Latest revision as of 14:32, 9 October 2008

This article describes a DRAFT under discussion; contents, specifications and recommendations may change until the public discussion is complete.

Introduction

Welcome to the ccHost version 5 Documentation. Here you will find a general overview of ccHost, a FAQ, and detailed descriptions of the various settings available to the administrator.

ccHost is Creative Commons' open source (GPL licensed) media content management system project that powers ccMixter and is the winner of the Linux Journal LinuxWorldExpo Product Excellence Award for Best Open Source Solution. Read more about ccHost here.

FAQ/Cookbook

How do I change the banner (logo)?

Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section. If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top. Click on the "Banner Logo" link, click on the "Browse" button and select your preferred image. Hit Submit and enjoy!

How do I restrict file types users can upload?

Log in as an administrator and navigate to "Global Settings." Each filetype which is desired to be blocked should be set to "(D)isabled." The "(S)ignature" and "(V)erify" options allow uploads with either a simple check of signature or full file verification using getID3, respectively.

How do I restrict licenses?

Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section. If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top. Click on the "License" link. On that page you can select which supported licenses the users are able to assign to their work. When you are satisfied click on "Submit."

For information on the Creative Commons Licenses see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

How do I add administrators?

Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section. If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top. Click on the "Settings" link. On that page you can add more registered usernames to the list of Admins. Simply separate them by a comma and space, eg: admin, fourstones, rejon, greg

How do I edit the navigation tabs at the top of the page?

Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section. If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top. Click on the "Navigator Tab Sets" link. Click on the "[Edit tabs]" link for the associated tab set you want to edit.

To create a new tab click on "Add Tab." Give it a name (internal only), Display Name (what is displayed), Help Hint ("tooltip" when hovering over with mouse pointer), define its action, and set access level.

On that page you are also able to remove unwanted tabs and edit what all of the current tabs' functions are.

How do I manage page and topic content in ccHost?

For the complete howto, see Content Manager Howto.

How do I repair a broken configruation (A.K.A. HELP!!!!)

If you get into 'trouble' with your system you might be able to salvage your site by browsing to either:

If you are not logged in as an administrator when trying this you will have to:

Open the cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php file in a text editor
Remove the two forward slashes '//' before the word 'return' in the line at the top of the file
Save this file to disk
From your browser, go to 'http://your_server/cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php'. This should bring up a configuration editor
Click on the word 'media' to open the configuration settings and see if you can spot the error
After you have fixed (or decided you can't fix) the problem make sure to the put the '//' back into the cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php file otherwise you will leave a large gaping security hole in your site

How to Configure the Query Browser

ccHost 5.0 includes admin configurable query brower. You can see examples of the browser in action at http://ccmixter.org/browse and http://fourstones.net/browse

This browser is a query builder (see http://your_install_root/query for documentation on ccHost Query API). The browser can configured with option sets (optset) that determine several visual features.

In order to create an optset:

1. Click on 'Global Settings' ( admin/site/global )

2. Click on 'Query Browser' ( admin/browse )

3. Here you can edit the default optset and create different optsets for the browser

   Name - The 'name' is important because it will be used in the browse URL's 
          'optset' parameter. If no optset parameter is in the URL then the 
          optset called 'default' is assumed

   Template - Select the template that will be used to show results 

   Style    - Select the style sheet

   Def. limit - Enter the initial amount to display in the results area

   Playlist but. - Check this if you want to have the 'Save to playlist' button 
                   (this only applies to sites with playlists enabled).

   Req. tags - These tags will be added to every query made, the user 
               can NOT edit these.

   Types - Click on the "Edit types" to bring up a popup that allows you edit what 
           the user will see in the 'Types' select box and what tags they map to.

   Filter on: User - Check this to include the 'User' look up field

   Filter on: License - Check this to include the 'License' look up field

Click on 'Add Option Set' to create new, custom option sets.

