What is CGI?

CGI stands for common gateway interface. When you log into file manager in cPanel for the first time, you’ll notice a folder in your Public_html folder called your “cgi-bin”. CGI in the most basic of terms is a way that the webserver communicated information to a CGI program. The cgi-bin folder is where you will store the scripts such as Perl (.pl) that your website will use. 

If your website contains a form for your visitors to fill out created directly from code, then it’s likely this form will be handled with a script placed in the CGI-bin folder. If you’re using a CMS like WordPress, then your forms are mostly being created through a plugin or built-in functionality. Consult with your documentation in order to learn more about to create your form. If you would like more information on using a form on your website please see our link: How Contact Forms Work. You can also learn how to create forms using a script like FormMail.

Carrie Smaha
Carrie Smaha Senior Manager Marketing Operations

Carrie enjoys working on demand generation and product marketing projects that tap into multi-touch campaign design, technical SEO, content marketing, software design, and business operations.

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13 thoughts on “What is CGI?

    1. Hello!

      First, make sure you’ve enabled the ability to view hidden files if you are using cPanel’s file manager. It’s also possible that your website does not use cgi-bin because it is configured a different way. Hope that helps!

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