http://www.yourdomain.com / cgi-bin / search.cgi

However, some affiliates would like a more customed look & feel similar to what the XML feed offers, but either don't have the time or technical expertise to implement an XML feed.

For those affiliates we now offer a prebuilt Perl script that you can download and install in just a few minutes.

This script enables you to create a search URL on your site and have the result page displayed by your servers as well.

It is completely template driven. Affiliates with basic HTML knowledge can easily modify the included generic result template, shown here, so that the result page better reflects the look your website.

Getting Started    (advanced users see bottom)

1. Although no programming or HTML knowledge is required, affiliates must understand the basics of how to upload files to their web servers.



2. Before getting started, please be sure to read ALL of the instructions on this page.



3. The first thing you must do, is determine if Perl is installed on your web servers and where it is located. For those using Linux, its almost guaranteed to be installed. Those websites powered by MS-Windows may need to install Perl. A good and free resource for MS-Windows Perl would be ActivePerl from ActiveState.com.



4. Affiliates running Linux will most likely have Perl installed at either /usr/bin/perl or /usr/local/bin/perl. Make sure you know where Perl is installed, you'll need this information later.



5. Next download the following zip file, eclickz-searchcgi.zip. This zip file contains 3 files, search.cgi, search.html and searchtheweb.gif.



6. Place the 3 files found in the zip, search.cgi, search.html, and searchtheweb.gif in your web servers /cgi-bin/ directory. For technical support reasons, we suggest that you do not change the original file names.


7. Before making use of the search.cgi script on your web site, you'll need to make sure that your assigned affiliate ID will be used by the script. Otherwise, you won't get credit for any clicks. To set your affiliate id, you'll need to edit the search.cgi file.



8. Near the top of the search.cgi file is a line that reads
   
      my affiliateid="index";
   
   You will need to change this line to use your assigned affiliate id. For example, if your affiliate id is SEARCH888, you should edit the line to read
   
      my $affiliateid="SEARCH888";



9. Affiliates running Linux may also need to change the first line of search.cgi so that the location of your local Perl is defined. The very first line of search.cgi reads #!/usr/bin/perl. If Perl is in a different location on your Linux server, you must edit this line to reflect that location. For example, if the Perl binary is located /usr/local/bin/perl then the first line of search.cgi should read:
   
      #!/usr/local/bin/perl



10. Affiliates running Linux will also need set the "execute" permission on the search.cgi file. Generally, this is done by entering the following command:
    
       $ chmod 755 search.cgi
    
    If you're using FTP to place files on your web server, your FTP application should have options for setting the execute permission. If you're not sure what the execute permission is, speak with your local system administrator.



11. Affiliates running Microsoft Windows will need to check with the local system administrator regarding execution of Perl scripts.



12. Once the search.cgi script is installed and you're ready to test, you should be able to enter a test URL similar to this: http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi



13. If you've attempted to install the script and/or need a little help, please don't hesitate to contact support.

QuckStart - For Experienced Linux Users
Download the eclickz-searchcgi.zip file placing the search.cgi and search.html in your /cgi-bin/ directory. Edit search.cgi to reflect the correct perl location then modify the affiliateid="index" line, also located at the top of the file, to use your assigned affiliate id, eg - affiliateid="SEARCH888". Next set the execute permission on the search.cgi file. You should now be able to hit /cgi-bin/search.cgi URL from your browser

QuckStart - For MS-Windows Servers
At eClickZ our primary platform is Linux which makes our assistance somewhat limited when it comes to web servers running Microsoft Windows IIS. On issues regarding Perl under IIS, we suggest you speak with your local system administrator. However, once Perl is running on your web server you simply need to upload the search.cgi and search.html files to your /cgi-bin/ directory. Then edit the search.cgi file changing the $affiliateid="index" line, found near the top of the file, to reflect your assigned affiliate id.

Creating Your Own Look & Feel
When the search.cgi script is executed from a visitors browser, it will contact eClickZ for the raw search results. These results are then merged with the HTML found in search.html. Search.html is referred to as the template file.

If you want to change the result page to include other graphics or text, simply edit the search.html file in your /cgi-bin/ directory. Affiliates familiar with basic HTML should be able to make changes fairly easily. Keep in mind that the template file also contains special pseudo tags like <results> which defines where the search results are place on the page.