I don't think you'll be getting negative comments for asking a question that you've already put some research effort into.

I believe that what you might want to look into is either CGI or CGI::Application. CGI::Application allows you to sidestep that whole "crazy loop" part, and segment your program neatly based on context. For example, the "user entered bad data," "user entered good data," and "new user" parts can all be in their own compartments of your script. CGI will also help you do some of the boring mundane stuff like grab the response itself.