Gail

Hi Andy, Thanks for your quick response - your response helped me to understand a little more about security issues. That is interesting about the 'include $variable'. I am still struggling to learn php. I shall change the folders in Joomla that have 777 permissions to 755. I still have to check my other directories to see if there are any more folders with permissions set at 777 - I know I sometimes set a folder or file to a higher permission (then what it is currently set at) as required when I am editing. I usually remember to change the permission back when I am finished but occasionally I do forget. It is good to have a thread like this periodically (not that I want to see others' sites being hacked) - it does remind us to remain security conscious. Gail

I am somewhat confused (as usual) when I read through this thread. I do run some php scripts that I have manually installed and I do keep them current - a big thanks to TCH Thomas for keeping us posted on available updates. I am also aware of the importance of not setting permissions to 777 unless absolutely necessary. I use WordPress as my blogging software and I have played around with WordPress also as a CMS. Very recently, I decided to have a look at both Drupal and Joomla. Rather than do manual installs, I decided to go the Fantastico route. I have never used Fantastico before because I know the scripts are seldom current and it can take some time before they become current. One of the reasons I used Fantastico this time is the ease (hopefully) of upgrading the scripts when they become available and the fact that supposedly the appropriate permissions are set by the installer for the various folders/files. After reading this thread last evening, I decided to look through my folders today - I discovered there are about 8 folders in the Joomla directory with the permission set to 777. Should I be changing these permissions to 755? There was also one file in Drupal if I remember correctly that had the permission set to 777 - I did change it to 755. I guess I am confused about this entire issue of keeping scripts current and don't set permissions to 777 when I gather a lot of folks use Fantastico to install various php scripts. I don't recall being told by the Joomla installer to check the various folders and change any permissions. If memory serves me correctly, it just said the script was successfully installed. It never crossed my mind to check folder/file permissions. Maybe I should have thought of this but I didn't. Am I missing something here? Would the average person think to check permissions after installing any script when using Fantastico? Just call me the confused old girl!

Hi Bruce, Thanks for the reply. I am not even sure if my friend is going to stick with Gallery2. If he does, I gather it will be him or someone else who will upload the photos once the site is up and running. I was just curious and was asking if TCH uses mod_evasive and what the settings are. I find it strange that I have never had a problem using the XP Publishing Wizard (which works great) on the servers on TCH and I know someone who has used it on another hosting company and has never had a problem. When I try to use it on again another hosting company, my IP is blocked because 'the program is trying to upload more than one image at a time'. I guess I am asking why there would be a difference between hosting companies when it comes to using XP Publisher. Would it be the settings for mod_evasive and/or would there be other factors as well? Gail

Hi All, First - I didn't know where to post this topic so if it is in the wrong place - please feel free to move it. I have been working with a computer friend on designing a couple of web sites. I installed Gallery2 to his domain name which is hosted with another hosting company. He had sent me image files and I tried using the XP Publishing Wizard which I have used a few times to upload files to Gallery2 on domain names hosted by TCH. I have accomplished this task without any problems. When I tried this method while working with Gallery2 on my friend's domain name - my IP address was blocked by mod_evasive. The reason for being blacklisted was this could be a possible Denial of Service attack. The settings for the mod_evasive on that server are: DOSPageCount 2 DOSSiteCount 50 DOSPageInterval 1 DOSSiteInterval 1 The person who owns the servers relayed this info in an Email to me plus the following: Of course the owner and my computer friend took their shots at larger hosting companies who take their chance at receiving a DoS attack rather than 'running their ship as tight' and thus dealing with nuisance calls. This is why all their servers are slow. These words bother me more than my IP being blocked (Hey - it ain't my Gallery!) but I don't understand how mod_evasive works etc. to respond to the comments. I do know the two servers (that my domain names are hosted on here) are not slow. I have never felt that server security at TCH is being compromised and I don't believe it ever will be as long as the same people are running the company. I am curious however - does TCH use mod_evasive and if so - I am assuming you have configured the settings differently to allow XP Publisher and Gallery (or other php scripts) to work in harmony without everyone's IP being blocked? I did read a little about mod_evasive and I noticed a few sites suggested configuration settings which were higher than this gentleman has used. I would appreciate your comments to help me sort out in my mind how this works with TCH. Thanks. Gail

Hi Bruce and joefish, Thank you for your responses. Bruce - I had tried one plugin but I wasn't happy with it. It was a drag and drop method - I ended up with 2 Gallery pages and lost another page. There were also bars of black colour showing on the plugin page when I went to activate the plugin so that put a red flag up. I did figure out how to edit the Pages (yes I am talking about Pages and not Posts) and assign a page number so my Menu Bar and the list for the Pages in the Side Bar are showing as I would like. Thanks for your help.

