How do I get user input? I tried using <STDIN> in EditPlus, and it crashes every time!

That's not very helpful. Whatever EditPlus is, it's not part of the Perl distribution, so that's hardly relevant. What you need to do is 1) show what you did, 2) tell what you expect it to do and 3) tell what it did. That will maximize your chances in getting a useful answer.

Abigail