Info Relay Coding for Windows Server

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter
  • Start date Start date
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Peter

Hi There,

I am not a programmer so I am in need of a non-tech answer
to what seems to be a technical problem. Using FrontPage
2002 I want to build in 'info relay' functionality into my
website. I want to enable visitors to my site to be able
to receive requested reports directly and automatically
into their e-mail inboxes after they have submitted their
e-mail addresses in the form textbox provided. Is this
possible with FrontPage 2002 linked to a Windows-based web
server?

The server supports ASP and ASP.Net script as well as
utilising Sendmail.

Look forward to any help I can get with this vexing
problem.
 
-----Original Message-----
Hi There,
Howdy.

I am not a programmer so I am in need of a non-tech
answer to what seems to be a technical problem. Using
FrontPage 2002 I want to build in 'info relay'
functionality into my website. I want to enable visitors
to my site to be able to receive requested reports
directly and automatically into their e-mail inboxes
after they have submitted their e-mail addresses in the
form textbox provided. Is this possible with FrontPage
2002 linked to a Windows-based web server?

The server supports ASP and ASP.Net script as well as
utilising Sendmail.
Click to expand...

You would need to program this on the Web server. For a
more complete answer, you'll need to answer the following
questions.

1. Where do the reports come from?
2. What format are the reports in?
3. Do you send the reports:
o One time and immediately?
o One time on a delayed basis?
o On some repetitive cycle?
4. Do the visitors need to pay in order to get the
reports?

Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*------------------------------------------------------*
|\----------------------------------------------------/|
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out ||
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out ||
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition ||
|| Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage 2002 ||
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming ||
|| (All from Microsoft Press) ||
|/----------------------------------------------------\|
*------------------------------------------------------*
 
Thanks for the response, Jim. The answers to your four
questions are;

1 The reports will come from the webserver directory
2 They will be in HTML format
3 They would ideally be automatically sent when the
visitor inputs his email address and clicks on 'submit'
button
4 The first report would be free and subsequent reports
paid for

Hope you can help.

Regards

Peter
 
I would suggest the you do not automatically send attachments, instead once
the user has submitted their email address, send them an email with a link
to download the document, this will verify their email address, plus
depending on the size of the document, they could be out of space in their
mailbox.

How do you plan to handle billing and delivery of the report that require
payment?

If via the web, you will need to have SSL, Merchant Account (real-time
processing if you want the user to be able download immediately after
purchasing). The ability to use a server-side scripting language and a
database for creating simple shopping cart application.

Here is a example of a project that sells and delivery reports on-line:

http://www.homelandsecurityresearch.com

Click on either Reports or Newsletters.
--

==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, Forums, WebCircle,
MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
 
Thanks for the response, Jim. The answers to your four
questions are;

1 The reports will come from the webserver directory
2 They will be in HTML format
3 They would ideally be automatically sent when the
visitor inputs his email address and clicks on 'submit'
button
4 The first report would be free and subsequent reports
paid for
Click to expand...

Developing an application like this yourself would require some
parily significatn programming skills. You need visitor
registration and credit-card billing systems as well as the
mailing features, and the mailing featurse are actually the
easiest.

I would recommend that you look around for an on-line service
that handles the type of transactions you have in mind. In many
ways, this isn't much different than purchasing and instantly
downloading softwarem, for example.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*------------------------------------------------------*
|\----------------------------------------------------/|
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out ||
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out ||
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition ||
|| Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage 2002 ||
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming ||
|| (All from Microsoft Press) ||
|/----------------------------------------------------\|
*------------------------------------------------------*
 
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