Table of Contents
I. Installing VBPro
1. Introduction
2. Pre-install decisions
3. Editing the files
(a) cgi files
(b) config files
4. Uploading the files
5. Setting permissions
6. Testing the setup
II. Creating and Maintaining Books
1. Using the Master Admin program
2. Creating a new book
(a) using a template
(b) using custom options
3. Modifying a book
(a) book options
(b) field options
(c) html and templates
(d) banning options
4. Deleting a book
III. The User Admin Program
1. Controlling user access
2. Overview of user abilities
Before you begin the main tasks involved in setting up a VBPro system, you should determine a few things that will help make the other tasks easier to understand and complete.
CGI Location
Before you upload any of the VBPro components, you will need to have and idea of where to place them. VBPro consists of several CGI scripts that need to be in a directory on your web server that is capable of executing CGI scripts. Most often, your service provider will point you to the "cgi-bin" directory. This will often be the best place to store the CGI scripts. However, if you have the ability, you may wish to create a directory inside cgi-bin, called parhaps "vbpro", which will store the CGI scripts. In this manner, you can keep the files together and organized in a directory inside cgi-bin.
Data File Location
You will also need to determine where you want to store the datafiles for the VBPro system (book entry information, system access records, and so on). The VBPro system will look for all the data files in this one directory; therefore, it is crucial that this directory is in a safe place. For example, it would not be a good idea to create a data directory that is accessible on the web. If at all possible, you will want to create a directory for data that is NOT accessible from a web browser -- in other words, it should reside outside of your main HTML or htdocs directory.
General Setup Tree
For the setup of the VBPro system, it is a good idea to have a feel to the structure, or tree, of the VBPro setup. Below, a simple text diagram shows one possible setup. Thinking out this stage for your own server will help you when you configure the setup files and will also speed the process of uploading files.
/usr/local/apache/vbfiles /books /vbtemplates /Standard_Guestbook cgi-lib.pl masteradmin.pass vb.shared.lib.pl /usr/local/apache/cgi-bin/vbpro vb.config.pl vbadmin.cgi vbmasteradmin.cgi
You are now set to begin editing files in perparation for uploading and activating the system.