Huh? Does Anyone Speak English? I am ready to cry now! Help!?!? Complete Dolt Here! *sniffle* *whimper* *whine!*
Hi!
I use Blue Host as my host and installed the Drupal with the Fantastico installation. I have realized I haven't the slightest clue what I am doing. You see, I am a cut and paste type of guy who hasn't really done anything other than create webpages with Frontpage 2003 :-( So, please when you provide your generous replies... speak to me in the 7th grade mentality my English doesn't extend into true techo jargon.
Anyway, I used fantastico because I couldn't figure out how to open the download (drupal-4.7.4.tar.gz) to even see what was in there. I figured I was okay and wouldn't have to mess with anything else because I had the fantastico installation.
THEN, I started out with trying to set up the first account in order to establish the installation. I read some things on the site here and realized I needed a module. So, I download it (ecommerce-4.7.x-2.1.tar.gz) and now I am stuck on how to get it put into action.
QUESTION 1) What the heck do I do with a ".gz" file now it is in a folder on my desktop?
I got to the cronjobs portion of the settings. I haven't a clue on how the heck this is to be cofigured or what I should actually type in this area. Bringing me to
QUESTION 2) Is it really essential to do something there?
Now, that these two questions are up in the air and out to you experts. I hope for lead in the right direction. I am sure after these two minor start blockers are out of the way, you'll see more of my confusion emit its way through the forums.
But, hey.... You won't learn until you ask and you won't know, if you don't learn and maybe after I am up to snuff I could help the next "me" that enters this forum.
I hope to hear from someone much smarter than I before my brain implodes.
Thank you,
Chris
Some help is better than none
Question 1: OK, not a lot of time so the biggest help I can tell you is that Google is your friend. Then I will tell you tha that the *.gz file is the equivalent of a .zip file in Windows. It must be "untarred" and "gunzipped". Easiest thing to do is to find a software program for windows that will do that so you can extract them on yoru hard drive. Then upload the resulting directory to drupal's /module directory on your server.
Question 2: I'm not familiar with fantastico so not sure what it is supposed to do. Can't help.
Finally, a piece of advice: The only way to learn this stuff is to bang your head against a wall a few thousand times, consult google frequently, and do your best to piece things together. It's a large jigsaw puzzle you are trying to figure out and the only way to solve it is one piece at at time. With enough patience and time and persistence, it will come together for you. We all started out where you were. The trip can be a very rewarding experience if you are of the right mindset.
--
Prometheus
some modules (search module)
some modules (search module for example) rely on cron.php to be run regularly. Thus yes it is very much a benefit to have it running. Of course, you could just visit your own http://www.yoursite.com/cron.php and have it run manually.
DON'T overset settings in settings.php.
For beginners set the db connection string. Set other settings on if necessary based on experience and what you are trying to do with Drupal.
it would benefit you also to have a look at this handbook page: http://drupal.org/forum-posting
there is an install.txt file in the module you are trying to install. It will tell you what to do with the folder that you extract from the tar ball. (.gz file)
winrar from rarlabs opens gz files, there may be a free tool or two around that also extracts these archives.
Found a Free One!
Thank you!
Apparently, I don't have the cron installed with the host... I will call support and discuss that with them. There is a place for me to add stuff either in a standard or advanced method of entry. I'll figure that out with them later and perhaps get back to you.
As far as getting the gz files.... As mentioned above, Google is our friend. :-) In the event anyone else runs into a problem like wondering how to open these types of files, I found the following to do wonderfully because the price is FREE..(it even worked with my Windows 64-bit OS):
http://www.7-zip.org:
--------------------------------------------
Welcome to the 7-Zip Home!
7-Zip is a file archiver with high compression ratio.
7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL (except for the RAR plugin).
Download 7-Zip 4.42 (2006-05-14) for Windows:
Link Type Windows Size
Download .exe 32-bit 818 KB
Download .msi 873 KB
Download x64 1238 KB
Download links redirect to download pages on SourceForge.net
You can make a donation to support further development of 7-Zip.
The main features of 7-Zip:
High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression
Supported formats:
Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS
For ZIP and GZIP formats 7-Zip provides compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
Self-extracting capability for 7z format
Integration with Windows Shell
Powerful File Manager
Powerful command line version
Plugin for FAR Manager
Localizations for 63 languages
7-Zip works in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP. There is port of command line version for Linux/Unix.
7-Zip (except for the file Rar29.dll) is a free software distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License. The file Rar29.dll is under mixed license: GNU LGPL + unRAR restriction (the unRAR sources cannot be used to re-create the RAR compression algorithm, which is proprietary).
On 7-Zip's Source Forge Page you can find forum, bugs report and feature request systems.
Compression ratio
We compared 7-Zip with some of the leading archivers.
FILE SETS: Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 for Windows and Google Earth 3.0.0616 for Windows after full installation.
