InstallationGuide

DornCMS Installation Guide

This is for installing DornCMS versions 1.4 or greater. To install a previous version of DornCMS, check out the [OldInstallationGuide].

The installation process has been greatly simplified and no longer requires editing any files.

Step 1: Download Files

Download the lastest .zip file from the Downloads Section

Extract this .zip file and upload everything to the server.

Step 2: Run Install Script

Point to the install.php script from your browser and fill out the form.

If you installed the site to the mysite/ directory on your server, go to

http://domain.com/mysite/install.php

If you installed the site to the root on your server, go to

http://domain.com/install.php

On most server set-ups, the default values should work fine. The only thing you need to customize are the incoming and outgoing email addresses.

warning: Make sure you only put valid .htaccess commands in the .htaccess Commands textbox. If there is an error in these commands, your server will stop working and you'll need to edit the .htaccess file manually and fix any errors.

Step 3: Verify Installation

Once you hit submit on the install script, you should see the default home page in a small frame. If everything looks correct, the installation worked fine and you can delete the install.php file on the server. Below are some possible errors that may occur during the installation process:

• Error about file permissions - The install.php script reads from and writes to files on the server. The script needs to have sufficient privileges to work correctly. You can set the permissions manually and re-run the install.php script.
• Styles not displayed on home page - This probably means you have $site_root set the incorrect value. Run the install.php script again and put the correct $site_root.
• 404 Error - This most likely means you have the wrong RewriteBase in the .htaccess file. Run the install.php script again and put the correct RewriteBase.
• Internal Server Error - This means you have an invalid .htaccess command. Unfortunately, you have to take care of this problem by editing the .htaccess file manually since the install.php script will not work until the problem is resolved. After fixing the problem, run the install.php script again, this time making sure to only include valid .htaccess commands.

To check out the administrative back-end, add "cms/" at the end of your site (http://dorncms.com/cms/ or http://dorncms.com/mysite/cms/). The default username and password are admin and password. Make sure to change your username, password, or both as soon as possible.

Step 4: Delete Install Script

When the site is installed correctly, you need to delete the install.php script from your server. If you don't delete this script, someone with a malicious intent could potentially render your site unusable.

If you are working on a development machine and want to stop the pop-up reminders from appearing, set your DEBUG_LEVEL to 1 in server/server.php. If you don't want any debug information shown but still want the pop-up hidden, you can set DEBUG_LEVEL to something between 0 and 1 like "0.5".

More Information

Check out these other wiki pages for useful information on using and customizing your site.

• [UserGuide] - Basic information on how to log into the back-end, how to create/edit pages, etc.
• [Templates] - A guide to making any HTML template work with DornCMS. This requires some HTML knowledge.
• [Mobile Sites] - A guide to creating a mobile version of your website that people will see by default when using a mobile device.
• [Multi-Language Sites] - A guide to using the internationalization framework to show different content to users in different countries.
• [Plugins] - A guide to making plugins for customizing the back-end content editor for your site. This requires some PHP and Javascript knowledge.