4. Once you have saved your optsets you can then see the results by specifying them in the 'browse' URL. Examples

To use the 'default' optset simply browse to: http://your_install_root/browse

To use a different optset browse to: http://your_install_root/browse?optset=your_optset_name

5. You can specify 'start-up' values based on the Query API

   http://your_install_root/browse?tags=hip_hop&limit=15

   http://your_install_root/browse?user=teru

The user can then change these values once in the browser.

This can be very useful for menu items and navigation tabs.

Customizing the Query Browser (Developers)

To make your own custom styles for the entire query browser:

     a: Copy ccskins/shared/css/qbrowser_narrow.css to
        your_cchost_files/skins/css/my_browser_styles.css

     b: Edit the 'desc' line at the top to something meaningful to you

     c: Edit the import urls to point to ccskins versions of
        those files

     d: Browse to admin/browse and select your stylesheet
        in the "Style"

To make your custom results templates:

     a: Copy ccskins/shared/formats/simple_qbrowser.tpl to
        your_cchost_files/skins/formats/my_browser_results.tpl

     b: Edit the 'desc' line at the top to something meaningful
        to you

     c: The current dataview for that template is 'playlist_line'
        which has limited information per record. If you like 
        a more full record of information change the dataview 
        line to 'default'

     d: Browse to admin/browse and select your template in the
        "template" section

Administrative Settings

There are two Administrative Settings sections: Manage Site and Global Settings.

To view the Manage Site documentation see Manage Site

To view the Global Settings documentation see Global Settings

Understanding ccHost URLs

Understanding how URLs work in ccHost is a very important concept that you should understand before doing anything else.

URL Parts

ccHost URLs are composed of four main parts:

1. Root URL of installation

This is the URL address of where index.php lives. For example: http://example.com, or http://example.com/cchost

2. Virtual Root

Don't worry if you don't know what a 'ccHost virtual root' is, we'll get to it here but for now assume it's the word media.

3. Command

This part of the URL maps to an internal command in ccHost. This can be anything from a request for a submit form, a feed, a record listing, etc. Examples are people which shows a listing of the latest registered users who have uploaded or files which lists the latest uploads.

4. Parameters

Many if not most commands accept and even require parameters. For example, adding a specific user's name to the people command will display the user's main page, e.g. people/rejon

You should refer to the ccHost Command Reference for a listing of all available commands.

If you have enabled 'pretty URLs'(more info) in your installation then all the elements are strung together into one URL:

http://example.com/media/people/rejon

If not, then everything starting from the virtual root is prepended the following way:

http://example.com?ccm=/media/people/rejon

Difference between revisions of "CcHost5Documentation"

Latest revision as of 14:32, 9 October 2008

Contents

Introduction

FAQ/Cookbook

How do I change the banner (logo)?

How do I restrict file types users can upload?

How do I restrict licenses?

How do I add administrators?

How do I edit the navigation tabs at the top of the page?

How do I manage page and topic content in ccHost?

How do I repair a broken configruation (A.K.A. HELP!!!!)

How to Configure the Query Browser

Customizing the Query Browser (Developers)

