Introducing the new PacerCMS Installer

Note: This is the second in a three part series leading up to the release of PacerCMS 0.5. You can start building for the upcoming version by downloading our preview release.

Installer

Installation is a snap with PacerCMS 0.5.

Installers are usually the last element of an application put into place before a release. Of course, it doesn't make much sense to write a program without one. PacerCMS 0.5 introduces our first version of an install script, based heavily on the concepts presented (and in some cases, even the code base) of the WordPress blogging platform. While it is not quite as easy as the "Famous Five Minute Installation", we believe it ranks right on up there.

Now on to the installation.

Requirements

Getting Started


With a bit of experience with setting up a Web application, you should be able to navigate these instructions with relative ease. If you have any questions, just drop us a line in the PacerCMS Developers Group.

Database

  1. Using a tool such as phpMyAdmin, create a database for your tables to reside within.
  2. You will need to know the hostname, database name, username and password for your database installation.
  3. Assign read and write permissions to the user that will be accessing the database. We recommend creating a separate user account that only has permissions on this one database for security reasons.

PHP Scripts

  1. Upload the entire contents of the package to your server root, typically an htdocs, www or public folder.
  2. If you have access to the command line, change the file permissions for the cache directory. (example: chmod 777 cache/)
  3. You will also need write permissions on the ./includes folder if you wish to use the config file writer. (example: chmod 777 includes/)

Web Based Installation

  1. Open your Web browser to http://path_to_pacercms/INSTALL/, with the CAPTIAL letters.
  2. If you have already made the ./includes folder writable, you should be prompted to create the config file.
  3. Complete the steps provided to create the config.php file that will reside in ./includes folder.
  4. Upon successful completion, you will be directed to the installer.
  5. Complete the steps provided to create the database structure and load the default data.
  6. Be sure to write down the random password given to you, and change it to one that is easy to remember but hard to guess.

Site Settings

  1. Login to the Site Administration section by opening http://path_to_pacercms/siteadmin/ in your browser.
  2. Use the login credentials created during the installation process.
  3. Review the Settings module to add contact information for your publication.
  4. Review the Sections module to make the sections reflect the section name and editors used by your publication.
  5. Open the Users module to change the password or add contact information for the site administrator.
  6. Use the Users module to create login accounts for each contributor the site, using the Access sub-module to control how they interact with the Web site.

We have also posted these install instructions on our documentation site should you need more detailed information. Remember, to use this feature you will need version 0.5 or higher. Have a question about using the new installer? Just shoot an e-mail to our developer community and we will be happy to assist.