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WWW Count Configuration | FormMail Configuration

This page describes the CGI scripts available for customers of Bardstown Internet Service to use in their web page development. The most popular script is WWWCount Version 2.3 by Muhammad A Muquit. This script allows you to add a counter, clock or calender to your web page. There are many options and styles for you to choose from to make your page unique. These features are documented here. We also have available a form mailer that allows you to have the submission of a form to be emailed to you. This is very handy if you want standard information from the vistors of your page. Please keep in mind that this NOT a secure transmission. The FormMail script was downloaded from Matt's Script Archive and configured for our customers. This script also has many options that are documented here.

Bardstown Internet Service has adapted these scripts and most of the following configuration information from the authors of these scripts and does not take any credit for the fine work of Muhammad and Matt. We appreciate their generosity for allowing us to use their scripts.



WWW COUNT - COUNTER CONFIGURATION

Digit Styles
(
A suggested use of style E is to make the white color transparent (you will learn about transparency later).

Style A styleA
Style B styleB
Style C styleC
Style D styleD
Style E styleE

 

How to call the program? (all platforms)

You can refer to the program from your web page like this:

<img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?df=username.dat" align=absmiddle>

Where username is your username.
The string between ? and " is called the QUERY_STRING. Make sure there are no newlines in the <img src= line and no space in the QUERY_STRING. Here in, df=username.dat, df means datafile and username.dat is the counter datafileand the counter stores the hits in this file. The file username.dat will be created for you.

The counter program has lots of options, you can make it work and look the way you desire. In the query string, you can use the options described in the table below. The options can be separated by a | or a &. You can use either one or combination of both. Here is an example:

<img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?ft=T&frgb=gold|df=sample.dat" align=absmiddle>

The options can be in any order and not case sensitive.

 

Counter Options

Parameter Name Description Default
display=X Specifies what to display. A valid string can be specified with display= parameter to display counter, clock or date. The valid value for the string parameter X is counter,clock or date For counter, this parameter is not need as counter is the default display type. display=counter
timezone=X Display time/date of the specified timezone. The parameter timezone= is only significant with display=clock or display=date. Use this parameter if you want to display time or date of another timezone. The timezone must be specified with a negative or positive four digit offset from GMT, for example: timezone=GMT-0500 or timezone=GMT+0000 or timezone=GMT+0530. The routine to display time of various timezones are written in a generic way. Therefore, the unix machines will not be aware of daylight saving time because of the way the routine is written. For example, if daylight saving time is on, to display time of NY, the timezone will be timezone=GMT-0500 instead of timezone=GMT-0400.

If the clock displays your local time wrong, specify your timezone with that parameter in order to display the correct time.

None.
tformat=X

[new in this release]

Time format in 12 or 24 hour. This parameter can be used to display time in 12 or 24 hour format. The valid values for the parameter X is 12 or 24. tformat=12
dformat=X Specifies date format. This parameter is only significant with display=date. The valid value for the string parameter X is any combination of MMDDYY (Month-Day-Year). For example, dformat=ddmmyy, dformat=YYMMDD. dformat=MMDDYY
istrip=B

[new in this release]

Use of image strip On/Off The boolean value of istrip specifies whether to use image strip or not. If you specify istrip=F, the program will look for the individual digit image files in the digits/style directory. The valid values for the Boolean parameter istrip are Y, N, T, F, 1 or 0. istrip=T
ft=X Frame Thickness You can wrap the counter in an ornamental frame of X pixels thick. Use 0 for no frame. Values over 5 make a nice 3-D effect. ft=6
frgb=R;G;B Frame Color Specifies the color of the frame in RGB (red/green/blue) format. Each color component, R, G, and B is specified as a value between 0 and 256. If you use ft= without a frgb= param, the default color is used.

If you specify a frgb= without a ft=, then the frame thickness defaults to 5. All the examples show ft=5. The color can be specified as hex string or a name. Do not use a # before the hex string as Netscape. For example, if you want to specify white in hex, use frgb=FFFFFF.

frgb=100;139;216 or
frgb=648bd8
tr=B Transparency On/Off You can specify if your counter image will have a transparent color with the Boolean B. So tr=Y means there will be a transparent color. It does not matter if the GIF files used for the digits are "transparent"; you must specify explicitly which color to make transparent. If you specify a trgb=, then you do not need to specify tr=Y. If you specify tr=Y and do not specify trgb=, then the default color black will be transparent. The valid values for B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0. tr=F
No Transparency
md=X Max Digits Defines maximum number of digits to display. Any value between 5 and 10 inclusive are permitted. Padding with leading zeros is automatically done for you; longer counts are truncated to the given X. md=6
Without padding
pad=B Padding with 0's Turn padding on/off in conjunction with md= setting. Valid values for the Boolean parameter B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0. pad=N
Without specification of a md=value

pad=Y
With specification of a md=value

dd=A Digit Directory Denotes directory of a specific styles of digits. Five styles of digits are supplied. They are kept at the directories A,B,C,D and E respectively. Visit the digit mania page for other styles of digits. dd=A
My green led digits
image=gif_file