Administrative Settings

Understanding ccHost URLs

URL Parts

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

default links

wiki navigation

Tools

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-=THIS IS A DRAFT PAGE - DO NOT TRUST ANY INFORMATION ON IT=
+{{Draft}}
 =Introduction=
-==Understanding ccHost URLs==
+Welcome to the ccHost version 5 Documentation.  Here you will find a general overview of ccHost, a FAQ, and detailed descriptions of the various settings available to the administrator.
-Understanding how URLs work in ccHost is a very important concept that you should understand before doing anything else.
+'''ccHost''' is Creative Commons' open source ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/GPL/2.0/ GPL] licensed) media content management system project that powers [http://ccmixter.org ccMixter] and is the winner of the [http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/6026 Linux Journal LinuxWorldExpo Product Excellence Award] for '''Best Open Source Solution.''' Read more about ccHost [[CcHost#Zeitgeist|here]].
-URL Parts
-ccHost URLs are composed of four main parts:
+=FAQ/Cookbook=
-. Root URL of installation
+==How do I change the banner (logo)?==
-* This is the URL address of where index.php lives. For example: http://example.com, or http://example.com/cchost
+Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section.  If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top.  Click on the "Banner Logo" link, click on the "Browse" button and select your preferred image.  Hit Submit and enjoy!
-. Virtual Root
+==How do I restrict file types users can upload?==
-* Don't worry if you don't know what a 'ccHost virtual root' is, we'll get to it here but for now assume it's the word media.
+Log in as an administrator and navigate to "Global Settings."  Each filetype which is desired to be blocked should be set to "(D)isabled."  The "(S)ignature" and "(V)erify" options allow uploads with either a simple check of signature or full file verification using getID3, respectively.
-. Command
+==How do I restrict licenses?==
-* This part of the URL maps to an internal command in ccHost. This can be anything from a request for a submit form, a feed, a record listing, etc. Examples are people which shows a listing of the latest registered users who have uploaded or files which lists the latest uploads.
+Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section.  If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top.  Click on the "License" link.  On that page you can select which supported licenses the users are able to assign to their work.  When you are satisfied click on "Submit."
-. Parameters
+For information on the Creative Commons Licenses see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
-* Many if not most commands accept and even require parameters. For example, adding a specific user's name to the people command will display the user's main page, e.g. people/rejon
-You should refer to the ccHost Command Reference for a listing of all available commands.
+==How do I add administrators?==
+Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section.  If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top.  Click on the "Settings" link.  On that page you can add more registered usernames to the list of Admins.  Simply separate them by a comma and space, eg: admin, fourstones, rejon, greg
-If you have enabled 'pretty URLs' in your installation then all the elements are strung together into one URL:
+==How do I edit the navigation tabs at the top of the page?==
+Log in as an administrator and go to the "Manage Site" section.  If running multiple sites make sure you select the site you want to edit from the dropdown menu on top.  Click on the "Navigator Tab Sets" link.  Click on the "[Edit tabs]" link for the associated tab set you want to edit.
-http://example.com/media/people/rejon
+To create a new tab click on "Add Tab."  Give it a name (internal only), Display Name (what is displayed), Help Hint ("tooltip" when hovering over with mouse pointer), define its action, and set access level.
-If not, then everything starting from the virtual root is prepended the following way:
+On that page you are also able to remove unwanted tabs and edit what all of the current tabs' functions are.
-http://example.com?ccm=/media/people/rejon
+==How do I manage page and topic content in ccHost?==
-=Administrative Settings=
+For the complete howto, see [[CcHost5Documentation/Content_Manager|Content Manager Howto]].
-==Manage Site==
+==How do I repair a broken configruation (A.K.A. HELP!!!!)==
-===Settings===
+If you get into 'trouble' with your system you might be able to salvage your site by browsing to either:
-''Admins, editors, etc.''
-====Editorial staff====
