Maian Guestbook v3.3 Documentation (Installation)

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» INSTALLATION:
Please read the following installation instructions carefully:

» REQUIREMENTS:
• A MySQL database to hold the script tables. • MySQLi enhanced functions enabled • PHPv5.5 or higher on your server. • GD Library for captcha code display.

» SETUP (AUTO INSTALL):

1 => In your server administration area, create a database to hold your guestbook tables. If you are unsure of this procedure please contact your web hosting company.

2 => Using a text editor, open up the 'control/connect.php' file and edit the preferences to point to the database that you created in step 1. You MUST also specify a cookie name and a secret key. DO NOT use the defaults!!

3 => Again, using a text editor, open up the 'control/pwd.php' file and set a username and password for your admin area. Password is also used for private entries if enabled.

4 => Upload ALL the contents of the Maian Guestbook .zip file into a directory on your web server. ie: 'guestbook'

5 => CHMOD the following folders to 777 to make them world writeable:

/admin/backup/
/images/emoticons/
/images/avatars/
/logs/

If you are unsure of this process, contact your web hosting company.

6 => Access the install file in your browser:

http://example.com/guestbook/install/index.php.

Follow the set up instructions to complete installation.

7 => If installation is successful, delete the /install/ folder file from your guestbook directory.

8 => Access your administration area by using the username and password you set earlier.

http://example.com/guestbook/admin/index.php

9 => Once logged in, select 'Settings' from the drop down menu to configure your guestbook.

TO VIEW YOUR GUESTBOOK, ACCESS THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR BROWSER:

http://example.com/guestbook/index.php

TO VIEW YOUR SIGN PAGE, ACCESS THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR BROWSER:

http://example.com/guestbook/index.php?cmd=sign

Thats it, you`re done! Enjoy!

SECURITY NOTE: For extra security you should rename your 'admin' folder to something unique!!

» SETUP (MANUAL - USE ONLY IF AUTO INSTALL FAILS):

If the auto install has aborted, this is no problem, follow these instructions. Note that if the system created any database tables, you should delete these first.

1 => In your server administration area, create a database to hold your guestbook tables. If you are unsure of this procedure please contact your web hosting company.

2 => Using a text editor, open up the 'control/connect.php' file and edit the preferences to point to the database that you created in step 1.

3 => Again, using a text editor, open up the 'control/pwd.php' file and set a username and password for your admin area. Password is also used for private entries if enabled.

4 => Upload ALL the contents of the Maian Guestbook .zip file into a directory on your web server.

5 => CHMOD the following folders to 777 to make them world writeable:

/admin/backup/
/images/emoticons/
/images/avatars/
/logs/

If you are unsure of this process, contact your web hosting company.

6 => Using your web hosting MySQL administration tool (ie: PHPMyADMIN) run the 'docs/schematic/tables.sql' file to set up the tables for your guestbook.

7 => Access your administration area by using the username and password you set earlier.

http://example.com/guestbook/admin/index.php

8 => Once logged in, select 'Settings' from the drop down menu to configure your guestbook.

TO VIEW YOUR GUESTBOOK, ACCESS THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR BROWSER:

http://example.com/guestbook/index.php

TO VIEW YOUR SIGN PAGE, ACCESS THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR BROWSER:

http://example.com/guestbook/index.php?cmd=sign

Thats it, you`re done! Enjoy!

SECURITY NOTE: For extra security you should rename your 'admin' folder to something unique!!

» TEMPLATES/LANGUAGE:

- As Maian Guestbook is an old system, HTML data is spread throughout the sytem. The main templates are in the 'content' folder, but other HTML code may exist in other PHP files. It is recommended you use a good search utility to locate the relevant code. Sorry it`s a litle confusing.

- The same will apply for styles. Not all of the colour options are in the stylesheets, many PHP / HTML files may contain inline styles.

- All language can be found in the 'lang/english.php' file.

» MySQL BACKUP UTILITY:

1 => This script has an easy to use backup utlility. This is a useful option if you are not familiar with the export option in your MySQL administration program. To access the backup utility, select 'Backup Database' in your admin area.

2 => If you are familiar with your MySQL admin program, it is recommended that you still do take backups besides the ones created by Maian Guestbook in case the guestbook backup fails.

3 => When a backup is created it is saved to your server as a '.sql' file. It is recommended that you save a copy to your hard drive from time to time as you will need a HD copy to restore your database.

4 => To restore a database, run the '.sql' file in your MySQL program. eg: phpmyadmin, adminer etc

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SCRIPT AUTHOR CANNOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OF DATA.

» DISPLAY STATISTICS:

This script includes a few very simple web stats for you to display on your pages. A brief description of each stat function and how it is used is shown below. The stats assume that you are using the 'mg_' database prefix. If you are not you can either pass the prefix you are using into the class or open up the 'classes/class_webstats.inc.php' file and change the default option for the $prefix variable.

The functions available are as follows:

last_visitor() - Returns the name of the person who last signed your guestbook

last_location() - Returns the location of the last person to sign your guestbook

last_date() - Returns the date of the last entry in your guestbook

total_entries() - Returns the total number of entries in your guestbook

total_approve() - Returns the total number of entries awaiting approval

get_rating() - Returns the current website rating

» HOW TO USE THE DISPLAY STATISTICS:

1 => Firstly, you must make sure that there is a connection to your database in place. If you already have a call to the 'control/connect.php' file, then thats fine. If not you must include one on the page you wish to have the stats appear. Make sure you have the path correct.

include('guestbook/control/connect.php');

2 => Next you need to place a call to the 'classes/class_webstats.inc.php' file. Again, make sure you have the path correct.

include('guestbook/control/classes/class.stats.php');

3 => Now I can start using the stats. To begin, create an instance of the stats class.

$stats = new HTMLStats();

4 => If the database prefix you are using is NOT 'mg_', then you should do one of the following:

- Open up the 'control/classes/class.stats.php' file and change the default prefix option.
- Change the prefix by doing the following directly AFTER you have created the class instance.

$stats->prefix = 'prefix';

Replace 'prefix' with your own prefix. This passes your prefix into the class and over writes the default option. The first version is the easiest.

5 => Then, simply use any of the above functions to display the relevant data. Here are some examples:

- The last person to sign my guestbook was <?php echo $stats->last_visitor(); ?>

- The last person to sign my guestbook came from <?php echo $stats->last_location(); ?>

- My guestbook was last signed on <?php echo echo $stats->last_date(); ?> by <?php echo $stats->last_visitor(); ?>

- There are currently <?php echo $stats->total_entries(); ?> in my guestbook

- There are currently <?php echo $stats->total_approve(); ?> entries awaiting approval

- Our website rating is currently <?php print $stats->get_rating(); ?>

6 => Remember to include the 'echo' or 'print' command or else no data will display. <?php tags will NOT be required if you are using your data inside an echo or print command. Example:

echo "There are currently " . $stats->total_entries() . " in my guestbook";

YOU CAN VIEW THESE EXAMPLES IN YOUR ADMIN AREA.

Sslect 'Display Stats' from the drop down menu.

» SEARCH SKIPWORDS:

If you wish, you can have certain words filtered out when someone performs a search in your guestbook. The skipped words are located in the following file:

control/skipwords.php

» COUNTRIES:

If you would like to add more countries to the drop down menu, add more options to the array in the following file:

control/countries.php