Common Gateway Interface or CGI is a specification which allows Web users to run programs on your server. CGI is not a programming language; it is a gateway which allows small programs called "scripts" to be run over the Internet. CGI scripts take input passed to them from a form on a Web page, process the information, and then format the results in HTML. The result is usually a Web page that is generated by the script itself.

The language of choice for CGI processing is Perl, (Practical Extraction and Reporting Language.) Perl is often used because it is specifically designed to grab multiple text files and format them nicely, making it exceptional for writing HTML.

Other languages used occasionally for CGI Scripts are C/C++, Visual Basic, AppleScript, UNIX Shell, and Tcl. CGI Scripts can do almost anything when they are properly written.
To understand how CGI scripts work you should have a good understanding of HTML and some programming experience.

Note: We do not offer free technical support for configuring CGI scripts.

Your hosting account includes some pre-installed CGI scripts (See CGI Center.) If you would like to download third-party CGI Scripts for your Website, you can find additional scripts through links available here.