SFEBanner v1.0, Copyright 2002 Kristina Pfaff-Harris (http://tesol.net/scripts/) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents of this file: Program Summary Copyright & Licensing Information Legal Notice & Disclaimer Getting Started with SFEBanner What to Do About Problems For Total Newbies Only Other Scripts =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Program Summary: SFEBanner is a simple banner rotation program. Actually, it can be used for random quotes, ad banners, pictures of your pets, or really anything that you can show via HTML. Through the interface, you may add and delete banners (quotes/pictures/whatever) to the system. Then, by placing a line of HTML code on your web page, you can have the system cycle through each item, displaying a different one each time the person loads the page. The program does not maintain ANY sort of statistics on how many times a banner is shown or clicked on. Some people may find this useful for displaying various affiliate program banners one after another (since you can copy and paste the HTML code given by the affiliate program directly into the add banner screen), displaying a "Quote of the Moment," or really for any set of text or HTML you'd like to cycle through. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Licensing & Copyright Information: The Licensing terms and conditions are listed within the sfebanner.cgi program itself. This program is Copyright 2002, Kristina L. Pfaff-Harris. All rights reserved. You may use this program free of charge provided you agree to the License agreement contained within the program. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Legal Notice & Disclaimer: This program is offered as-is and no warranty is given, either express or implied. By downloading, modifying, copying, viewing, or using this program, you agree that neither the author of this program nor the owners or administrators of the site from which you downloaded this program are liable for any breach of security, damage or loss caused directly or indirectly by the use of this program, and that any such breach, damage or loss is the sole responsibility of the person who downloads, modifies, copies, views, or uses this program. This program is offered without warranty of any kind. The author has attempted to make this program as bug-free and secure as possible, but there is always the possibility of something being overlooked, hence the author disclaims any responsibility for problems incurred in the use of this program. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Getting Started with SFEBanner: This assumes that you have permission to execute cgi programs on your server, and that you know where the programs have to go. Sometimes, a web server is set up so that all cgi programs must be in a single directory (usually /cgi-bin). If you don't know whether or not you have permission to do this, or if you don't know where the programs must go, ask your system administrator. You may wish to check the FAQ at http://tesol.net/scripts/FAQ/, especially the question about "What should I ask my web hosting provider before trying to set up a CGI script?" You'll need to modify the sfebanner.cgi program slightly for use on your own site. Instructions for doing this are inside the script itself. Don't worry -- there are only a few things you have to change. If you read all the instructions carefully, you shouldn't have any problems. :-) To install the program, follow these steps: 1. Open the sfebanner.cgi program in a plain text editor such as "vi," "pico" or "Wordpad" (not Notepad -- it will look strange) and follow the instructions for changing what you need to change. 2. Save the file as PLAIN TEXT or "Text only" or "ascii text." Whatever you do, do NOT save it in "Word" or other such format. 3. Upload the sfebanner.cgi file, the banners.txt file, and the banner_numbers.txt file to your site. (Be sure to upload all of them in "ascii" or "text" mode and NOT binary mode.) Put them all in the same folder. 4. Chmod the sfebanner.cgi file to 755. Chmod the banners.txt and the banner_numbers.txt file to 766. ("Chmod" is only for Unix/Linux-type systems. If you're on a Windows server, skip this step.) 5. If you have Server-Side Includes, put the following HTML code on your page where you want the banner to appear: Where "/cgi-bin/sfebanner.cgi" should be the web address of the script on your site *without* the "http://www.your_domain.com" part. If you do not have Server-Side Includes, put the following HTML code on your page where you want the banner to appear: where "http://www.your_domain.com/cgi-bin/sfebanner.cgi" is the actual address of where you've put the script on your site. Once you've made these changes, that should be all you need to do! Now, to begin adding banners (quotes, links, whatever) just pull up the script in your browser something like this: http://www.your_site.com/cgi-bin/sfebanner.cgi?FA=admin You will be asked for your password. (This is one of the things you changed in the script.) Enter your password and click "Log In". You will then see two buttons: "Add Banner" and "Delete Banner." From this point on, it should be pretty self-explanatory: to add a banner (or whatever) enter the HTML code into the form you get when you click "Add Banner." To delete a banner, click the "Delete This" button next to the banner/quote/whatever you want to delete on the page you get when clicking on the "Delete Banner" button. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= What to Do About Problems: IMPORTANT: If you contact me with a problem about this program, you MUST give me as much information as possible. Please include: The name of this script (this is SFEBanner v1.0) The operating system of your web server (e.g. NT, Solaris, Ultrix, BSD, Linux etc) Your web server software (e.g. Apache, Netscape Commerce, NCSA, IIS, O'Reilly Website, etc) The error message you got. The error message in the server log file. (ask your systems admin where the error logs are.) The location of your script (http:// etc) so I can look at it. If you got an "Internal Server Error", "Premature end of script headers", or "CGI script error," then please check the FAQ located at http://tesol.net/scripts/FAQ/ *before* you email me. The second question on that page is about "Internal Server Error" and will help you fix the problem about 99% of the time. If you are one of the other 1% of people, please email me the script with any changes you've made and I'll be glad to take a look. :-) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= For Total Newbies Only A few words on uploading and downloading of Perl CGI programs: When you get the program from my website to your computer, it is usually referred to as "downloading" the program. When you get the program from your computer to your website, it is usually referred to as "uploading." Most people use a program called an "FTP client" or simply "FTP" to upload things to their websites. If you are using FTP to upload to your website, then your FTP program will usually give you an option of whether to upload in "binary" or "ascii" (sometimes known as "text" or "text-only") mode. Simply put, you MUST use ascii mode to upload a Perl cgi program to your website, or it will not work. If you cannot figure out how to do this, then please either call your website's Technical Support staff, or read the manual or other documentation for your FTP program. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Other Scripts: If you like this program, try some of the other CGI scripts available at Kristina's Scripts for Educators: http://www.linguistic-funland.com/scripts/ Currently available are: QuizTest: Offer multiple-choice/true-false quizzes SFESurvey: Quizzes/Survey generator with weighted answers RandomQuiz: Generates quizzes with randomly selected questions SillySite: A simple web-page creation program SillyCount: Make your own page counter script (uses SSI or JavaScript) AutoCGIMail: Make your own web page email feedback form! (Windows or Unix) RemindMe: An email auto-reminder service CGI-Subscribe: An email mailing list manager Chat-N-Time: Real-time web-based chat Votesie: Online voting booth/Poll generator MakeBook: A guestbook/ongoing story program. VeryInteresting: Loan payment calculator/amortization table generator AffordaBilly: How much loan can you afford to take out? (calculator) PayBackTime: How long will it take to pay off that loan? (calculator) Quadratic-O-Matic: A simple quadratic equation solver SillySearch: Let people search for pages on your website VocabSearch: Create and search a list of vocabulary words QAMaker: Generate a searchable list of frequently asked questions AddrBook: Online, searchable address book generator CrosswordMaker: A tool to create and grade HTML crossword puzzles GradeORama: Online Gradebook system Web-B-Mail: Simple web-only email-like system. SFEWordSearch: Generate printable word-search puzzles. SFEBanner: Very simple banner rotation program (no statistics, just banners) Referalizer: "Email this page to a friend" script =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thanks for using SFEBanner! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=