Hi All, I know there are a fair number of folks here who use WordPress. I would like to change the order of the Pages as they are displayed in the Menu Bar along the top of the page. Does anyone know of a good plugin for this purpose? Thanks for any responses. Gail

Well - thank you Thomas. I just upgraded WordPress about a week ago and I upgraded Gallery yesterday. Which will be the next to need upgrading - it seems like I am always adding 'upgrade ______' to my list of things to do. Gail

Merry Christmas All and All the Best for 2008. Gail

I am also very saddened by Don's passing. I knew he hadn't been well and I had noticed he was absent from the forum lately. As many have said, Don was very helpful - I found him to be a great teacher. He certainly will be missed at TCH. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family. Rest in peace my friend. Gail

Great looking car Bill - oh sorry, Dr. Spam. I also got a good chuckle from your post. Gail

Very nicely done - I am glad you shared it with us. Merry Christmas to you Dave, and to all at TCH. Gail

That was different - very well done.

Hi Bruce, Yes I had installed Spam Karma 2 when I installed WP as per your tutorial. Now I am busy reading the documentation and trying to edit the style sheet for a theme. There is lots to learn but I shall get there eventually. I haven't had a chance to check out the WP Support Forum but I will at some point. Gail

I just wanted to post back and say I have successfully imported my blog from Blogger to WordPress using joefish's tutorial. Initially, I had some problems but with some help from joefish - I got them sorted out. There was an error in the template (which is now corrected) and it seemed IE wasn't reading the line breaks correctly for whatever reason. For me, the import worked much better when I used Firefox as opposed to IE. The second time I used the procedure (I started from scratch again so I had an entirely new set of files) and used Firefox - everything went very smoothly and the import included all posts, comments, and images. A big thank you to joefish for a job well done. Gail

Hi joefish, WOW! You must have spent a lot of time on this. As Bruce says - it is very complete and I always find screen shots most helpful. I don't have a large blog so I may try it at some point. This old gal likes a challenge. If I do try it and I am successful - I will let you know. Many thanks. Gail

Hi joefish, After discussion with TCH Andy, I have decided to wait until the folks from WP update the import tool to work with the new or beta Blogger version. I know there are various articles out there suggesting ways it can be done now but I don't think any of them are 100% certain. And, as you point out, some can involve many steps in the process. I will stay with Blogger for now and I can use the time to learn more about the workings of WordPress before I start using it. Thanks for your interest though. Gail

I am trying to import from the beta version - normally I don't even look at a beta version but the folks at Blogger are trying to get people switched over within a couple of months if I read it correctly. I should have left well enough alone. I have been thinking of trying WordPress for many months now - I should have done this sooner but a family crisis dictated otherwise. I can always continue on with Blogger for now if I have to and switch when the beta version becomes final. I assume then they will have the Import function working with this version. Gail

Hi Bruce, Thanks for your response. Yes, what you say does make sense to me. I must say I have learned something today (not that I don't learn everyday or at least I hope I do). I thought I was doing pretty good at setting up MySQL databases and I never thought of the issue of using the same username and different passwords. Thanks again folks. Gail

Hi Guys, You hit the nail on the head. I never realized that using another password for the MySQL db when I set up WordPress would change the other database passwords as well. I think this is the first time it has happened. It changed both Lazarus GB and Gallery 2 but not Coppermine - the Coppermine Gallery still worked. When I think about it, changing the other passwords does make sense when I use the same username. Question: Am I better to use the same username and password for each MySQL db I set up or should I set up different usernames and passwords for each db? I will leave the current ones but I am thinking if I should happen to use another php script in the future that requires setting up a db. As always, thanks for your time. Gail

