vendor_ll Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 Dear all, I'm new around here. While all this opensource activity looks interesting and useful, there seems to be something lacking. It's so good that there are so many contributions for any need and more, but it seems that you can't just freely pick any contrib and install. Once you have installed one (or two if you have luck) contrib the files are changed and no more contribs can be installed. Am I missing something? Thanks
GraphicsGuy Posted June 22, 2004 Posted June 22, 2004 No, you're not missing anything, it is challenging, but is possible if done carefully. I have quite a few successfully installed on my store to give it the functionality that I want. There were a couple that required the assistance of a programmer, but the rest I was able to apply with varying degrees of ease and difficulty. These are what I consider to be vital keys to doing this: If your site is live, set up a dublicate site in a different location (be sure to set up a separate database) for testing mods first. Backup before applying any contribution (even on the test store), in case the mod breaks it. Use a code comparison program to apply file changes (I use WinMerge) If it doesn't work, review your site's log files. They will often tell you exactly where and what the error is. Search the forum. With many thousands of users, unless it is a new contrib, odds are that somebody else has encountered the problem before. Either take some time first, or learn as you go, but learning a little about PHP syntax will make it a lot easier. Not necessarily learning enough to write your own code (although that helps even more) but at least an understanding of some of the correct syntax. A good amount of patience. Rule #1: Without exception, backup your database and files before making any changes to your files or database. Rule #2: Make sure there are no exceptions to Rule #1.
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