v1.60n - Netscape version
THIS VERSION IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED OR DEVELOPED
And, In Fact, No Longer Works!
Use this version instead.
Ever want to provide a Web directory to your users, but
don't want to just link to the wonderful
Open Directory Project?
Don't want to spend $200 for something which can
do the same thing for free?
Then POD is for you!
The Personal Open Directory calls the Open Directory
Project to provide you and
your users with a Web experience which looks like they've
never left your site. It isn't done with homely frames or
with the need to parse the huge RDFs from ODP itself, but
rather grabbing the data in real-time from the Open Directory Project's
Website.
Notice:
A version of POD is available here
which works directly with the Open Directory Project. This is
the active development version which we encourage you to use;
it is called the dmoz version. The version listed on this page
is the outdated Netscape version which calls data from
Netscape's version of the ODP.
Not only can you customize its output, but if you run or have
access to MaxComm and are an Amazon.com Associate,
it will automatically add book links to content pages and
searches conducted through POD.
Features:
Direct access to the Open Directory Project via the Netscape
Open Directory or the Open Directory Project
Completely customizable output
Complete searching available
With MaxComm, provides automated links to Amazon.com bookstore
And best of all...
pod.cgi
This is the main script. Installation instructions are
found at the top of the script, which requires perl and
access to a cgi-bin directory. These perl modules
are also required.
podvars.pm
Variables file.
You must set the
variables or POD will not function
properly.
header.html
This is where you customize the top of the output of the script
to make it look like your site.
footer.html
This is where you customize the bottom of the output of the script
to make it look like your site.
Can you add so-and-so feature?
Generally, no. I wrote the script to show how easy it was to
adapt an existing script to perform a similar function as a
demonstration project. I also wrote it to show you don't need
to spend $200 to get high-quality software.
Can you point to dmoz.org instead of directory.netscape.com?
You have to install the dmoz version which is found here.
How come Google results aren't wrapped?
Google is a proprietary, commercial search engine which does not use
the open-source ODP data, therefore results from Google after
the first page are not wrapped in the script. This will not change.
I'm getting a 500 Server Error!
The most common reason for a 500 server error (assuming you haven't
made any typos and changed the configuration variables properly) is
that your Internet Service Provider does not have the proper perl
modules installed. Double-check to ensure all perl modules POD needs
are installed. I cannot help with perl module installation.
Use servertest.pl
to check to see if these modules are properly installed on your server.
All I'm getting are the header and footer files. What's up?
If all the perl modules are properly installed (see above), then
it's likely due to the Netscape Directory Web site being temporarily
unavailable. That's why I'm working to develop a dmoz.org version.
POD's become very slow with this latest release.
For some reason I haven't yet fathomed, breaking the variables
out into their own file has resulted in an enormous slowdown
of the script for some people (not me). Short-term solution is to simply add the variables
back in directly to the script. Long-term solution is open to suggestions.
Can I get the script to start in a specific subdirectory?
How about limiting it to only that directory?
Yes, the first part is easy. Just link to the script with a URL like:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/pod.cgi?dir=/Health/. This would start
the user in the Health directory. The second question's answer is no, there
is no easy or feasible way of imprisoning a user in a specific subdirectory.
Known Problems:
Searching for a term not contained within the directory results in an error message
about a redirect. No known solution for this problem.
Mailing list: Subscribe today
to my announcement and support mailing list on POD. I'll let you know
when POD changes via this list, or of any enhancements to the script.
Or signup via the Web.
v1.60n - Netscape version