If you've been on Internet for a while, you've probably seen many examples of CGI use and didn't even realize it. Search Engines, Directories and Forums all use CGI scripts. Scripts can run everything from a form on your web site to an affiliate program. They can give you power to completely automate your web site.

There are scripts online that can automate all of following:

* Make your product available for download * Take customers order * Approve it right online * Send your customer a password * Send you a confirmation of order

You can sell your products around clock and never lift a finger.

SuperScripts - http://www.superscripts.com/

If you have a subscription box on your web site, then you're already using a program to process information. That's a good start however, there are many additional ways you can use this powerful technology.

Here are some great scripts to get you started.

The Master Series:

Master Form

This form will enable you to have results emailed to you or to a specified address. It can write your information to a database file and even enable you to have a personalized thank you page. In addition, you can even have multi-page forms with no limit on number of pages. Master Feedback

Allow your visitors to provide you with feedback. Master Feedback enables you to add your own information fields with radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdown lists and text fields. The great thing about using Master Feedback is that it helps you spam- proof your site by not requiring your email address anywhere on your page.

Master Recommend

Word of mouth is one of best forms of advertising. Master Recommend will enable your visitors to recommend your web site to a friend. This great script is multi-lingual, which means that emails sent can be written in any language.

Master Subscriber Pro

Enable your visitors to subscribe to multiple ezines by checking boxes beside publication they wish to subscribe. They'll only need to enter their email address one time and won't be forced to leave your web site.

A good example of a this phenomenon is a simple CGI routine called FormMail. This was written a number of years ago by a fellow named Matt Wright to allow data to be entered in a form, then emailed to a recipient.

I first looked at FormMail because I wanted to cut down on spam. You see, my web site had my email address embedded on every single page. I thought this was a good idea to allow people to send me an email message when they wanted to contact me. In fact, all of web design books indicate that all good web sites include an email link of this kind.

I soon discovered, much to my horror, that spammers use special programs called Spam Harvesters to scan websites for email addresses. They add these addresses to their mailing lists and resell them over and over. The result is a large increase in amount of spam that I received.

After much research, I came to conclusion that best defense against spam robots was to simply stop including my email address on my web sites. This left question of how to allow users to contact me when they had questions or comments.

The answer is simple - use a form. The advantage is that email address is hidden within CGI routine or a text file and it is simply not possible for a spam harvester to pick it up. As long as email address is coded into CGI routine or in a database you are relatively secure.

However, many people use FormMail in a different way. Let's say you want to allow your visitors to "tell a friend" about your site. So you include a form which allows visitors to enter their message and a target email address. If you are not very careful you could find that you have set yourself up as a spam relay.