[new in this release]

Display this GIF file You can display any GIF image specified with this parameter. The location of this file is determined by the dd= parameter. All attributes of the counter applies to the image. None
comma=B

[new in this release]

Display comma after every 3rd digit from right. The boolean value of parameter comma specifies whether to display comma after every 3rd digit from right. If you use this parameter as true, the left padding with zeros will be turned off. comma=F
srgb=R;G;B
prgb=R;G;B

[new in this release]

Change a color of the image to a target color on the fly. Any one color of the image can be changed to a different color on the fly. srgb stands for source color, that is the color to change. prgb stands for pen color, that is the target color. The values for srgb and prgb can be colon separated color components (e.g, srgb=255;0;0), a hex value (e.g. srgb=ff0000) or a color name (e.g. srgb=red). srgb=00ff00
(0;255;0 green)

prgb=00ffff
(0;255;255 cyan)

With chcolor=T

chcolor=B Change a color of the image. This parameter is usually used to change the default green color to cyan. That is if you specify chcolor=T, and you want to change green to cyan, then you do not need to specify srgb and prgb parameters. 1x1 GIF is displayed. The valid values for the Boolean parameter B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0 chcolor=F
st=X Start Count This parameter is used to set the initial value of the counter to some number X. This is only valid if you decided to allow automatic datafile creation. It is a bad practice to allow automatic datafile creation, however it makes site maintaining easier. The automatic datafile creation option is specified in configuration file and can be changed at run time. Note that this parameter has no effect if the datafile already exists. If you want to change the counter value in a existing datafile, hand edit the file. The minimum value for st is 1. st=1
Count starts at 1
sh=B Show digits Used to turn display of digits on or off according to the Boolean B. When sh=T, counter will be displayed and incremented, this is the default behavior.

If sh=F no digits will show, but the counter will still increment; instead of digits a transparent 1x1 GIF is displayed. The valid values for the Boolean parameter B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0

sh=Y
df=data_file Datafile to store count Specifies the name of the file for storing the count in. The file must be allocated to you as was mentioned in the "Authorizations" section above. You can use df=random to display a random number.

One special use of the parameter is df=RANDOM. This returns a random number using the fractional portion of the host's time of day clock as a seed for the generator. Unlike all other WWWcounter parameters, the file name provided is case-sensitive, except for the value random. Or Random, or rANDOM, etc.

df=random
if no datafile is specified
incr=B Increment Count Makes it possible to display the current count without incrementing the count. This can be used to examine the count for reporting or other purposes without adding to the count. Valid values for the Boolean parameter B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0. incr=T
Increment the counter on each invocation
lit=X Display literal Makes it possible to display a given, predetermined string. The valid values for the string X are digits, a,p,: and - None
negate=B Negate the color Makes it possible to negate the color of the counter digits. Note that the Frame is exempted from negating. Valid values for the Boolean parameter B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0. negate=F
Do not negate
degrees=X Rotate X degrees Makes it possible to rotate the counter image X degree. The possible values of X is 90, 180, 270 and 360. Note 360 is meaningless as the counter will come back to the original 0 degree. degrees=270
With rotate=Y and without degrees=X
rotate 270 degrees clockwise
rotate=B Rotate On/Off The Boolean value B turns on or off rotating. If you use degrees= setting, rotate is not needed. Valid values for the Boolean parameter B are Y, N, T, F, 1, or 0. rotate=F
Do not rotate

 

 


FormMail

Form Configuration

The action of your form needs to point towards this script (http://www.bardstown.com/cgi-bin/formmail.cgi), and the method must be POST or GET in capital letters. There are many ways to code your form to tailor the resulting HTML page and the way the script performs. Below is a list of form fields you can use and how to implement them.

Necessary Form Fields

There is only one form field that you must have in your form for the form to work correctly, the recipient field.

Field: recipient

Description:
This form field allows you to specify to whom you wish for your form results to be mailed. Most likely you will want to configure this option as a hidden form field with a value equal to that of your e-mail address.

Syntax:

<input type=hidden name="recipient" value="name@bardstown.com">

Optional Form Fields

Field: subject

Description:
The subject field will allow you to specify the subject that you wish to appear in the e-mail that is sent to you after this form has been filled out. If you do not have this option turned on, then the script will default to a message subject: WWW Form Submission

Syntax:
If you wish to choose what the subject is:

<input type=hidden name="subject" value="Your Subject">

To allow the user to choose a subject:
<input type=text name="subject">

Field: email

Description:
This form field will allow the user to specify their return e-mail address. If you want to be able to return e-mail to your user, I strongly suggest that you include this form field and allow them to fill it in. This will be put into the From: field of the message you receive.

Syntax:

<input type=text name="email">

Field: realname

Description:
The realname form field will allow the user to input their real name. This field is useful for identification purposes and will also be put into the From: line of your message header.