+*http://your_server/admin/edit
-''Comma-separated list of login names for users with editorial privileges''
+*http://your_server?ccm=/media/admin/edit
+*http://your_server/cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php
-====Auto Publish Uploads====
+If you are not logged in as an administrator when trying this you will have to:
-''Uncheck this if you want to verify uploads before they are made public.''
+*Open the cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php file in a text editor
+*Remove the two forward slashes '//' before the word 'return' in the line at the top of the file
+*Save this file to disk
+*From your browser, go to 'http://your_server/cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php'. This should bring up a configuration editor
+*Click on the word 'media' to open the configuration settings and see if you can spot the error
+*After you have fixed (or decided you can't fix) the problem make sure to the put the '//' back into the cchost_lib/cc-config-repair.php file otherwise you will leave a large gaping security hole in your site
-====Homepage====
+==How to Configure the Query Browser==
-''For example a file: docs/home''
-''or a navigation tab: view/media/home''
-====Default Feed Query====
+ccHost 5.0 includes admin configurable query brower. You can see examples
-''Query to use for pages that do not specify a feed Leave blank for no default feed.''
+of the browser in action at http://ccmixter.org/browse and http://fourstones.net/browse
-====Ratings====
+This browser is a query builder (see http://your_install_root/query for documentation
-''Allow ratings for media virtual root. (Click here to configure global ratings)''
+on ccHost Query API). The browser can configured with option sets (optset) that determine
+several visual features.
-====Site Administrators====
+In order to create an optset:
-''List login names of site admins. (e.g. admin, fightmaster, sally)''
-===Skin===
+. Click on 'Global Settings' ( admin/site/global )
-''Choose a skin, theme, layout, colors, fonts, etc.''
-====Load a Profile====
+. Click on 'Query Browser'  ( admin/browse )
-''Start here to pick from an existing skin profile''
-====Basic Settings====
+. Here you can edit the default optset and create different optsets for the
-''String profile, listing choices, etc.''
+browser
-====Layouts====
+    Name - The 'name' is important because it will be used in the browse URL's
-''Page layouts, tab placement, box shapes, etc.''
+           'optset' parameter. If no optset parameter is in the URL then the
+           optset called 'default' is assumed
+    Template - Select the template that will be used to show results
+    Style    - Select the style sheet
+    Def. limit - Enter the initial amount to display in the results area
+    Playlist but. - Check this if you want to have the 'Save to playlist' button
+                    (this only applies to sites with playlists enabled).
+    Req. tags - These tags will be added to every query made, the user
+                can NOT edit these.
+    Types - Click on the "Edit types" to bring up a popup that allows you edit what
+            the user will see in the 'Types' select box and what tags they map to.
+    Filter on: User - Check this to include the 'User' look up field
+    Filter on: License - Check this to include the 'License' look up field
-====Color, Font, Text size====
+Click on 'Add Option Set' to create new, custom option sets.
-''Fonts and colors''
-====Save this Skin Profile====
+. Once you have saved your optsets you can then see the results by specifying
-''Save the current settings to your own profile''
+them in the 'browse' URL. Examples
-====Create Skin Template====
+To use the 'default' optset simply browse to: http://your_install_root/browse
-''''For web developers: Sets up a new skin template''''
-===Navigator Tab Sets===
+To use a different optset browse to: http://your_install_root/browse?optset=your_optset_name
-''Create and edit navigator tabs''
-===File Formats===
+. You can specify 'start-up' values based on the Query API
-''Pick which file formats are allowed to be uploaded''
-Formats available include:
+    http://your_install_root/browse?tags=hip_hop&limit=15
-aif, au, flac, mid, mp3, ogg, rm, Riff, wav, wma, zip, avi, mov, rmvb, wmv, bmp, gif, jpg, png, swf
+    http://your_install_root/browse?user=teru
-===License===
+The user can then change these values once in the browser.
-''Pick which licenses a user is allowed to select from''
-===Upload Renaming===
+This can be very useful for menu items and navigation tabs.
-''Configure how uploads are automatically renamed''
-===Submit Forms===
+===Customizing the Query Browser (Developers)===
-''Edit what kind of submit forms the user can see''
-Examples:
