CGI environment variables are
not available while running under procmail.)
Is the Excite® search engine
available for use?
Yes. A web-based interface can be found within your
account Control Panel. Please refer specific questions to
support @ interspace.net.
How do I set mail forwarding
options?
By default, ALL mail is set up to automatically
forward to the email address that was provided when your
account was set up. This email address is called the
"default" mail forwarding address. This address
can be changed in Email Settings within your Control
Panel. As such, you do not need to set specific
forwarding options for addresses associated with your
domain name. (eg. webmaster@yourname.com,
sales@yourname.com, etc.)
You can also set up to 10 specific mail forwarding
options for email addresses which are to forward to an
address other than the default.
Additional mail forwarding fields can be added at a
rate of $2 per month.
How do I set up and access POP
mailboxes?
In addition to mail forwarding options, email can be
retrieved from POP mailboxes using a program like Eudora.
You have access to one master POP account and five
additional POPs that appear in your Control Panel within
Email Settings. Instruction
on setting up POP accounts and configuring your mail
program is available. (PPP internet access required)
If you can use a special mail program like Eudora you
might be able to specify the desired return addres. You
will need to use your local ISP's SMTP server address to
send mail.
Additional POP mailboxes are available at a rate of $3
per mailbox per month.
** Important **
If your hard disk allocation is near or at capacity, you
will not be able to receive POP email. We highly
recommend that you do not let your disk space get close
to the maximum limit. You can easily monitor your disk
space usage within your Control Panel.
How do I set up email forms?
You can use the Email
Form Generator within your Control Panel to create a
basic HTML form within the root directory of your account
along with a template which defines the format by which
the form data will be sent. You can customize the form
and template or modify
an existing form to work with the preinstalled
cgiemail script.
How do I implement server-side
imagemaps?
Imagemaps allow the user to click on predefined
sections of a graphic picture on your page and have the
server respond as if they clicked on a text hyperlink. A
complete tutorial is
available including a sample imagemap and helpful tools.
How do I implement client-side
imagemaps? (recommended)
Client-side imagemaps do not require the presence of a
server-side script in order to interpret the coordinates
of the "hot" regions of your multi-clickable
image. The client-side imagemap is more efficient than
the server-side imagemap and it allows the visitor to see
the actual URL associated with the mapped regions in the
status bar of their web browser.
- Download a mapping program to create a map file
based on the desired image. The map file will
contain the coordinates of each clickable region.
We recommend MapEdit
(PC) and WebMap
(Mac), but other
imagemapping tools may also be available.
- Map out the hotspots using one of these programs
and select the map file format "Client-side
imagemap" as opposed to NCSA or CERN (for
server-side maps) prior to saving the file.
Here
is a sample client-side map file created using
MapEdit:
<map name="sample">
<area shape="rect" coords="20,27,82,111"
href="hotspot1.html">
<area shape="circle" coords="129,113,29"
href="hotspot2.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="21,158,170,211"
href="mailto:support@interspace.net">
<area shape="default" nohref>
</map>
- Include the map file code within the desired HTML
document and reference it like so:
<img src="image.gif" usemap="#sample">
Substitute the name of the desired image above
and note the relationship between the HTML tag,
<map name="sample"> and the
usemap="#sample" attribute above. You
can test your new client-side imagemap offline if
the links refer to files on your local PC.
More information
is available.
How can I include TrueSpeech®
real-time audio in my home page?
Support for TrueSpeech®
real-time audio is available for use in your web pages
for all accounts. This allows your users to listen to
audio clips on your page after downloading a TrueSpeech
audio file. Click here for
instructions for creating and playing real-time audio.
Click here
to download a free copy of the TrueSpeech player for
Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, or Mac.
How can I include MIDI audio
files in my home page?
You can add sound or music to spice up your web site
by embedding a MIDI file in your page. MIDI files are
typically only about 15k to 25k in size, so they do not
take very long to load. You can use MIDI files as
background music on your page by adding the following
code to the section of your html file:
<embed src="yoursong.mid"
autostart=true hidden=true>
<noembed><bgsound
src="yoursong.mid"></noembed>
Replace "yoursong" with the name of the MIDI
file that you are using. This code excerpt will support
people using Netscape or Internet Explorer.
To make a MIDI file play "on request" in the
foreground, you link to directly to the MIDI file using a
hyperlink.
How can I set up an
autoresponder for our account?
An autoreponder is an automatic program that will
respond to an email message sent to a predefined address
in your domain. This is useful for automatically sending
out information via email based on a user's emailed
request. More information on setting up autoresponders
is available.
Additional autoresponders are available at a rate of
$2 per addition per month.
How do I implement secure
transactions?
Corporate Plan Virtual domain accounts support SSL (Secure
socket layer) secure
transactions. This method allows for secure,
encrypted communication between the user's web browser
and your web site. SSL requires that a secure host have a
"certificate" signed by a company called
Verisign. Virtual domain plan #2 users may use our server's certificate
or obtain your own if you
do not want to use our host name in your URL.
What type of SSL encryption is
used?
InterSpace Ltd. provides domains that it
hosts with a 512-bit RSA encrypted key and a secure
socket layer (SSL) certificate signed by Verisign. The
SSL is RSA-encryption based. Our secure server software
is Apache-SSL/StrongHold.
Can I password protect
directories?
Yes, you can password protect specific directories
within your website. You can begin assigning unique ids
and passwords by selecting Edit Access in your
Control Panel. As such, visitors will be prompted for id
and password to gain access to any web page within such a
directory. This does NOT affect FTP access.
How do I manage anonymous FTP
access?
Virtual domain account users can allow anonymous FTP
access to visitors wishing to download or upload files to
your web site as if you were running your own FTP server.
You can enable (and disable) ANON FTP access within Edit
Account Information within your account Control Panel.
*** Important ***
Be sure to read the entire documentation regarding
anonymous FTP access contained herein beforehand.
By default, all files and directories within your
account are set to public read access ON. As such,
enabling ANON FTP will allow access to ALL files within
your account. In general, you can inhibit access to
specific files and directories using the File Manager.
Once you enable ANON FTP in Account Settings within
your Control Panel, files can be accessed anonymously via
FTP client or by using the following URL format:
- ftp://ftp.yourdomain.com/<FILENAME>
Anonymous visitors wishing to access your site via FTP
client (eg. wsftp) must use your domain name as the FTP
hostname, userid of anonymous and password of guest.