CGI Web Hosting - 3 Essential Scripts for your Business

 If there's one thing that people love it is a web site that has plenty of automated features. Sites that are highly interactive tend to get the most traffic and generate the most business for the companies that run them. Automated features can also play a "behind the scenes" role, making your site easier to use, run smoothly and allow for things like online sales and password protection. There are many ways to get this type of automation into your site, but all involve either client side or server side scripting.

Scripts are written in programming languages specially designed for the web, and there are several languages that are commonly used. Most client side scripts are written in Java which is still one of the best web programming languages around. Some functions of a web site must be completed via server side scripting, however, and the most commonly used languages for server side scripting are PHP, PERL, and CGI. PHP and PERL are newer languages and are gaining a lot of popularity, but there are still plenty of features that can be scripted in the granddaddy of web scripting languages, CGI.

Shopping Carts

No online sales site would be complete without a functioning shopping cart and most of the best ones have been written in CGI script. CGI web hosting is great for shopping cart scripts because it interfaces well with most databases, including the popular MYSQL and MS Access databases, it can be utilized on Windows, UNIX, LINUX, and MACOS servers with equal ease, and can be easily configured for sales tax and shipping cost calculations. Some newer shopping cart scripts are being written in PHP and PERL, but most of the functioning carts on the web are in good old CGI web hosting scripts.

Password Protection

Many web sites require some sort of registration and entry of a password for the user to access the site's features. This is done for a number of reasons from simply a desire to track visitors for marketing purposes to allowing postings on message boards and ensuring that users have paid any required fees associated with use of the site. The automated registration process and user name/password issuance can be written with CGI scripts and many of them have been.

Form Managers

Have you ever wondered how the forms you fill out online are handled? In most cases, they're handled by CGI web hosting. When a user fills in that form and hits the "submit" button, a CGI script takes over and sends the data in email or writes it to a database where it can be accessed later by the site's administrators.

These are just a few of the uses for CGI scripts on today's web sites. There are literally hundreds of others and if there's something that can be done on a web site, it is something that can be done with CGI. PHP and PERL may be gaining a lot of popularity for various reasons, but CGI was with us first and it isn't going anywhere. As long as there are web sites, CGI web hosting will remain king. John Michaels is a freelance author for WebHostPacks.com where he regularly publishes articles on how to find a cheap web host and reviews of low cost web hosting services.

 John Michaels

More Articles 

Bound To Your Old Expensive Web Host by Fear? - Danielle Bailey
Bound To Your Old Web Host’s Sky High Rates By Fear? You're not alone! Many people are bound to the old web host they've used for years because they're afraid of the hassle of switching. Customers will pay rates three or four or even ten times...

7 Key Ingredients for Rock Solid Website Hosting - Michael Turner
Every website needs a great web host, however when you are looking online for a host you may be overwhelmed with the wide variety available ranging from absolutely free to relatively expensive. How do you know what you need and what is the best...

Dedicated Web Hosting Is Easy When You Know These 3 Timesaving Secrets - Michael Turner
Dedicated web hosting has its difficulties and problems from time to time like all technology. However, there are certain things you can do to prepare yourself for any server downtime or other problems that might arise. The key, however, to these...

Why Your Web Host Could Be Out Of Business Tomorrow - Lois S
What are the chances of you waking up tomorrow and finding your web host and your website gone? Actually much higher than you may think and there are several reasons for this. For starters, the number of web hosting businesses these days is...

Web Hosting: 4 Factors in Choosing a Hosting Company - Richard Martin
When choosing a web hosting company there are a whole lot of different factors that should go into your decision making process. One of the biggest factors should be: 1) Phone support. Email support is nice, but email occasionally falls in between...

3 Mistakes to Avoid While Choosing a Web Host - Candice Pardue
Choosing a web host is the first vital step you'll take toward having your own website. Your web host will provide space on the Internet for your site so that the whole world can view it. But, choosing a web host is not as easy as it may seem. ...

Web Hosting - Look Before You Leap - Tom Stone
Website hosting usually involves basically renting space on a “server” or another computer set up to publish the content of your website onto, providing fast and safe methods for your customers to retrieve the information from, for viewing on their...

How To Reduce Web Hosting Bandwidth - Herman Drost
How To Reduce Web Hosting Bandwidth Copyright 2002 by Herman Drost You just received a higher than normal monthly bill on your credit card for web hosting. Your hosting company explains that you exceeded your monthly minimum for “bandwidth usage”...

Web Hosting Server - What to look for - Brian Thorn
As with any service, the question of what to look for in server hosting packages depends largely on the goals you have. If you have a company in need of a server host, your needs are naturally going to be much different than if you are an individual...

Customer Excellence Returns to Web Site Hosting! - Robin Nobles
For those of you with Web sites, you probably know what a "host" is. It's a company that provides a location, or address, on the Internet where your Web site resides. In other words, just like a physical business needs an address, so does a...

Finding A Quality (And Affordable) Web Host - Matthew Coers
Your web host is the company that actually houses your website. While it is possible to host your own website using a computer in your home or office, it is cheaper and easier for new website owners to work with an established web hosting company....

First Web Hosting Experience - Igor Romanoff
Well… you've purchased a domain name… created a pretty design… filled it with content… what now? HOSTING. I suppose that you know what a web hosting is, and we don't need to repeat in once again. Actually if you don't know what it is, and you...