real basic question...

[uny2bld]

I just bought my first website but can't for the life of me find how to start using it.  I googled all sorts of directions but everything seems to skip this first basic step.

When I registered and had it served (yesterday) they gave me passwords, etc but it's for a secondary site not the direct site I purchased...

If it helps, my hosting service is for Joomla Software and the host is cloudaccess.net

I plan to use Joomla software on the .com extension but I wanted smf on the .net extension

I'm sorry, my lingo is probably terrible...

[Looking]

How does SMF 2 fit into this picture?

[uny2bld]

How does SMF 2 fit into this picture?

I'm using it as a reseach forum for the rest of the sites I am building - a place to organize my thoughts and communicate with others on how we want to pursue business

[TheListener]

Do you have a link we can view or is the forum not installed yet?

* Grumpy Old Sod is still confused as to what the question is

[uny2bld]

Do you have a link we can view or is the forum not installed yet?

* Grumpy Old Sod is still confused as to what the question is

No, it's not installed yet.  I can't even figure out how to use the site I purchased...  The password they gave me is to a "test" which already has joomla software on it...  I want access to my site directly. 

[TheListener]

Where was the forum installed from?

http://download.simplemachines.org/

The above link is the best place.

[uny2bld]

Where was the forum installed from?

http://download.simplemachines.org/

The above link is the best place.

I can't install it... I can't figure out how to access the site I purchased.

[TheListener]

Looking at the hosts website it looks as though they only host Joomla sites.

I'd avoid a host which states Unlimited Bandwidth anyway.

[uny2bld]

Looking at the hosts website it looks as though they only host Joomla sites.

I'd avoid a host which states Unlimited Bandwidth anyway.

I asked them when I bought the site if I could use software other than joomla and they said yes.  I guess I'll wait until their customer support is back

[uny2bld]

Ok, i found out what the problem was.  I had to buy a Linux based Hosting package...

I just did so and will try to install the smf software when I get home.

I know I am probably getting ahead of myself but I love the extra features that this parent site provides... is there a template that I could install for my site taht mimics this sites features?

[uny2bld]

I just read this in the email:

SSH , FTP, SFTP (Developers tools):
If you'd like to access your site using FTP/SFTP, we recommend you use Filezilla, a free open source FTP/SFTP client software. For SSH users, we recommend PuTTY.

the install instructions say I need PHP...  I will do some research here bc I don't know what any of that means

[iaccountant]

Joomla has a "back end" and a "front end"

Administrator (you) have access to the back end where you configure your site, including what those who sign into the front end can do.

Test site likely the back end, but whoknows.

As far as .com and .net goes, they are totally separate web sites...and each would get a separate URL or address where people can find you. Doubt this is what you mean.

You MIGHT be able to set up a subdomain, which is kinda like a partition on your hard drive, ie, a totally separate "volume", which would look line www.forum.yourname.com, just like http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Main_Page

But Joomla actually has a forum you can activate, so why bother???

[uny2bld]

I do get that the .com and .net extensions are completely different sites (probably the only thing I understand)

I know they have a forum but I want to use the smf forum because I am super comfortable with it and it suits my purposes fine for what I want to use that specific site for...

[uny2bld]

Ok, I think I screwed things up bad during install:

[Kindred]

No offense... But wtf are you doing?

It looks like you are tring to import a php file as a database....

If you are doing an install, why would you be importing anything?

Set up a blank database, upload the install archive, extra the archive and run install.php

[uny2bld]

No offense... But wtf are you doing?

It looks like you are tring to import a php file as a database....

If you are doing an install, why would you be importing anything?

Set up a blank database, upload the install archive, extra the archive and run install.php

absolutely no offense taken

I know how to open a website but thats about it...

I want to learn this stuff but all the instructions I find seem to skip the first few steps

are there instructions on how to set up a blank database?

[uny2bld]

Ok, I have a database and am using PHPMyAdmin and I have already extracted the files

the menu options I have for the database are shown in pic #1 above.

The directions on smf install say to "set your FTP client for binary transfer" but I can't figure ut how to do that.  I don't see menu options for that anywhere...

[Kindred]

if you have uploaded the install archive and extracted it on your web server, you don't need to mess with your ftp client.

just go to your website/install.php

[uny2bld]

that didn't work.  I am using filezilla and have processed all the queued files and uploaded them but now I'm searching for the next step

[Kindred]

if you have uploaded the install archive and extracted it on your web server

just go to your website/install.php

[uny2bld]

omg - I can't believe I don't understand this stuff...

I swear it looks like I transfered all the files to my domain bc the memory was 0.0 before and now it reads this when I refreshed my "Server Information"

Domain: ********
Domain Status:OnlineShow/hide message
Product Type: Standard Linux Hosting
Staging Alias: ********
IP address: *******
IPv6 address: ********
Server Name: *********
Disk Used: 10.0 MB
Max. Disk: 20480 MB

So there is 10 MB of something on there - LOL

But when I go to the webpage, nothing is there.  It just reads this message:

"Test html page, we add our custom text here"

[Kindred]

you have to specifically access install.php on the site

[uny2bld]

you mean when I type it on the browzer?  I did and it said "The webpage cannot be found "

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Does your FTP client show the forum files on your server?  install.php should be in the forum root, assuming you've extracted and uploaded the full install package.

[uny2bld]

Does your FTP client show the forum files on your server?  install.php should be in the forum root, assuming you've extracted and uploaded the full install package.

I installed the most current version and all files transfered fine...
However, there is no Install.php file in the httpdocs folder...

[Sir Osis of Liver]

It's in the forum root, the top directory into which you uploaded the install package.

