Some major issues you should feel comfortable with are:

• HTML
• FTP
• Counters
• CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
• Log Files and Statistics

HTML

HTML, or "Hyper Text Markup Language", is the hidden instructions to the browser that control the display of the web page. Hidden tags embedded in a simple text document define areas that are manipulated and instructions for what is to be done with them. At present, the organization in charge of this evolving standard, the W3C is up to it's 4th official version, or HTML 4.

For help in mastering HTML, you may consider the following sources:

• NCSA -- A Beginner's Guide to HTML, Part 1
• Introduction to HTML: Table of Contents
• HTML: An Interactive Tutorial for Beginners

This is how your files will be transferred to the server. You will need FTP client software. There are several free applications available.

Macintosh

I recommend "Fetch" for Mac users. It's small, capable and, believe it or not, cute. It can be downloaded at:

Fetch Softworks

If you need a little help getting started, a little "getting started" information (borrowed from the University of Chicago, thank you) for Fetch is here.

Windows

I have heard good things about "WS_FTP". Information and downloads are available at:

http://www.csra.net/junodj/ws_ftp.htm

Counters

Stellarts makes available a free counter with twelve digit styles for your site. Simply go to our signup page and register with the name and password you would like to use and follow the simple instructions to install the counter.

If you already have a counter account, you can access the administration page at the following URL: http://stellarts.net/cgi-bin/cserver/counter.cgi?admin

CGI (Common Gateway Interface)

Your account comes with its own cgi-bin directory. This gives you a great deal of power and flexibility to provide interactivity to your visitors. Many pre-written scripts and programs are available to add forms-processing, database, calendar, counter and statistics, search and myriad other functions to your site.

Perl is the simplest language to use for scripting your interactive forms, databases, etc. You will need to know the paths to the various functions that are frequently called by your scripts. Two important paths that you will need to get started are:

   Path to Perl           #!/usr/bin/perl
   Path to sendmail	      /usr/sbin/sendmail

If you need to figure out other paths to functions, contact me or don't be afraid to experiment.

Many free scripts are available to get you going. My two favorite sources for Perl scripts are:

• The CGI Resource Index
• Matt's Script Archive

If you are having trouble making your script work, make sure that you have set the script as "executable" for all users. Use your FTP software to set the permissions for the file.

Log Files and Statistics

Just about everything that happens on your site is logged either as an access or an error. The records are stored in the "logs" directory, accessible from the top level of your site.

Access records are stored in the following format:

host -- [date&time] "requested" "referrer" "browser; platform"

A more digestible version of the access logs is accessible from your control panel. Go to "http://yourdomain.com/cpanel", where "yourdomain.com" is your domain address, and login with your the account username and password and click on the "Statistics" link.

Have fun!