TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Had a look at the script. Ouch. I've installed a few scripts like this where
the instructions were obviously written by someone very comfortable with
command-line computing. That doesn't describe me. However, it's usually
pretty safe to ignore most of the heavy-duty geekish and just go with the
more friendly (IMHO) programs you're already using.
As it's a Perl script, it goes in the cgi-bin. Just create a directory for
it and ftp the files in (don't use binary ftp except with the graphics).
Somewhere in the command line instructions will be the directory structure
required and if any of the files go outside the cgi bin. Ditto with the
permissions needed to get the script to run.
Depending on the script and what you can ferret out from the instructions,
you either open the config or other Perl files and make the changes
necessary for your setup or you use your browser to open the remote install
file and do it online. For modifying the .pl or other script files locally,
Macromedia Homesite or Dreamweaver work really well as they maintain any
UNIX line breaks.
BTW, ask your host to install any Perl modules required. It's unlikely they
would let you install those yourself anyways.
Or, look for something else. There are oodles of calendar programs out there
and it's not unusual to install three or four scripts of any sort before
finding one you can live with and that will work with your server setup. I
like to see an active forum at the script site and I check it before
installing to see the level of frustration shown.
Re: the mySQL database
If your server people have set up a MySQL database, they've likely set up
phpMyAdmin as well and it's likely set up so you can grab it as though it
had been installed at your domain root. Try http://yourdomain.com/phpMyAdmin/ and see what happens. The user name would
be your database name.
If it isn't there, ask your host to install it. It's also easy to install it
just for your domain.
Some scripts require you to run a SQL query through phpMyAdmin, others will
install the table(s) and sample content as part of the online install
process. That also will be in those instructions and if required, the SQL
query is usually a separate text-format file that you just open and copy.
Just scan the instructions looking for useful bits.
And of course there are other script sites which offer inexpensive
installation!!!!!!! Or hire someone. What's the ROI here?
:-))
-------------------------------------
Laurel Hickey
2morrow writing & document design
lhickey -at- 2morrow -dot- bc -dot- ca http://www.2morrow.bc.ca
The database exists (that part was easy--I'm just trying to figure out
how to gain access to it so I can add the tables); I know the username
and password. I just don't know which of the many kinds of users listed
in the phpMyAdmin configuration file that username and password apply to.
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
