slly's site's complete source code is licensed under the GNU GPL and provided free of charge in the hope that someone might actually learn something from it. Since I'm far too lazy to use any kind of revision control system, there are no "versions" per say. I just randomly add features and fix bugs when I feel like it. So in order to make things easier for you, I wrote a script to handle all of the tedious details involved in downloading, installing, and upgrading the code base.
System Requirements
View Source Online
- PHP Scripts: php/
- Template Files: tpl/
- MySQL Create Statements: create.mysql
Installing
- Download the setup script (php/setup.phps).
- Open the setup script with a text editor and define your site-specific parameters.
- Run the setup script at the command line like this:
php -f setup.phps install - After resolving any errors that may have occurred during the installation process, open the site configuration file (php/config.phps) with a text editor, and set your preferences. If an option doesn't make sense to you, just leave it alone. The defaults should be fine for most people anyway.
- Look at your site with a web browser to make sure that something happens. If you see any "parse error" messages, then there's probably something wrong with the site configuration file you just edited. Check for missing quotes and semi-colons, and fix one error at a time (only the first error means anything, since the other errors are usually caused by the first one). Any other error/warning messages are probably caused by your php.ini file.
- Create an account for yourself with the "create account" link.
- After you get your password and log in, visit the "members" section of your site. You'll see your username with an "Id" number next to it. Since you're the administrator, you'll want to confirm that your actual Id matches the administrator Id listed in the site configuration file.
Customizing
- Since the layout is completely separate from the application logic, "skinning" is easy. Simply edit the XHTML/CSS template files (the ones with the ".tpl" extension in your 'tpl/' directory by default) for a completely new look and feel.
- Two files are provided for adding your own custom scripts and for adding your own custom "argv handlers" ("php/local_script.phps" and "php/local_argv.phps" respectively). By default, they will not be overwritten during the upgrade process. You can read more about them by viewing the files themselves.
Updating
- Download the newest version of the setup script.
- Open the setup script with a text editor and define your site-specific parameters.
- Run the setup script with the word 'update' as the first parameter:
php -f setup.phps update
Uninstalling
- Download the newest version of the setup script.
- Open the setup script with a text editor and define your site-specific parameters.
- Run the setup script with the word 'uninstall' as the first parameter:
php -f setup.phps uninstall
Caveat
- Before you install/update/uninstall, pay very close attention to the arrays near the top of the setup script that specify exactly what gets overwritten or deleted.
- These scripts have never been tested in a Windows environment, so they probably won't work.
If you have any installation issues or suggestions for how to make these instructions better, let me know. If you have any general programming questions, please consult the following sources before contacting me:
Online References
Suggested Books
The following sites are running on modified versions of the slly's site source code. If you'd like your site listed here, let me know.
