Creating forms for Iweb sites

Question

MY question is about creating forms for iweb sites.
How do you do it?
I think I read somewere that you can't do this with iweb,
so I downloaded a free trial of rapidweaver, which will give me 3 pages for
the free trial, but it says you need php.
Which I don't know if I have php on my computer, my mac5 os x,
and I am not sure what php is.
If any one could explain how I can create forms on my iweb site
in a easy to understand point form.
That would be great!

Answer 1

Well I am certainly willing to try, if you could
explain how to do this
Thanks for your reply.
blueform,
If you found my first post to you helpful, please mark it as such. That way people will have an easier time searching for/with a similar question about this topic.
Okay, I can't go into all the dynamics of the process as each ISP may vary enough to make my description unusable. In other words, what works with my ISP may not work with yours. You'll need to check out your ISPes position and requirements as far as this goes.
The first and most important thing to check out is does your ISP allow you to use CGI scripting such as PERL or PHP. Many small locally based ISPes allow this feature. Some large ISPes in Canada such as Bell's Sympatico give you Web space but do not allow scripting.
Next, unless you are an accomplished programmer you need to find (ideally) a free script that allows you to e-mail a form. I generally recommend something from Matt's Script Archive The scripts are are simple, come with instructions and work fairly well. There is also PHP Junkyard. I use one of their scripts for a message board I have.
Be forewarned, there is a learning curve. Also, if your ISP permits these scripts, you will need an FTP client application to upload them once you have made any necessary modifications.
As an afterthought, you might Google around and see if anyone provides a service that might suit your needs. Usually in those cases all you need to do is enter some HTML code into your iWeb page. This is not a drag-n-drop process and requires some "under the hood" work. One last point. Most of the scripts that I've dealt with will require an e-mail address to send the completed forms. If all is done according to instructions, Spammers will never see the address (you set the permissions for the file that contains your e-mail address so that only the owner can read that particular file; the owner being you). Does this give you an idea of what is involved?
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