Install

Requirements

Installing UWiKiCMS requires an Apache 1.3 / PHP 4.3 server and a MySQL 3.23 database. Those versions are the minimum required, however it's likely that it will work with more recent software (Apache 2, PHP 5, MySQL 4). However, this hasn't been tested.

Default install assumes that the Apache serveur reads and understands .htaccess files in the DocumentRoot, and that the ErrorDocument directive is accepted.

A PhpMyAdmin access or a good knowledge of how to write SQL requests "by hand" can help a lot, since some opérations can only be achieved through low level database operations.

The configuration script only works under UNIX. This might not be convenient for Windows users. Quick answer: the day Windows will provide a decent scripting system, a solution might arise. Meanwhile, use Cygwin and/or GNU/Linux.

How to install

PHP code

The ./configure script calls ./configure.php. Therefore php must be available as a command line tool in /usr/bin or so (php4-cli package under Debian for instance).

This is what ./configure.php does:

So if the script does not work, don't panic, you only need to copy "-dist files" to "without -dist files", and edit them by hand.

./configure accepts options of the form --key="value", see the different scripts in ./misc to get an idea of how it works. I use these scripts to parameter my own personnal sites. Copy one of these scripts and modify it at will. As these scripts are actually used, there are likely to be up to date, unlike any documentation 8-)

Available options follow:

Once the configuration is done, put all the files on the PHP server, using ftp ftp instance.

Note that there's some black magic in UWiKiCMS, and that it's very important that the .htaccess file at the root of your website exists, and that it contains the right value for the ErrorDocument directive. If not, nothing will work.

Database

There's no such thing as a "back-office" for the super administrator in UWiKiCMS, which would allow you to handle users. The basic reason is that anything I would have written myself would have been much less efficient than the genuine PhpMyAdmin.

Before installing you need to edit ./sql/mysql.sql and:

Pass this script on the MySQL server.

Drink coffee.

First connection

Try to access your web site URL, which is in fact the concatenation of $siteurl and $htprefix (remember, the values passed to ./configure...).

Logically you should get a "404 Not found" error, in its UWiKiCMS flavour (that is you should read UWiKiCMS at the bottom of the page). This error is normal, since you haven't created any content yet. Click on "Connect", a login form appears. Type the user/passwd of your administrator profile (by default admin/admin, highly secured). "Continue". Now you should see a page creation form with "No title". Edit this document, it will be your home page.

Last test, try to access $siteurl$htprefix/titi/toto. Basically, if your site is installed on "localhost/foo", try to get "localhost/foo/titi/toto". If you get the same error page than previously (the UWiKiCMS flavoured 404 page), everything's fine. If you get Apache's default 404 page, there's something wrong with the file "localhost/foo/.htaccess".

Now, everything is up and running, it's over.

Toy arround, try things without bothering to read the manual (I would have done the same), UWiKiCMS has few features so that you can master all of them quickly.

Users handling

No "back-office", why?

Simply because by coding a "add user, modify user, delete user" interface, I would have felt like reinventing the wheel.

The UWiKiCMS typical use is two or three contributors managing a single website. UWiKiCMS is very poor in terms of collaborative work, so it's globally not designed for massive multi-users usage.

In this context, managing users through PhpMyAdmin seems acceptable, if not preferable.

Structure of uwikicms_user table

user_id
the login used to connect.
user_passwd
the corresponding password, crypted with MD5
user_label
the users label (ie firstname + lastname)
user_copyright_holder
the copyright holder for all contents edited by this user. Note that UWiKiCMS displays a message at the bottom of every page, which basically says that the document is "copylefted" (using the GNU FDL) and that the copyright belongs to this defined "copyright holder". To change this behaviour, you need to edit the code, which is perfectly allowed and possible.
user_email
the users email. It's not necessary to define it, especially if one whishes to escape the 500 tons of spam which will undoubtly fill any mail box that is publicly displayed on the web.
user_status
the user's status, ranging from 0 to 3.
user_domain_regex
for status 2 contributors, defines the sections they're allowed to edit.

The user_status has the following meaning:

"0"
anonymous, creating such a user does not make any sense
"1"
visitor, invited. That type of user cannot edit content, but they can read all the "password protected" documents. Typically I use this profile to publish informations which are not highly confidential but must not be harvested by robots nor seen by absolutely anyone. I spread the password widely and do not really care if someone steals it.
"2"
contributor. These users can edit content. It's possible to "sandbox" them and limit the sections they're allowed to edit. This achieved by editing a regex (regular expression). For instance to limit edition to the toto zone, the regex "/toto" is just what your need.
"3"
administrator. Can do anything. Can edit "confidential" content, which can only be seen by an administrator.

Pratical examples

Here are a few SQL requests which show basic user management:

Creating a contributor: 

 INSERT INTO uwikicms_user 
 (user_id, user_passwd, user_label, user_copyright_holder, user_email, user_status, user_domain_regex)
 VALUES ('toto',MD5('0+0=0'),'Mr Toto','Toto','toto@ufoot.org',2,'/toto');

Changing password: 

 UPDATE uwikicms_user 
 SET user_passwd=MD5('lateteatoto') 
 WHERE user_id='toto';

Deleting user: 

 DELETE FROM uwikicms_user
 WHERE user_id='toto';
Page generated by UWiKiCMS on Fri Sep 23 2005.
Copyleft © 2005 Christian Mauduit (GNU FDL).
Updated on Mon Jun 13 2005.