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.

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
|