Hi Thomas and Bruce, Thanks very much for your responses. So that is why I couldn't find the PlugIn Manager. I thought I was going bonkers again (or still am)! Okay - I shall head back to the Help Desk and reopen the ticket. If I get things sorted out - I will post back in this thread and let folks know the outcome in the hopes it may help someone else. Gail

Hi, Well I am having my share of computer problems these past couple of days. I have been using the Lararus GB script for some months now and I am running the current version. It works great until last PM - when I clicked on the link for my GB, I got the following error message: Any ideas as to what the problem may be. I am not into php as yet - I don't understand why a script works perfectly for days/weeks/months and then for no apparent reason - I get an error message and can't get into the GB (obviously a connect problem to db). I haven't made any changes to the way I connect to MySQL. Thanks for any help. Gail

Hi All, I have had a few frustrating hours trying to get my posts and comments from Blogger into WordPress which I just installed yesterday (I did a manual install so I have the latest version). I am getting the same error as another member was recently getting (Nov. 10) when I try to use the WP Importer - however there was no solution posted in that thread except it was suggested he submit a ticket to the help desk. Therefore I can't get any help from that particular thread. The error I am getting is: Please don't tell me to submit a ticket to the Help Desk - I did that and was told to come here. I also was given a link to an article that may help except the article is obsolete for version 2 and up when I looked at it. Also - my account was with Blogger but my posts and images are on my TCH server as opposed to Blogspot. I am wondering if I can't simply copy them to the wordpress directory or is this too simple? I was going to try copying a couple of the files from my blog directory to my wordpress directory but I can not figure out what folder to use in the wordpress directory. It would be nice if I could get the WP Importer to work but I have tried a few times - I tried using my Blogger Username and Password and then I tried using my Google Username and Password (I switched to the newer version and you need to sign up for a Google account). I always get the same error as mentioned above. I have looked at a few articles but it seems some of them don't always work and are for the older versions. I did see another thread in this forum where it states the WP Importer should work on TCH servers. A question for Bruce - I used your tutorial for setting up WordPress (I think it was Bruce who did this tutorial). You mentioned it is a good idea to install the following 2 plugins at the start - the PlugIn Manager and Spam Karma. I found the Spam Karma and installed it but I can't find the PlugIn Manager - I did a search using that name plus the actual name of the file but I came up empty. Just wondering if you or someone could point me in the right direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated before I get out the hair dye . Thanks kindly for your time. Gail

Hi MM, I don't use the compression option with Second Copy so I can't really answer your question concerning this option. I bought a 160 GB Maxtor external hard drive (plugs into a USB port) at a local computer shop (Benchmark Computers) and the case for $166.75 Canadian dollars - this included the taxes. They sell the drive and case separate (the case is a Nex Star) - the tech told me it saves about $50.00. They did put the hard drive in the case for me. I have 2 hard drives in my computer - a 40 GB and a 120 GB which is where I store my Photos and Videos. I had the tech partition the external hard drive the same - one partition is 40 GB and one is 120 GB. It only took him a few minutes to do this task. This makes it really easy for setting up my backup Profiles in Second Copy. I use 'Exact Copy' as the copy mode in Second Copy. I use my Reminder Program to tell me to turn on the external hard drive every evening at a certain time and I have set the backup times for the profiles to begin after this time. Gail

Hi MM, Like many folks, I just backup my data. I have many sub-folders in 'My Documents' and I save my files in the appropriate sub-folder. Then I backup 'My Documents' as one profile (Second Copy). I use Second Copy as my backup program - I have used it for some years now. It isn't that difficult to set up. I also backup Photos, Video Clips, Quicken data. These are separate profiles I have set up in Second Copy. I use an External Hard Drive for my backups. I have my CD's for Windows XP and my programs - my thinking is I can always reinstall the operating system and the programs from the CD's if something happens to the hard drive. This way - I would be starting fresh also which isn't a bad idea. HTH Gail

Ya, I thik I am. The weeds and the grass cutting can wait.