Is the wiki broken? + extensive comments on install page.

[RalphMellor]

I tried to add the following as a comment to http://wiki.oscommerce.com/helpInstallNew

 

Then I tried to add a comment to the sandbox.

 

In both cases, the result appeared to be a noop. Is the wiki currently broken, editing wise?

 

You seem to have adopted a wiki as a tool just for insiders (I say this because of what looks like a decision to enable append rights but not general edit rights for the general public); that's a shame, because a wiki is by far and away at its most effective when the general public has open access, despite perceived problems about vandals and accidents ruining content. Anyhow, I'd appreciate edit access to the wiki.

 

Here is the comment I tried to add to http://wiki.oscommerce.com/helpInstallNew

 

-----------------------------------

 

Thanks for adding a wiki. Thanks for this info.

 

Notes:

 

0. You've made it real hard to discover and rediscover this wiki. (Unless one remembers the wiki. subdomain name, one has to go through about 6 obscure links to get here.)

 

1. Where's the .tars? The most recent I could find was a 2.2.MS1. Perhaps this wiki should say something about that.

 

2. The distribution INSTALL file (dated feb 17) suggests one renames the admin folder "to a unique and secret name". What's up with that? Should that be mentioned in this wiki?

 

3. The lines on this wiki page near "Or if you put the admin folder inside the catalog folder it would be:" seem to show the catalog/admin pair reversed (admin indented when it shouldn't be and vice-versa).

 

4. The INSTALL file suggests one does not need to create a db. I just ran the /catalog/install without creating the DB and we'll see what happens...

 

5. The pages generated by this wiki reformat nicely to fit a long tall browser display, which is what I usually have when I install software using some terminal windows while simultaneously displaying instructions in a browser (moz firebird). In contrast, the pages generated by the /catalog/install script don't reformat nicely, forcing me to use a horizontal scrollbar. The latter is true of the regular website, which appears to be based on the same stylesheet or at least style.

 

6. The Install / Step 2 & 3 instructions seem redundant with the instructions displayed by the /catalog/install script itself. Some forms of redundancy is A Good Thing, but I don't see how this helps, and unless it's an automated process to keep this and the INSTALL file in sync, it seems only a matter of time before they get confusingly out of sync.

 

7. Presumably you say 777 if not 706 on the basis that the former eliminates permissions as an issue. I set it to 766 instead and everything seemed OK.

 

8. In this page, "editing the apache configuration file located at /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf" should presumably be followed by a hint to kill -HUP the httpd server (or whatever works on windows), right?

 

9. In this page, "To install the catalog folder into the root directory put the catalog files into the root directory and point your domain to:..." is a confusing comment. Presumably this suggestion relates to something one can optionally do, and if so, should do at an earlier stage in the instructions, right?

 

Anyhow, I just clicked the Catalog and Admin buttons and all seems well. :> Compared to what I was anticipating for Interchange, this was a breeze. We shall see how things pan out. Thanks again!

 

--

ralph (me [at] self [dash] reference [dot] com)

[Guest]

Hi,

 

2. The distribution INSTALL file (dated feb 17) suggests one renames the admin folder "to a unique and secret name". What's up with that? Should that be mentioned in this wiki?

 

What file are you looking at? I could not find this file or statement in any of the files.

 

3. The lines on this wiki page near "Or if you put the admin folder inside the catalog folder it would be:" seem to show the catalog/admin pair reversed (admin indented when it shouldn't be and vice-versa).

 

I make these changes.

 

4. The INSTALL file suggests one does not need to create a db. I just ran the /catalog/install without creating the DB and we'll see what happens...

 

Where is this statement? I couldn't find it either.

 

7. Presumably you say 777 if not 706 on the basis that the former eliminates permissions as an issue. I set it to 766 instead and everything seemed OK.

 

It doesn't matter. Set it to what works. For some people 766 works and for others 777 works.

 

8. In this page, "editing the apache configuration file located at /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf" should presumably be followed by a hint to kill -HUP the httpd server (or whatever works on windows), right?

 

These installation instructions are for linux and not for a windows installation. If someone has their own server I am sure they know they will have to restart apache after changing the httpd.conf file.

 

9. In this page, "To install the catalog folder into the root directory put the catalog files into the root directory and point your domain to:..." is a confusing comment. Presumably this suggestion relates to something one can optionally do, and if so, should do at an earlier stage in the instructions, right?

 

Not necessarily. Most people install their store into a folder called catalog or whatever they want. I can try to make it more clear or do you have some suggestions on how it should be worded?