I am currently using tripod as my web host. They offer CGI capabilities, but do not offer support for them.
I will break down the ideas I already have on the matter to see if anyone is able to answer them individually.
Is there any way to install imagemagik or GD without having direct access to the server? I’m looking for a way to make it run simply by uploading it to my cgi-bin folder & or perhaps hand editing a line or two of my cgi file.
Are there any Perl/CGI scripts that will automatically create thumbnails, that does not require GD or imagemagik & also does not require similar instillation?
Does anybody know of any & or have expericese with services that offer free hosting of GD/Imagemagik/php/anything that would automatically make thumbnails for me?
I also had one last idea that may seem a little odd, but if you answered no to all or the above, I’d really appreciate any thought or suggestions on it. <edit> Some hosting providers </edit> offer free image hosting & thumbnail generation. Would there be any way of somehow integrating this interface into my own? Ideally a user could upload a file then I’m looking for a way to grab the html data on the output page, that’s all I’d really need is a way to automatically copy the url of the thumbnail on imageweb to a textfile on my server.
Thank you so much,
Joe
[edited by: coopster at 11:58 pm (utc) on Mar. 31, 2005]
[edit reason] removed url per TOS [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]
...Is there any way to install imagemagik or GD without having direct access to the server?
ImageMajick definately not, it needs to be compiled on the server. GD not sure, it USED to be that you could install it on your domain, do some manual tweaks to the configuration, and it would still work. Have you read the GD documentation?
. . hosting providers offer free image hosting & thumbnail generation. Would there be any way of somehow integrating this interface into my own? ... grab the html data on the output page ... copy the url of the thumbnail on imageweb to a textfile on my server.
So you're proposing that someone else host the images and you steal them? :-) Sounds different when you put it that way, huh? No I don't think that would be a good move on your part.
Here is what I would advise: Dump tripod, AND geocities, AND angelfire, AND all those other free servers that plague your visitors with pop-ups and other garbage. If you want to run something like this, get a real server with an ISP that won't have a problem installing a perl module (or may have it installed already.)
As for telling me to pay for space on a server, that would be good advice, if I wasn't an unemployed college student. Maybe better advice would be, "Get a job." Perhaps, better yet, "Stop messing around with perl & CGI, & do your homework."
Thanks for the reply,
Joe
Well I still think it's not the way to go. Using an external site's bandwidth and resources is bereft with problems, even if it's "no-strings" free.
What if they make a single change in their server paths a year or so after you get something working? Then you have to go into your system and update everything to keep up. And things like this always seem to happen at a time when it needs to be dealt with immediately, but you can't break away to do it (Corellary to Murphy's Law.)
My original question was “Is there any possible way to do this without paying?”
It wasn’t, “are paid hosts a good deal?”
If your answer is, I don’t know of a way to do that or I don’t have the desire to walk a stranger through it, that’s enough said. Or even if you just said, “the only way I know is with a paid host,” that would have been appreciated.
The whole point of this question was to figure out how to use the minimum resources for the job. If money was no object I could always hire people to sit at a workstation night & day & wait for somebody to upload a file & then thumbnail it locally. If $120 - $240 a year is pocket change to you, maybe you can pay my hosting fee.
I only do web design & web programming as a hobby. I think I enjoy it most because I like noodling around with problems like this. Most people that post on similar forms enjoy it just as much as I do. I’m not going to be using this idea to host a client that needs reliability. I’m just designing this site for my friends & for myself.
By the way, nice misuse of a $20 word
Bereft of problems would mean, left without problems.
My knowledge is limited as-far-as subsitutions for GD and ImageMagick, however I don't believe that there are any comperable libraries that would be as feature-rich as the others.
I Don't mean to be a buzzkill or anything, but
My original question was “Is there any possible way to do this without paying?”
That's an improper use of double quotes, as I did not find this exact question stated in any of your earlier posts.
-- Zak
more time on my english homework is a must
