<!--StartFragment-->FrontPage users follow the instructions for a <a href="/id0900b40a800d5b3c">FrontPage-specific</a> counter.
<p class="bodyText">A counter may be added to your page to record and display the number of people who have viewed your home page. A typical counter display:</p>
<blockquote class="bodyText"><strong>You are visitor number:</strong> <img height="21" width="16" alt="Zero" src="http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Eoit/images/0.gif" /><img height="21" width="16" alt="one" src="http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Eoit/images/1.gif" /> <img height="21" width="16" alt="three" src="http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Eoit/images/3.gif" /><img height="21" width="16" alt="five" src="http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Eoit/images/5.gif" /></blockquote>
<p class="bodyText">Before creating the counter, ITD recommends that you understand the following:</p>
<ul class="list">
<li><a href="/id0900b40a800d9e70">Telnet</a></li>
<li><a href="/id0900b40a800d9f01">Pico</a>, a text editor on frank</li>
<li>Paths to your directories on frank</li>
<li>UNIX file <a href="/id0900b40a800d5b5d">permissions</a></li>
<li>Counter <a href="/id0900b40a800d5b7f">options and configuration</a>. This shows what you will be creating and modifying</li>
</ul>
<p class="bodyText">To create this counter, you will do the following:</p>
<ul class="list">
<li>Create the counter directory within public_html</li>
<li>Create a file to store the number of visits to your page</li>
<li>Create a configuration file that sets all of the options for the counter</li>
<li>Change the permissions of these files and the directory so that they can be read from the web</li>
<li>Insert the appropriate IMG tag in your HTML document</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="bodyText">Instructions</h3>
<h4 class="bodyText">Create the Counter Directory within "public_html"</h4>
<ol class="oList">
<li>At the frank prompt, change to your "public_html" directory.<br /> <code>frank $ cd public_html</code></li>
<li>Create a directory for the counter, naming it "counter."<br /> <code>frank $ mkdir counter</code></li>
<li>Change the group for "counter" to that of the web server.<br /> <code>frank $ chgrp httpd counter</code></li>
<li>Change the permissions for "counter" to make the directory accessible on the web.<br /> <code>frank $ chmod 775 counter</code></li>
<li>Open "counter."<br /> <code>frank $ cd counter</code></li>
</ol>
<h4 class="bodyText">Create a File to Store the Number of Visits to Your Page</h4>
<ol class="oList">
<li>Use <a href="/id0900b40a800d9f01">Pico</a> (a text editor on frank) to create a file that will store the number of visits to your page.<br clear="all" /> Name the file "home.count."<br /> <code>frank $ pico home.count</code></li>
<li>Type the number you want the counter to start at (e.g. 1 or 10).</li>
<li>Exit Pico, answering <em>Yes</em> to save the file.<br clear="all" /> <kbd>Ctrl-X</kbd> (exit)<br clear="all" /> <kbd>Y</kbd> (Yes to save)<br clear="all" /></li>
<li>Change the group for "home.count" to that of the web server.<br /> <code>frank $ chgrp httpd home.count</code></li>
<li>Change the permissions for "home.count" to make it accessible on the web<br /> <code>frank $ chmod 775 home.count</code></li>
</ol>
<h4 class="bodyText">Create a Configuration File that Sets All the Options for the Counter</h4>
<ol class="oList">
<li>Use Pico to create the configuration file that will set all your options for the counter.<br /> <code>frank $ pico home.config</code></li>
<li>Type in the desired options and required directory path names. (Read Configuration <a href="/id0900b40a800d5b7f">options and samples</a>.)</li>
<li>
The following line is required in "home.config":<br clear="all" />
<blockquote><code>CountFile=/</code><var>path to your home directory</var><code>/public_html/counter/home.count</code></blockquote>
<blockquote><code>frank $ pwd</code> will tell you where you are currently working; the "path to your home directory"<br clear="all" /> is from the first slash to your username: <var>/users/your group/username/...</var></blockquote>
</li>
<li>Exit Pico, answering <em>Yes</em> to save the file.<br clear="all" /> <kbd>Ctrl-X</kbd><br clear="all" /> <kbd>Y</kbd></li>
<li>Change the permissions for home.config.<br /> <code>frank $ chmod a+r home.config</code></li>
</ol>
<h4 class="bodyText">Add the Text and HTML Tags to Your Web Document</h4>
<ol class="oList">
<li>Add the following text and tags to your html document:</li>
</ol>
<blockquote class="bodyText">You are visitor number:<br clear="all" /> <code><img src="/cgi-bin/counter.pl?</code><var>path to your home directory</var><code>/counter/home.config"></code></blockquote>