OK, the bare-bones of the system are up and running, assuming I can get my homepage FTP server to let me log in. However, the bio system is incredibly primitive at the moment. There are two things we need: 1) Integration into the Spring - perhaps replacing the mailto: link in the header of each post with a link to that person's bio? 2) An easy way for people to update their bios once online - CGI script writing needed! I'm no CGI-guy, so we need to drag one in from somewhere!

#1 sounds good, since our email addresses will be posted as part of the bios, right? what the heck is CGI? (I'm such a technical expert!)

CGI is "Common Gateway Interface", commonly used on the web for little tasks like ours.

OK, that's over my head, did you see my hair blow in the wake?

Almost sounds like something you'd hear on Star Trek!! *laugh*

I saw it! Then it whooshed over my head and hopefully will land neatly in Terry's capable hands! :-)

LOL!!!

pseudo-technically, we use CGI everytime we post something on here...it is the "almost outdated" phrase for web interactiveness.

indeed

Right, I've been doing some investigating, and doing the whole bio-updating thing via CGI (yes, there it is again) is not at all hard. I could probably knock it up within a day, *if* I had access to the right software. Unfortunately, I don't, which is a bit of a problem, as you may imagine. Any suggestions are welcome - if anyone knows of a free Perl compiler for Win95 I'd be very pleased to hear about it.

Check out http://www.scripts.com

"Server does not have a DNS entry" "

It's somewhere listed correctly in our web conference probably under topic 2 - cool urls.

Yeah, I found it but couldn't make too much sense. Seems they are running a separate script interpreter program (can't remember it's name right now) - are you running it at Spring, terry? Also, it occurred to me that I/we/you/us/anyone could easily write the bio update in JavaScript - I could even borrow the source code from the WELL and convert it to our needs. I have always avoided JS in the past, since it requires a higher powered browser than many people perhaps have. Any stats available on who's using what for access? It would be easy to write in JS, that's for sure. Finally, one thing that's just occurred to me is the need to integrate into shell accounts, too. This is somewhere I don't have much experience, but I guess you would have, terry. Comments/suggestions/points?

Help is on the way. Check your email for a forwared message.

I can Java from work, but can't currently from home, just so's you know, Mike...

Java (as in compiled) or JavaScript? Two things have happened this evening. Firstly, terry has located someone who can help us with CGI, which is a better option that JS; secondly, I spoke to a chap who works for a web design company in Brighton, and he was talking about all of the problems they have had with their JS implementations. Basically, the JS plan is shelved, not that I really wanted to go with it in the first place.

none of them, from my house that is, no Java, no JS, and no other version, translation, and/or adaptation...

hehe...I'd still really like to get this up and running, because I think it's important. There would seem to be a tie-in between this sort of info, and the UNIX finger info. comments? terry, wer, anyone else techie listening in?

Email jeffk@well.com,jeff@spring.net regarding this and see what he says will be involved.