Online Web Building v2 - Read Me File

See Also: Database Info and Upgrading from Version 1

Important To Do 1st
The database is set up with the Admin account:
User Name: admin
Password: admin
It is strongly recommended that you login to the admin section (http://localhost/userpages2/admin/ if on your local machine) and change these to something that cannot easily be guessed by another user, otherwise everyone else will be able to edit your site.

Please report any bugs to me - I will try and fix these as soon as possible: jldesign@ntlworld.com
Please vote for me if you like this application :-) .... see the "@PSC_ReadMe...." text file.
http://www.planet-source-code.com

What's New in Version 2
After listening to the people that downloaded the first version of userpages, I have made some adjustments to the files in a bid to improve this small application. Thank you for your comments, they inspired me to enhance the first version.

Version 2 contains the following additional functions:

  • Internal links - a drop-down list of links that the user has made, thereby inserting links to other pages (the easy way!).

  • Delete actual images on the server as well as the reference to image in the database is now implemented within the file delete_image.asp so that there isn't a build up of unused image files on your server.

  • Administration section - for editing user accounts, removing offensive pages/images, adding other administrators etc.

  • A choice of menu styles to use for the navigation menu at the top of the pages (just by re-naming an include file - see below). You can also add your own style navigation by editing the file userpages_nav.asp in the "includes" folder.

  • Optional upload file that doesn't create new folders for each user (the default file uploads.asp creates a new folder for each person's images). The file "upload1.asp" may be swapped for upload.asp to resolve folder permissions if you have limited access to set permissions on your server. The folder userpics still needs write permissions set but the alternative file causes less problems with file uploading as folders are not created on-the-fly.

  • Page background colours - an option has been added to insert the background colour of your choice. Choose a colour from the pop-up window list of colours.

  • A few minor alterations have also been applied to the pages such as limiting page names and image titles to 25 characters (so that the drop-down box for the links and image bank doesn't get too long in the page).

Introduction
I have built this collection/application to show the workings of a small dynamic site to beginners of ASP/Access database interaction and have modelled it around an example site that I would have liked to learn from when first starting ASP. I have tried to keep it as simple and uncluttered as possible and also compatible with Macromedia UltraDev 4, which is one of the easiest programs to use when learning to build ASP web pages.
Users can build a web page with an online WYSIWYG HTML editor, upload their images use them in their pages. If opened from within UltraDev, the file notes provide guidance and tips on how the pages work and how to edit them if you need help.

Please Note: The Online Editor needs Windows 95 or later and Internet Explorer 5 or above to be accessed (editing pages) but all browsers are able to view the finished pages.

Overview
Registration
The simple registration form checks the newly chosen User Name to make sure it is unique, if not you are requested to choose another. Users can then log into the site and build and edit their own creations.
Uploading Images
Using a web page form, users can upload images which are then saved to a folder on the server and are accessible from the online editor for insertion into their pages from a drop-down menu, linked to their image list in the database. The uploaded files are saved to a folder named with the persons User Name that is made on-the-fly if the folder doesn't already exist. If you have trouble uploading or setting the permissions on the "userpics" folder, you may use the file uploads1.asp so that the images only upload to the folder "userpics" and does not make any new folders. This may eliminate the problems encountered whilst uploading on the server.
User Access/Page Protection
User's access to their pages and images are controlled by a session variable (MM_Username), so each person can only edit/delete their own work. The pages have been designed to only allow registered users access to the page building and uploading sections, thus eliminating "anonymous" editing of pages.
Styles and Images
You can customise the appearance of this site too. The navigation buttons at the top of the pages are displayed from the include file "userpages_nav.asp", so changing the buttons/navigation to your own design is easy, as are the styles and formatting which are all linked to a CSS file. I have included 3 options for the navigation buttons, style 1, style 2 and style 3 (click to preview). All that needs to be done is to save the include file that contains your chosen style as userpages_nav.asp. i.e. save the file "userpages_nav3.asp" as "userpages_nav.asp" to use the styles in folder "images3".
Administration
There is now an administrator section where you can control much of the content that users put on your site. You can remove users or give them administrator rights, remove pages and delete images.

The site has been tested and worked on Windows 2000 Professional and NT4. It can be seen working at: http://www.design4online.net/userpages2/ (Version 2). I have also set up a forum for any comments at: http://www.design4online.net/forum/default.asp
Version 1 can be seen working at: http://www.design4online.net/userpages/

Feedback is welcome and would like to know if you find it good, bad, interesting, boring or have any errors coming up etc.
Thanks....

First Use Hints and Tips
After unzipping the files, put the folder "userpages2" into "wwwroot" so the root folder path will be: C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\userpages2 (where C:\Inetpub\wwwroot is your web server's main folder).

Using a remote server (a hosted site), the files should run fine if you upload the folder userpages2 and all it's contents straight in to your root web directory. The diagram below may help if you are unsure of the folder structure needed for a remote server installation. You may need to alter the file named conn_db.asp if you run the main userpages2 folder from within another directory see the database info page for information on this.

Folders are in blue, pages are red and database green:

Your Root Web Folder (this folder may also be called www.mydomain.com or www or htdocs or wwwroot)
|
|__ default.htm (your normal default page (home page) for your web site)
|
|__ other folders and files you have on your server etc. will be in this "root" folder
|
|
|__ userpages2 (this is the main folder called userpages with the contained folders shown as indented below)
|                    |__ _mmDBScripts
|                    |__ Connections
|                    |__ css
|                    |__ data
|                    |          |__ db.mdb (database)
|                    |
|                    |__ images
|                    |__ includes
|                    |__ registration
|                    |__ ScriptLibrary
|                    |__ uploads
|                    |             |__ userpics (folder)
|                    |             |              |__ *the made folders will be here*
|                    |             |
|                    |             |__ other ASP files etc.
|                    |
|                    |
|                    |__ user_pages
|                                       |__ editor_images (folder)
|                                       |
|                                       |__ other ASP files etc.
|
|

 

Errors
The main reason why this collection of files may throw an error, is that the connection path is wrong or the folder permissions are wrong. I have tried to explain a possible solution for each of these below.

Folder Structure & Security:

The folders "data" and "uploads" will need to have their security levels changed to include "write" permissions so that files can be uploaded and the database can be written to. Also make sure that the directory userpages2 has Script source access enabled (Execute Permissions: Scripts and Executables).

What the folder structure looks like if you put the folder "userpages" into wwwroot and showing (highlighting) the folders that need to have write permission.
What the folder structure looks like if you put the folder "userpages" into wwwroot and showing (highlighting) the folders that need to have write permission.

Setting permissions on a folder: right click the folder and choose properties from the pop-up menu.
Setting permissions on a folder: right click the folder and choose properties from the pop-up menu. The settings for "Everyone" need to be set to allow updating of the database and uploading of images.
This is the screen-shot taken from a PC running Win2K Professional.

How It Was Made

This collection was made with UltraDev 4, PureASPUpload and Public Domain Online HTML Editor extension.
The database is in Access 2000 format, but I have also included an Access 97 copy too.

Pure ASPUpload extension can be obtained from http://www.UDzone.com (Copyright 2001-2002 (c) George Petrov).
The Public Domain Online HTML Editor extension can also be obtained from http://www.UDzone.com

Any improvements/comments/suggestions etc. welcome......

jldesign@ntlworld.com

Miss Jackie Lee

See Also: Database Info and Upgrading from Version 1