[uny2bld]

I did (I believe I did)

[uny2bld]

^ that's what the httpdocs folder looks like... there is no mention of "install.php" anywhere...

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Looks like you mixed it up with something else.

Should look like this -

[uny2bld]

ok, I deleted the old files and re-Extracted the zip file and now it looks exactlyt like your list although i still don't understand how to use the "install.php"

do I enter it into my browzer after the webpage as an extention of the webpage?  I tried that and it doesn't work...

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Just use a direct link - www.domain.com/forum/install.php - in the browser address bar.

[uny2bld]

yea, I tried that and it brings me to bing...

this is so frustrating

[uny2bld]

do my logs (Error Logs / Access Logs) have anything to do with teh install?  I don't remember seeing them in the instructions...

[uny2bld]

I tried typing the link with the forum/install.php extension then using that to access the site and install the php but that just gave me a generic "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" message

[Sir Osis of Liver]

<sigh>

The url has to be the actual path to your forum, not the example I posted -

www.yourdomain.com/yourforumdirectory/install.php

Has nothing to do with anything else - you're directing your browser to install.php, wherever it is on your server.  It's a direct link to the file, which will load and run the install.

[uny2bld]

I got it.  I right clicked on the install.php file and chose "copy URL's to clipboard" then pasted them in email and used that hyperlink.

[uny2bld]

Ok, I feel the same way as this guy:

For me (as you can see by my posts) it was not easy.  I feel the SMF instructions made too many assumptions about the knowledge of someone starting out.  But I guess there is only so basic you can go 

I have downloaded the script but it won't let me alter it... I'm supposed to be able to right?

Isn't that my next step?

[Storman™]

I got it.  I right clicked on the install.php file and chose "copy URL's to clipboard" then pasted them in email and used that hyperlink.

Hmm.... not sure you have quite got it 

Do what Krash said in his post above.

I have downloaded the script but it won't let me alter it... I'm supposed to be able to right?

Isn't that my next step?

Don't understand ? What are you doing now ?

You seem to have already extracted the script and uploaded the files to your site (as in the image you posted earlier).

Next step is to actually install SMF and to do that you need to run install.php by doing what Krash said.

[uny2bld]

ok, I guess I don't understand how to find the path to my forum...

The thing I was looking at was the ftp area...

this is what it looked like:



FTP root at ******.cloudaccess.net
To view this FTP site in Windows Explorer: press Alt, click View, and then click Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

08/27/2013 03:14PM      Directory .
08/27/2013 03:14PM      Directory ..
08/27/2013 06:30AM      Directory .cagefs
08/27/2013 06:30AM      Directory .ssh
08/27/2013 06:30AM      Directory backup
08/27/2013 06:30AM      Directory fcgi
12/17/2012 12:00AM      Directory httpdocs
08/27/2013 06:30AM      Directory logs
08/27/2013 03:14PM      Directory smf_2-0-5_install

[Storman™]

You don't have to work out any complicated paths here.

Looks like you now have your files in the root of your site so simply put some similar to the following url into your web browser:

Code Select Expand

http://www.mywebsite.com/install.php

Just replace "mywebsite" with the name of your own website.

That will make the install page appear in your web browser.

[uny2bld]

That's what I have been trying to say all along.. I tried that several times and it doesn't work.  Is it bc of my hosting provider?  They have me using a temporary site before I transfer everything over to the real site.  i didn't ask for it - that's jus what they do...

This is what it looks like if you go to my webpage:



And this is what it looks like if I type "install.php" at the end:

[iaccountant]

Think of the URL path as the way to the server directory where the files are stored. It is no different from a Windows folder structure.

If I have it right, your domain path is http://www.yourdomainname.cloudaccess.com

Now when you install SMF, IF you want it to be the first thing that pops up when a visitor comes, then you'd install the forum in the root directory on your server.

Every browser looks for an index file first, so a visitor would see (once properly installed) a url that looks like this

http://www.yourdomainname.cloudaccess.com/index.php  (don't bother following this link, it goes nowhere), and they see the  forum log in page in their browser

IF you want some kind of front page that the visitor sees first, then install SMF in a forum directory on your server (which you would have to create on the server), and link to the /forum/index.php file directly via a menu link from that page

Your visitor will see this in their browser bar

http://www.yourdomainname.cloudaccess.com/forum/index.php   and see the log in page in their browser

Wherever you install the installation package, say in a forum directory, (meaning create the folder first) you would point your browser to the install file, like this

http://www.yourdomainname.cloudaccess.com/forum/install.php

When you do, you will see the installation page where you can finalize the installation.

[uny2bld]

This is where I installed it which I thought was the root...

[Arantor]

Nope, httpdocs is the bit that will contain your web files (your account does more than just serve a website), so you need to put all the files in there.

You can either make it the whole site (put it in the root without any extra folders, so httpdocs/index.php is the main index.php file) or you can put in a subfolder (like httpdocs/smf/index.php) depending on what you're trying to do.

[uny2bld]

OMG!  It looks like I finally did it with lots and lots of help... 

I tried putting the files in there like Arantor said but it didn't work teh way I thought it would so then I thought I would just rename the "smf_2-0-5_install" directory to "Forums" then tried the hyperlink I made for it and it looks like it worked...

[uny2bld]

now it says the webpage cannot be displayed when I try to go to step #3

[uny2bld]

I figured it out... I tried to have it create it's own directory and it seemed to work but then I realized my control pannel lists it so I used that and finished the install.

I actually have a forum now... what takes some 5 minutes took me 10 hours - lol

That's ok though.  I learned a lot especially since I knew absolutely nothing before.

Thanks everyone for the help!