Sure, I do this all the time. Instead of a hyperlink, you need to embed an HTML form in your page. Using your dictionary example, to call up the page for http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=searchterm, you add the following to your page:
[ul]<form action=“http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl”>
Search dictionary.com: <input type=“text” name=“term”>
<input type=“submit” value=“Search”>
</form>[/ul]
This should display a text field and a “Search” button. Type searchterm in the text field, click on the button.
Just a note - I would suggest that you explicitly use the method=“get” attribute as in wolfseyn’s example. That’s the way forms are supposed to default, but it is good practice to always state the method on form tags. People tend to forget the way it defaults, and it can lead to a lot of confusion. To do what you want, “get” is the method you need, and you can just slap it on and stop reading if you like - since I brought it up, I’ll explain the distinction.
Forms can be either method=post or method=get. The difference is in how data is transferred from the fields in the form. For “get”, the fields are attached to the URL, making it identical to having typed the URL with the “?” and “&” stuff, which is why “get” is appropriate for the purpose being discussed. For “post”, the fields are transmitted as the body of the message, and the URL given in the action is unmodified. If you have very much data, “post” is needed to avoid huge URL’s, but “get” leads to a bookmarkable target pages.
(You now know what the browser is talking about when it gives you that silly message about “page resulted from a POST operation”.)
These days, many server side applications are written so as to accept either method without distinguishing where their parameter input came from, but not always.
