Install PHP Scripts Yourself

Installing PHP scripts is a fairly simple task. All you need is an FTP program, and you are all set. Below I’ll go over how to install scripts using my favorite FTP program, AceFTP. You can download it at freeware.aceftp.com.

Unzip the Files
Before we begin, you’ll need to have the script you want to install (or upgrade files) on your computer. They typically come in a .zip or .gz file. If you need a program to unzip files, check out www.7-zip.org. Unzip the files to a seperate folder on your computer. I keep all my files in a folder called /Sites/Sitename.com/, this way they are all organized.

Read the Readme
Just about every script comes with a readme.txt file. They typically will have instructions on what files to upload and where, or they will give you a URL to goto for this information. If there is no readme file, don’t fret.. It should still be just as easy.

Upload the Files
To upload the files, first you’ll need to connect to your webserver. With AceFTP you can goto File->Connect and create a Site Profile, so your FTP info will be saved for future use. Then double click the profile icon to connect.

The files on the left side are your computer’s files, and the files on the right are your webserver files. Simply click your way to the folder you unzip the files to on the left side, and on the right side goto your web folder (usually public_html or www). Then drag the files you want to upload from the left to the right.

CHMODing Files
With unix servers each file has set permissions for who can read, write, and execute them. PHP scripts don’t need to be CHMODed, so you can leave them alone (unless otherwise instructed to in the readme). To change the permissions (or chmod) a file, just right click it in the list in the right, click properties, and enter the value under CHMOD value. There is an easy to see group of check boxes, so you can see what permissions the file has. You can also CTRL/SHIFT click mutliple files/folders and CHMOD them all at once.

Simply CHMOD any files specified in the readme file. If you run the scripts and get a Permission Denied error, CHMOD the file that is listed as trying to be opened. If that file doesn’t exsist, you can CHMOD the directory it is supposed to be in, or create a blank file and upload that, and CHMOD that.

Configure your scripts
Each script is different, but there will generally be directions in the readme. If not settings can usually be found in the scripts themselves (open the file with notepad, and upload after making any changes), an install script, or admin script. The CLiX Network typically has an admin.php script with a default password of “password”, or a config.php file with variables inside.

If your settings are defined inside a script, make sure you read the descriptions carefully (good programmers will have self-explainatory variable names anyways). PHP Variables are setup as follows:

$variable = value;

Note that text values are enclosed in quotes. Examples:
$password = "password";
$credits = .1;

Make sure you put quotes on both sides, and you end the line with a semicolon. Also, variable names always start with a $ and don’t have any spaces or special characters!

Thats It
See, not so bad! The first time you’ll do it slowly, but soon you’ll be just like the Pros!