Simple redirect CGI
One simple way to allow visitors to easily jump from one
section or your web site to another is by using a "redirect"
script. A small form and simple CGI can be
designed to facilitate such a task. The redirect form and CGI source are
presented in two sections below.
HTML source for the redirect form
The HTML source below represents a
simple redirect form.
This form can be customized for your Virtual Server by simply changing
the URLs and Titles (shown in bold) to the URLs and Titles
that correspond to specific documents on your web site.
<html>
<head>
<title>Redirect Form</title>
</head>
<body>
<form method="POST" action="/cgi-bin/library/redirect/redirect.pl">
<select name="url">
<option value=""> Select a Destination
<option value="/index.html"> Home Page
<option value="/products/"> Products
<option value="/reseller/"> Reseller Program
<option value="/support/"> Technical Support
</select>
<input type=submit name=submit value="Go!">
</form>
</body>
</html>
The form shown above can be modified to automatically redirect when
a user has selected an option (assuming the user has a JavaScript
capable browser). This is done by adding a little
JavaScript to one line in form above. This addition is show below.
Change the line:
<select name="url">
to:
<select name="url" onChange="submit(); return true">
If you are unfamiliar with the FORM HTML element, or would like to
learn more about forms, see
Mosaic for X version 2.0 Fill-Out Form Support.
Installing the redirect CGI
To install the redirect CGI on your Virtual Server you will need to
do the following:
- Download the redirect form
You will need to download the redirect
form HTML source and store it somewhere in your
"usr/local/etc/httpd/htdocs" directory structure. Feel free to customize
the form, add graphics, etc. But be sure that the variable name
for each input field is not altered.
- Untar the redirect CGI source code
-
Telnet or SSH to your Virtual Server.
- Change your current directory to your home directory
(type "
cd" and hit return)
- type "
tar -xvf /usr/local/contrib/redirect.tar"
This will install the redirect.pl file into
your "www/cgi-bin/library/redirect" directory.
- Customize the Appearance of the redirect CGI
It is common to substitute an image for the submit button. An example
of such a subsitution is included in the examples shown below.
Once you have completed the installation successfully, you will have a
working redirect form like the one shown below (go ahead and test it).