Syntax:

<input type=text name="realname">

Field: redirect

Description:
If you wish to redirect the user to a different URL, rather than having them see the default response to the fill-out form, you can use this hidden variable to send them to a pre-made HTML page.

Syntax:
To choose the URL they will end up at:

<input type=hidden name="redirect" value="http://your.address/to/file.html">

Field: required

Description: You can now require for certain fields in your form to be filled in before the user can successfully submit the form. Simply place all field names that you want to be mandatory into this field. If the required fields are not filled in, the user will be notified of what they need to fill in, and a link back to the form they just submitted will be provided.

Syntax:
If you want to require that they fill in the email and phone fields in your form, so that you can reach them once you have received the mail, use a syntax like:

<input type=hidden name="required" value="email,phone">

Field: env_report

Description:
Allows you to have Environment variables included in the e-mail message you receive after a user has filled out your form. Useful if you wish to know what browser they were using, what domain they were coming from or any other attributes associated with environment variables. The following is a short list of valid environment variables that might be useful:

REMOTE_HOST
Sends the hostname making a request.

REMOTE_ADDR
Sends the IP address of the remote host making the request.

REMOTE_USER
If server supports authentication and script is protected, this is the username they have authenticated as. (This is not usually set.)

REMOTE_IDENT
If HTTP server supports RFC 931 identification, then this variable will be set to the remote user name retrieved from the server. (This is not usually set.)

HTTP_USER_AGENT
The browser the client is using to send the request. General format: software/version library/version.

There are others, but these are a few of the most useful.


Syntax:
If you wanted to find the remote host and browser sending the request, you would put the following into your form:

<input type=hidden name="env_report" value="REMOTE_HOST,HTTP_USER_AGENT">

Field: sort

Description:
This field allows you to choose the order in which you wish for your variables to appear in the e-mail that FormMail generates. You can choose to have the field sorted alphabetically or specify a set order in which you want the fields to appear in your mail message. By leaving this field out, the order will simply default to the order in which the browsers sends the information to the script (which isn't always the exact same order they appeared in the form.) When sorting by a set order of fields, you should include the phrase "order:" as the first part of your value for the sort field, and then follow that with the field names you want to be listed in the e-mail message, separated by commas.

Syntax:
To sort alphabetically:

<input type=hidden name="sort" value="alphabetic">


To sort by a set field order:

<input type=hidden name="sort" value="order:name1,name2,etc...">

Field: print_config

Description:
print_config allows you to specify which of the config variables you would like to have printed in your e-mail message. By deafult, no config fields are printed to your e-mail. This is because the important form fields, like email, subject, etc... are included in the header of the message. However, this option will put these fields in the body of the message. The config fields that you wish to have printed should be in the value attribute of your input tag separated by commas.

Syntax:
If you want to print the email and subject fields in the body of your message, you would place the following form tag:

<input type=hidden name="print_config" value="email,subject">

Field: title

Description:
This form field allows you to specify the title and header that will appear on the resulting page if you do not specify a redirect URL.

Syntax:
If you wanted a title of 'Feedback Form Results':

<input type=hidden name="title" value="Feedback Form Results">

Field: return_link_url

Description:
This field allows you to specify a URL that will appear, as return_link_title, on the following report page. This field will not be used if you have the redirect field set, but it is useful if you allow the user to receive the report on the following page, but want to offer them a way to get back to your main page.

Syntax:

<input type=hidden name="return_link_url" value="http://your.host.xxx/main.html">

Field: return_link_title

Description:
This is the title that will be used to link the user back to the page you specify with return_link_url. The two fields will be shown on the resulting form page as:

<ul>
<li><a href="return_link_url">return_link_title</a>
</ul>

Syntax:

<input type=hidden name="return_link_title" value="Back to Main Page">

Field: bgcolor

Description:
This form field allow you to specify a bgcolor for the form results page in much the way you specify a background image. This field should not be set if the redirect field is.

Syntax:
For a background color of White:

<input type=hidden name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF">

Field: text_color

Description:
This field works in the same way as bgcolor, except that it will change the color of your text.

Syntax:
For a text color of Black:

<input type=hidden name="text_color" value="#000000">

Field: link_color

Description:
Changes the color of links on the resulting page. Works in the same way as text_color. Should not be defined if redirect is.

Syntax:
For a link color of Red:

<input type=hidden name="link_color" value="#FF0000">

Field: vlink_color

Description:
Changes the color of visited links on the resulting page. Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if redirect is.

Syntax:
For a visited link color of Blue:

<input type=hidden name="vlink_color" value="#0000FF">

Field: alink_color

Description:
Changes the color of active links on the resulting page. Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if redirect is.

Syntax:
For a visited link color of Blue:

<input type=hidden name="alink_color" value="#0000FF">


Any other form fields that appear in your script will be mailed back to you and displayed on the resulting page if you do not have the redirect field set. There is no limit as to how many other form fields you can use with this script, except the limits imposed by browsers.

 


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Send your questions, suggestions or comments to info@bardstown.com or give us a call at
349-9444.
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