PHP Classifieds Tutorial and Installation How To

This tutorial describes how to use the PHP Classifieds classified software with your NEXCESS.NET web hosting account. NEXCESS.NET specializes in hosting PHP Classifieds software and this tutorial is meant to help you quickly setup your site with our web hosting service.

If you don't own a license for PHP Classifieds, you can purchase one at the PHP Classifieds website.

For the sake of this tutorial we'll assume that you own the domain 'johnsmith.com' and are setting up PHP Classifieds at http://johnsmith.com/phpclassifieds/.

Follow these steps to complete the tutorial:

1. The first thing to do is to run through the SiteWorx MySQL tutorial and create a database for PHP Classifieds to use to store the information it needs.

   Create a database called 'phpclassifieds' with a user named 'phpclassifieds'. When you do this SiteWorx will prefix the database and user names with some text resembling your domain name.

   With our example domain of 'johnsmith.com' the database name is 'johnsmit_phpclassifieds' and the username is the same 'johnsmit_phpclassifieds'.
2. Download the latest version of PHP Classifieds from the PHP Classifieds website and unzip the contents of the zip file to your desktop using http://winzip.com. You should now have a folder which contains all the files and folders you need to install and run PHP Classifieds.
3. Upload the 'phpclassifieds' folder to your web hosting account. You should do this using an FTP Program. If you need help with FTPing files, you can check out the FTP tutorials on our tutorials page.

   Once the PHP Classifieds files and folders are finished uploading, you need to change permissions on some of the folders in order for the script to write to them. You can do this using the CHMOD command in your FTP program. If you don't know how to do this, check out the FTP tutorial on our tutorials page. For this example, we'll change the permissions as follows:

   • CHMOD the 'images' folder to 777
   • CHMOD the 'admin' folder to 777
   • CHMOD the 'admin/config' folder to 777
   • CHMOD the 'wap' folder to 777
4. Now we can access the PHP Classifieds installer. In this example, we'll point to 'http://www.johnsmith.com/phpclassifieds/install.php'. You should now be on the first page of the install wizard. The error checking section should show no errors. If you receive any errors, make sure you set the correct permissions for the folders in the last step. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'START INSTALLATION' link to continue. You should now be on step #1 of the installation. You need to enter the information for the database you created in step #1 of this tutorial. For this example, we'll enter the information as follows:

   • Hostname (often localhost) : localhost
   • DB Username : johnsmit_phpclassifieds
   • DB Password : mypassword
   • Databasename: johnsmith_phpclassifieds

   Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click on the 'Create databasefile' button to continue. The file should have been created successfully. If you receive any errors, make sure you entered the correct information for your database. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'Go on to level 2' link to continue. You should now be on step #2 of the installation. The script wants you to choose names for each table in your database. You can change these values if you'd like but for this example, we're going to leave them set as the default values. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'Create tables' button to continue. The tables should be created successfully. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'Next step' link to continue. You should now be on step #3 of the installation. The script will now attempt to generate some files needed for the script to run. The path should be correct so you shouldn't need to change it. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'Save' button to continue. The files should be created successfully. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click on the 'Next step' link to continue. The script will now attempt to created files for password protection of the 'admin' folder on your webspace. Choose a username and password for your admin account. You will use this account to manage your PHP Classifieds. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click on the 'Create passwordprotection' button to continue. The files should be created successfully. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'Next step' link to continue. Your PHP Classifieds installation is now ALMOST complete. Using your FTP program, delete the 'install.php' file for security reasons. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click on the 'Setconfig' link to login to the admin control panel and save your settings. You should get a popup window asking you to enter the login and password to access the admin directory. Enter the username and password you created during the installation. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click 'Ok' to login. You should now be logged into the PHP Classifieds admin control panel. Your screen should look like this:

   

5. Click on the 'General Setup' link at the top of the page. You need to fill out these fields in order for the script to run. You can leave the settings in the database table section set as the defaults. Your screen should look like this:

   

   Click the 'Save' button to save these settings. Your settings should have been saved successfully. Your screen should look like this:

   

   You can now access the main page of your PHP Classifieds. Click on the 'View Frontpage' link on the left side of the control panel. This will popup your classifieds page in a new window. Your screen should look like this:

   

   You can now use the control panel to manage your PHP Classifieds. The PHP Classifieds tutorial is now complete.

   For more information on how to use PHP Classifieds once it's installed, check out the PHP Classifieds Manual.

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