Re: Somebody draw me a picture, please
Hi
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.
Laurel,
I'm not uncomfortable with it. I just don't have access to a command line on the hosting server. The doc is written from the point of view that "Of course you have the same setup I have, why wouldn't you?" That's what makes me nuts about this kind of doc.
You wanna tell me to bring up a command prompt on my Windows machine? Fine. I can do that. But to assume that just because you happen to be the admin of your own web server your reader--a webmaster out there in cyberspace somewhere--is in the same situation is absurd. I'd guess that the vast majority of sites are hosted on a shared server somewhere and the webmaster does not have admin access.
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.
Yes, my hosting company has clearly written doc that explains Perl scripts go in the bin directory. Not a problem.
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.
The opaque part is figuring out what changes are necessary ;-)
For modifying the .pl or other script files locally,
Macromedia Homesite or Dreamweaver work really well as they maintain any
UNIX line breaks.
Good tip, thanks. Fortunately, Dreamweaver is already associated with those file extensions.
BTW, ask your host to install any Perl modules required. It's unlikely they
would let you install those yourself anyways.
As long as it goes in bin, they'll let me. I don't think I have to have them install anything they're not already running.
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 did that investigation some months ago. There are specific features my wife needed that most calendar programs don't provide--at least the free ones. This was the one that seemed to be workable for her purposes.
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.
Their FAQ indicated I needed to install it myself, which I've now done, apparently successfully--although I'm not finished yet, so that may be a premature conclusion.
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.
Yep. That's my next step.
And of course there are other script sites which offer inexpensive
installation!!!!!!! Or hire someone. What's the ROI here?
ROI, you ask? Hey, this is a gummint job. My "pay" is that I get to go out to dinner tonight instead of cooking.
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RE: Somebody draw me a picture, please: From: Laurel Hickey
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