LIS 341. Summer, 1996. Project #3: FAQ

the university of texas at austin
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE

Project #3: FAQ

1. Does my feedback form have to be called "feedback.html"?

No, you can give it any name you wish, as long as it:

makes sense (you wouldn't name it cooking.html, for example)
ends with the "extension" .htm or .html
is not too long (around 8 characters without counting the extension)

2.How do I create a link from my index.htm (or index.html) file to the feedback form?

You have to add a line to your index.htm (or index.html) file that looks similar to this:

   <a href=feedback.html>Please click here to comment on my page!</a>

Of course, Instead of "feedback.html" you use whatever name you've chosen for your form. Through the browser, you will see:

   Please click here to comment on my page!

3. I have changed my index.html file, and uploaded it, and I still don't see the link to the feedback page.

Check the steps you have followed:

Did you save the file after you changed it?
Is the file saved as text?
Note that UPLOADER display the date and time each file was last updated. When you upload a file again, this date and time information will be updated. If it isn't, then your file probably didn't upload correctly. Try uploading it again.
To see the file that you just uploaded, go to your browser and enter its URL at nortropic.com. If you are still seeing the old version, click on the RELOAD button. If this still does not work (and all steps given above were followed carefully), go to the OPTIONS item in the menu, select NETWORK PREFERENCES, and clear both the disk and memory caches. Then reload your page.

4. I would like to include other text fields in my comment form, such as the person's favorite movie. How can I do that?

Create the appropriate text fields, using any of the EVAL1 to EVAL7 variables to capture the information. So, for example, you could add the following line:

	Please enter the name of your hometown:
	<input type=TEXT name=EVAL5 size=25 maxlength=35>

That part of your form will look like this: If the user enters "Austin" in this field, the list of comments you will receive via an email message will include a value for the optional field EVAL5, like this:

	EVAL3: ...
	EVAL4: ...
	EVAL5: Austin
	EVAL6: ...

5. Since I put an email link in the top of my form, I wasn't sure if I needed to do the hidden text email tag as well. When I did it, the form looked redundant. What is the difference between the two and should I go back and redo the hidden text tag for email?

The email link at the top of your form (or at the bottom, or wherever you prefer to place it) is just that: an email link that users can click on if they wish to email you.

The hidden field, on the other hand, will not show up on the form (if you've specified it correctly), but it does contain some important information. In this case, one of the hidden fields contains your own email address. This information will be transfered by the browser to the script that will process your form. The script (lisfback.pl) needs to know your email address in order to send you the comments for your page.

6. Do I have to use numeric values (1, 2, 3, etc) in the EVAL variables?

No- you can use letters or words, including for example, value=Good.

7. As you told us, we are not able and not allowed to change anything in the cgi. What should I do if the number of feedback items in my form exceeds the that preset by the cgi? I designed my form with more than "EVAL7" items and it did not work, so I changed it according to what's available.

In the future, whom should I contact to get what I need if I want to publish my work? Are there many cgis to different needs in each server?

So you can do your final project, I'll add a few items (up to EVAL10) to the lisfback.pl script. No, you can't change that script, because it resides in my own "cgi" directory, accessible only to me. Like I explained in class, if the GSLIS allowed everybody to run their own cgi scripts, you could place that script in your own cgi-bin, and change it anyway you liked. That would only require some basic programming skills.

However, the GSLIS has a policy of not allowing students to run their own cgi's, for reasons we discussed in class. You would need an account at ccwf or another departmental or commercial server. You always would have to talk to the systems administrator and let him or her know that you wish to run your own cgi scripts. And yes, many servers offer a list of "canned" scripts that you can use.

More questions? Email gpasch@gslis.utexas.edu

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