Archiver Mozilla Firefox Google Earth
161 files
15,684,168 bytes 115 files
23,530,652 bytes
Compressed size Ratio Compressed size Ratio
7-Zip 4.23 (7z format) 4621135 100% 6109183 100%
WinRAR 3.50 5021556 109% 6824892 112%
CABARC 5.1 5131393 111% 7434325 122%
WinZip 10.0 beta (maximum-PPMd) 5277118 114% 8200708 134%
7-Zip 4.23 (zip format) 6222627 135% 8909446 146%
WinZip 10.0 beta (maximum-portable) 6448666 140% 9153898 150%
Compression ratio results are very dependent upon the data used for the tests. Usually 7-Zip compresses to 7z format 30-70% better than to zip format. And 7-Zip compresses to zip format 2-10% better than most of other zip compatible programs.
A Picture On The Puzzle Box
I am pretty happy to hear the encouragement! I just wanted you to know that this jig-saw puzzle is worse than normal because I really don't have a picture on the box to go by. LOL!
I am pretty confident I will get there. I wish there was just a step-by-step, follow the instructions to a 'T', guide for installation... and voila. I don't really need the customization pieces mixed in the middle yet. But, I will get there. Maybe that guide should be my next project! :-)
~Chris
PS: Thanks again, Coach!
A quick search turned up
A quick search turned up this thread which I thought you might be interested in:
http://drupal.org/node/75265
Blue Host
Interesting and I thank you for the heads up! Blue Host has this nifty little thing called a Fantastico... it installs everything for you automatically... Well, almost everything.
At any rate, it just installed Drupal for me and provided the following feedback:
Short description: An advanced portal with collaborative book, search engines friendly URLs, online help, roles, full content search, site watching, threaded comments, version control, blogging, news aggregator.
Homepage: http://drupal.org/
Drupal support forum
(We are not associated with the support forum)
New Installation (4.7.4)
Disk space required: 2.28 MB
Disk space available: 3734.5 MB
So, I hope the problem to be solved. Do you think I should be concerned?
No to Fantastico!
Hi!
You can read http://drupal.org/forum/fantastico-de-luxe also http://drupal.org/node/75265
When I was looking for a better CMS a few months back, I tried installing most CMSs Fantastico provides.....and here I am! After browsing thru drupal.org pages, I have learned that a fantastico-installled Drupal site isn't the way to go. So I deleted the fantastico-installled Drupal site and installed from scratch. Drupal is so easy to install manually that you don't need Fantastico for that. If you wish, continue with your fantastico install for experimentation purposes. Then if you feel that you have a little clue of what Drupal is, then it's time to install Drupal the proper way. This will save you a lot of problems in the future.
You Sold Me on NO TO FANTASTICO
After reading the comments in the links you provided, you may have just saved me about 9 million hours of frustration for the future!!!! THANK YOU!
Bottom Line Up Front: "Fantastico makes it harder, not easier, to run a secure and up-to-date Drupal site."
I'm going to delete the current installation and start from scratch :-)
~Thanks, again!
This is good especially since I know how to open those dang tar.gz files now :-) (See above)
I agree that fantastico is a
I agree that fantastico is a bad way to install for a live site. it is much easier to install than users make it on themselves.
here is a video cast that shows you with visual aide how to install. http://drupal.org/videocasts/installing-4.7
WOW! If I can do this, anyone can! [I'm just slower than you]
So, there I was tyring to figure out what the "puzzle" looked like BEFORE I put it together. I threw some words out there to you folks and now I know... THIS DRUPAL THING FREAKING ROCKS!
I honestly believe (and I still haven't even began to tinker with this too much) Drupal blows the CubeCart out of the water for as far a e-commerce tool goes! WOW! I think I paid something like 70 bucks for that. WOW...
After struggling to get this thing online - I just realized after reading more into it... This is pretty powerful if you want it to be. KUDOS to the brains of the world.
You guys all rock and thanks for bearing with my newbieness! Okay... I need at least 3 hours of sleep before I go to the office tomorrow.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Thank you all! I installed it and it is running fine! Next phase, adding a bunch of modules and changing the look!
Then, hope someone comes along with plans on using what I throw out there! :-)
~Chris
Seriously, I am truely impressed with this little discovery. My prediction is Drupal will explode in usage throughout TONS of sites... at least double the amount by next year.
Drupal by David Mercer
Hi
A quick plug. I am by no means new to cms or php etc but as I have decided to use Drupal I felt I ought to read more about it. I bought the above book from Amazon and it really is brilliant. It is basically a manual on how to install and maintain Drupal. It covers tons of stuff and is well worth the money. It will save you a ton of time.
Hope that helps.
Rich
Plugged
Well, that was an easy sale! I just got a used one from Amazon for US$31.50.... should be here in a few days. I love saving time :-)
I am so glad to have found this little place. It is awesome!
THANK YOU ALL!
~Chris