How can I turn on/off the webx.tpl file if I can't log in?

Question:

Certain HTML errors in control panel textboxes can make it impossible to log in to Web Crossing. A common such error is a missing end table tag - </table> or broken FORM. The approach to fixing this is to define a trivial macro in the webx.tpl file to override the problem textbox, and then stop and restart the Web Crossing server so it will reread the webx.tpl file. If the webx.tpl file has previously been turned off in the control panel it must be turned on again before this technique can be used.

Answer:

You can turn on the webx.tpl file directly, without logging in, if you build the correct URL and access it. Build a URL like this:

http://www.yourservername.com/cgi-bin/WebX?96@sysop:password@1

(conversely, turn it off with http://www.yourservername.com/cgi-bin/WebX?96@sysop:password@0)

but replace "password" with the actual sysop password, URL encoded^*, and if you are hosted with us substitute "sysop" for "operations". You can always use a username:password pair like this in place of a user certificate. Note that this usage will cause the sysop password to be logged in the web server access log thus compromising the password, so you should change it via Preferences once you can log in.

^* URL encoding is a way of passing certain characters through a URL that would otherwise be improperly interpreted. For example a space (" ") URL encoded is %20 So "Web Crossing" would be "Web%20Crossing"

You should consult an HTML resource for other URL conversions.