Support and Web Hosting FAQ: Matt's WWWBoard Script

Installing Matt's WWWBoard Script

WWWBoard is an interactive message board which can add new dimension to an otherwise two-dimensional web site. WWWBoard visitors can post new messages and allows others to respond directly beneath the original post. The site webmaster will have password protected access to an administrative interface to maintain board content.

WWWBoard Generator
In light of this script's popularity, we have installed a program generator to eliminate manual installation efforts. To install the WWWBoard script within your web site, simply access your account Control Panel and select the WWWBoard Installer option.

*** Important ***
The WWWBoard Installer will overwrite previously installed WWWBoard scripts.

Special Notes

You can modify the wwwboard.html file to meet your own design standards, but do NOT remove the  tag which tells the Perl script where to insert new entries.
Admin script URL: http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-local/wwwadmin.pl

WWWBoard Installation Notes

First time users should use the WWWBoard Installer within the respective account Control Panel to install the WWWBoard program. The instruction contained below is being provided for those whom wish to modify the scripts installed by the WWWBoard Installer or to install multiple versions of this application.

Installation Procedure

Locate and download the following files from Matt's Script Archive:
1. wwwboard.pl - The main WWWBoard Perl script.
2. wwwadmin.pl - Admin tool to keep board content under control.
3. wwwboard.html - The web page containing message board and posting form.
4. data.txt - The data file contains an incremented log of numbers for messages.
5. passwd.txt - File containing password for wwwadmin.pl.
Change the first line of each Perl script to reflect the official path to Perl on our server:
```
#!/usr/local/bin/perl    (edit nos. 1 & 2 above)
```
There are a few more things that need to be changed in each Perl script:
```
# Define Variables (wwwboard.pl)

$basedir - The system location of your WWWBoard directory
$baseurl - The URL to the WWWBoard directory 
$cgi_url - The URL to the WWWBoard script
```
The first variable calls for a system path which is not the same as a URL. If your domain name was yourdomain.com the system path would be /u/web/yourdo where "yourdo" is the account userid.

As such, the Define Variables section of the wwwboard script would follow this format:
```
# Define Variables (wwwboard.pl)

$basedir - "/u/web/<userid>/wwwboard";
$baseurl - "http://www.yourdomain.com/wwwboard";
$cgi_url - "http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-local/wwwboard.pl";
```
Be sure to substitute your domain name and userid in the example above. Although Matt's code is accurate, we recommend using the Perl Script checker within your account Control Panel when installing any Perl script.
The Define Variables section of the wwwadmin script must also be set. Note the only difference is that the $cgi_url variable reflects the URL to the wwwadmin script instead.
```
# Define Variables (wwwadmin.pl)

$basedir - "/u/web/<userid>/wwwboard";
$baseurl - "http://www.yourdomain.com/wwwboard";
$cgi_url - "http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-local/wwwadmin.pl";
```
Upload the "wwwboard.pl" and "wwwadmin.pl" scripts to your cgi-local directory in ASCII transfer mode. Cgi-local will place the appropriate permissions on files uploaded to this directory so you do NOT need to chmod 755 either Perl script.
Modify the form ACTION attribute within "wwwboard.html" to reference the wwwboard script within cgi-local as shown below and upload to your root ("home") directory.
```
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="/cgi-local/wwwboard.pl">
```
Create a subdirectory named "wwwboard" off the root directory of your web site and upload "wwwboard.html", "data.txt", and "passwd.txt" to the this directory in ASCII transfer mode.
Create a directory named "messages" under the newly made directory "wwwboard".
```
e.g.  /wwwboard/messages 
```
Select the File Manager option within your account Control Panel. Locate the directory named wwwboard . Click the box marked "PW" to the left of the wwwboard directory name to enable public write access.
Next, click the directory name to display files within the wwwboard directory. Set public write access for both the wwwboard.html and data.txt files as well as the messages directory. This will allow the Perl script to append data to both wwwboard.html file and data file.

You can test the script by referencing the wwwboard.html file via the web.

Special Notes

You can modify the wwwboard.html file to meet your own design standards, but do NOT remove the  tag which tells the Perl script where to insert new entries.
Some possible causes of a SERVER ERROR:
- Set Variables section within either Perl script is inaccurate
- A Perl script was not uploaded in ASCII transfer mode
- Public-write permission not set for one or more of the following:
  - messages directory
  - wwwboard.html
  - data.txt
To run the admin script, merely reference it via URL.