Suggestion Box README File

This suggestion box is designed to demonstrate some of the features of SSI. It only has some very basic functionality.

How it works

The user requests the directory which contains the suggestion box files. Assuming that the server uses INDEX.HTM as the DirectoryIndex, the INDEX.HTM is sent back to the client. The client displays a screen briefly, then loads SBOX.SSI automatically.

The SBOX.SSI is the main suggestion box file. SBOX.SSI loads the suggestion form (SUGFRM.SSI) if the URL doesn't contain a suggestion. If the URL does contain a suggestion, SBOX.SSI loads the submission form (SUBFRM.SSI) instead.

The first time SBOX.SSI is called, the URL doesn't contain any suggestion form date, so the suggestion form file (SUGFRM.SSI) is presented. The form contains fields for:

• A suggestion
• A name
• An email address
• And a box to be checked if the user wants a reply

The form's method is GET because SSI can not read POST data. The action is the SSI script itself. This passes the form data back to the SSI script to be processed.

When the "Submit" button is pressed, the form data is passed back to the SBOX.SSI form. This time the submission form file (SUBFRM.SSI) is called. This form appends the data to the suggestion file (ADMIN/SUGGEST.TXT), increments the suggestion counter (ADMIN/SUGGEST.CNT), and displays the suggestion form data to the user.

Both forms contain a common beginning and ending. The common beginning is the "Suggestions!" graphic with a link to this README.HTM file. The common ending provides a link to the file which displays the suggestion (ADMIN/INDEX.SSI). This allows the administrator to view the suggestions and send email responses to the suggesters.

Clearing the suggestion box

To clear the suggestion box, edit the counter file (ADMIN/SUGGEST.CNT) and change the number to '0'. Also edit the suggestion file (ADMIN/SUGGEST.TXT) and delete all the text out of it so it is an empty file.

Access control

The suggestion counter, and suggestion file are kept under the ADMIN directory along with the file which displays the suggestion box information to allow you to create access controls. You can edit the access control file (ADMIN/ACCESS.WWW) file to limit access to specific users and systems. This will keep the suggestion box from "prying eyes".

By default the access control file doesn't put any limitations on the directory. In other words, everyone has access without requiring authentication.