+To make your own custom styles for the entire query browser:
-* Derived Work
+      a: Copy ''ccskins/shared/css/qbrowser_narrow.css'' to
-* Sample
+         ''your_cchost_files/skins/css/my_browser_styles.css''
-* Self-Contained
+      b: Edit the 'desc' line at the top to something meaningful to you
+      c: Edit the import urls to point to ccskins versions of
+         those files
+      d: Browse to admin/browse and select your stylesheet
+         in the "Style"
-===Banner and Footers===
+To make your custom results templates:
-''Edit what the banner and footer says on each page.''
-===Sidebar Extras===
+      a: Copy ''ccskins/shared/formats/simple_qbrowser.tpl'' to
-''Pick what features are available on the side bar.''
+         ''your_cchost_files/skins/formats/my_browser_results.tpl''
+      b: Edit the 'desc' line at the top to something meaningful
+         to you
+      c: The current dataview for that template is 'playlist_line'
+         which has limited information per record. If you like
+         a more full record of information change the dataview
+         line to 'default'
+      d: Browse to admin/browse and select your template in the
+         "template" section
-===Menus===
+=Administrative Settings=
-''Edit the menus''
-===ID3 Tagger===
+There are two Administrative Settings sections: ''Manage Site'' and ''Global Settings.''
-''Configure how to tag ID3 compatible files (e.g. MP3s)''
-===Menu Groups===
+To view the '''Manage Site''' documentation see [[ccHost5Documentation/ManageSite|Manage Site]]
-''Edit the menu groups''
-===Thumbnails===
+To view the '''Global Settings''' documentation see [[ccHost5Documentation/GlobalSettings|Global Settings]]
-''Configure thumbnails handling (for image uploads)''
-==Global Settings==
+=Understanding ccHost URLs=
-===Admin Help===
+Understanding how URLs work in ccHost is a very important concept that you should understand before doing anything else.
-''Help on configuring the site''
-===Global Setup===
+== URL Parts ==
-''Cookies, ban message, admin email, 3rd party add ins, etc.''
-===Manage Page Content===
+ccHost URLs are composed of four main parts:
-''Manage special pages and topics''
-===Paths===
+. Root URL of installation
-''Configure where ccHost looks for stuff''
+* This is the URL address of where index.php lives. For example: http://example.com, or http://example.com/cchost
-===Forum===
+. Virtual Root
-''Configure forums access, groups, etc.''
+* Don't worry if you don't know what a 'ccHost virtual root' is, we'll get to it here but for now assume it's the word media.
-===Ratings===
+. Command
-''How ratings are calculated, who can rate, etc.''
+* This part of the URL maps to an internal command in ccHost. This can be anything from a request for a submit form, a feed, a record listing, etc. Examples are people which shows a listing of the latest registered users who have uploaded or files which lists the latest uploads.
-===Tags===
+. Parameters
-''Edit tag aliases, reserve tags, counts, etc.''
+* Many if not most commands accept and even require parameters. For example, adding a specific user's name to the people command will display the user's main page, e.g. people/rejon
-===Default User Avatar===
+You should refer to the ccHost Command Reference for a listing of all available commands.
-''Upload a default avatar for new users''
-===Super Users===
+If you have enabled 'pretty URLs'([[CcHost#Enabling_.27Pretty_URLs.27|more info]]) in your installation then all the elements are strung together into one URL:
-''Edit list of super users''
-===Restrict Access===
+ http://example.com/media/people/rejon
-''Restrict access to commands''
-===Language===
+If not, then everything starting from the virtual root is prepended the following way:
-''Configure Language use''
-===Upload Throttles===
-''Limit the number and types of uploads per user''
-===Activity Log===
-''Configure the administrator's activity log''
-===Import Files===
-''Import files from your server into ccHost''
-===Disable Site===
-''Disable site when doing maintainence.''
-===Email===
-''Configure system email address and access''
-===Create Contest===
-''Create a new contest, set its start time, rules, etc.''
-===Download Manager===
-''Count, checksum and license options for downloading''
-===Moderation/Flagging===
-''Configure moderation (Ban) and upload flagging''
-===Playlists===
-''Manage Playlists''
-===Pseudo Verify===
-''Configure usage of exotic and other dangerous file types''
-===Quota===
-''Configure user quota''
-===Virtual ccHost===
-''Create a new virtual root''
-===Query Browser===
-''Configure query browser''
-===Channels Page===
-''Configure playlists for the channels page''
-===Sample Pools===
+ http://example.com?ccm=/media/people/rejon
-''Managing sample pools and trackbacks''