QA


Q&A

Q1:

I've heard that it's dangerous to send credit card numbers over the Internet. Can't thieves intercept form data on its way to me?

A1:

It is possible to intercept form data (and any web pages or email messages) as it travels through the Internet. If you ask for credit card numbers or other sensitive information on your forms, you should ask the company who runs your web server about secure forms processing. There are several reliable technologies for eliminating the risk of high-tech eavesdroppers, but you typically must pay for themyou will usually need to obtain a security certificate from a secure services provider such as Thawte (http://www.thawte.com/) or VeriSign (http://www.verisign.com/).

To put the amount of risk in perspective, remember that it is much more difficult to intercept information traveling through the Internet than it is to look over someone's shoulder in a restaurant or retail store. Even so, you should always utilize secure pages anytime you're handling sensitive financial information such as credit card numbers, especially when someone else is trusting you to handle theirs.

Q2:

Can I put forms on a CD/DVD-ROM, or do they have to be on the Internet?

A2:

You can put a form anywhere you can put a web page. If it's on a disk or CD-ROM instead of a web server, it can be filled out by people whether or not they are connected to the Internet. Of course, they must be connected to the Internet (or your local intranet) when they click the Submit button, or the information won't get to you.

Q3:

I still don't quite understand when to use a script to process forms and when to use email. What gives?

A3:

The decision to use a server script to process form data primarily has to do with whether you have access to such a script. A form processing script is almost always a better approach than simply receiving raw form data in an email message, and it's smoother on the user side of the equation as well. However, you may not have access to your web server, and even if you do, you may not be able to find a script that does exactly what you want. This is a situation in which you should ask some questions of your ISP or web server administrator to find out what your form processing options are.




SAMS Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours
Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours (7th Edition)
ISBN: 0672328410
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 345

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net