WSN Links Readme

See the WSN Links online manual at http://scripts.webmastersite.net/wsnlinks/wsnmanual/ for extensive details on usage of WSN Links. This readme file only contains the most basic introductory material which you'll need to get started.

RELEASE NOTES top

Want to know what's changed since a previous version you used? See releasenotes.txt for a full list of changes for each version since 1.00.

NEW INSTALL (not uprade) top

To install WSN Links:

Extract files from the ZIP.
Upload all the extracted files to your hosting space. Note that if your only language is English you don't need to upload templates/multilingual, and if you will be using a language other than English you don't need to upload temlpates/default.
If you don't already have a database created, create one using your host's provided tools. (You may use an existing database if you like, if you have one.) Also be sure you've set up a username and given the username access to this database.
Using your web browser, visit setup.php (in the directory you uploaded it to).
If it is not done automatically in setup, you may need to rename config.php.txt to config.php and chmod it to 666.
Follow the instructions on screen, supplying your database info and creating an administrative username and password -- be sure to remember your password as you'll need it to administrate your links.
If it is not done automatically in setup (it will tell you), you may want to chmod your templates to 666 so that you can edit them through the online editor. Other items you may wish to chmod: searchlog.txt to 666, /attachments/ and /admin/ and /languages/ to 777. Note: some servers may require 755 instead of 777. Warning: never chmod a directory to 666.
If you are in safe mode, upload the languages you want from your languages/setup directory to /languages. Use englishonly.lng if you're doing an english-only install. Rename these languages to whatever you like after moving. *If you are running php in safe mode and forget to upload a language to /languages/, you will not be able to use your admin panel.* If you are *not* in safe mode, then this issue is doubly nonapplicable as it would work with that directory blank and also will properly copy over the language files you select during setup.
Visit index.php to browse your links directory as a visitor, or /admin/ to administrate it. You may wish to update your settings to customize them to your site.

READ PRIOR TO UPGRADING FROM PREVIOUS VERSION top

NOTE REGARDING TEMPALTE CUSTOMIZATIONS: If you have made significant template customizations, it's strongly recommended that you consider using the safe upgrade procedure described by Quantum: http://scripts.webmastersite.net/wsnlinks/wsnmanual/comments.php?id=60

NOTE REGARDING ALL UPGRADES: config.php is the one file you need to keep and not overwrite, as it contains the information for how to access your database. The file in the download is named config.php.txt specifically to prevent you from accidentally overwriting your config.php during an upgrade. If by chance you've renamed it to config.php to do some testing on localhost, be careful not to upload this file over your existing one. If you do overwrite your config.php, however, see the manual for information on how to re-create it.

NOTE REGARDING QUICK UPGRADE: You can do a simple and quick upgrade by overwriting all files except attachments (including templates (be sure to use /templates/default to overwrite your /templates directory if using english-only)) and then running the appropriate upgrade scripts in ascending order. (To upgrade from 2.10, for example, run upgrade2.1-2.2.php and then upgrade2.2-2.3.php and then upgrade.php. To upgrade from 2.40, just run upgrade.php.) However, if you've customized your templates a lot and wish to only lose the minimum number of templates which you have to lose, follow the procedure below to see which templates to overwrite. Also, as a rule, always go ahead and overwrite any template which you have not customized. There are often minor improvements in them for which overwriting is not expressly commanded.

NOTE REGARDING UPGRADING TEMPLATES: To upgrade your templates, you can use a free program to highlight changed lines for you. See the manual for details.

NOTE REGARDING ERRORS DURING UPGRADE: If you get errors in upgrade.php, this is likely just that it can't chmod or write to your templates, so don't worry. If you're using member system integration, you may see some error messages during upgrade. As long as the upgrade runs to completion, this should not usually be cause for concern -- just pay careful attention to the messages below the errors and follow any instructions given.

IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING "NO PERMISSION" MESSAGE DURING UPGRADE: If you are unable to login to your WSN Links administrative account, you will get a "no permission" message from the upgrade script. You must open upgrade.php in a text editor and change "$emergencyupgrade = false;" to "$emergencyupgrade = true;", then save the file and upload it. This will allow you to run the upgrade without being logged in. Delete your modified upgrade.php when done.

The sections below explain in detail the steps required to upgrade all previous versions of WSNLinks to the current version.

If you are upgrading from WSN Links Basic Edition, scroll past the other upgrades to find instructions or click HERE.

TO UPGRADE FROM 3.12, 3.13, 3.14 or 3.15: top

Upload to overwrite all files except your /templates/ and /integration/ directories.
If upgrading from 3.12 or 3.13, upload the new badrequest.tpl template and overwrite the /admin/ subdirectory of your templates directory.
Login to your WSN Links site as an administrator and run upgrade.php, by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wsnlinks/upgrade.php in your web browser.

TO UPGRADE FROM 3.11: top

Upload to overwrite all files except your /templates/ and /integration/ directories.
Overwrite the /admin/ subdirectory of your templates directory.
Upload the templates banned.tpl, badrequest.tpl and tos.tpl
Overwrite or adapt register.tpl and editmembers.tpl
Login to your WSN Links site as an administrator and run upgrade.php, by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wsnlinks/upgrade.php in your web browser.

TO UPGRADE FROM 3.10: top

Upload to overwrite all files except your /templates/ and /integration/ directories.
Overwrite the /admin/ subdirectory of your templates directory.
Upload the templates offline.tpl, badrequest.tpl, banned.tpl and tos.tpl. Overwrite register.tpl and editmembers.tpl. Adapt displaylinks.tpl to change to or just overwrite.
Multilingual versions only: overwrite your templates/multilingual/email.tpl template.
Login to your WSN Links site as an administrator and run upgrade.php, by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wsnlinks/upgrade.php in your web browser.

TO UPGRADE FROM 3.0x: top

Upload to overwrite all files except your /integration/ directory, including templates (you may attempt to adapt your stylesheet and templates if you wish).
If your language files are not chmoded to 666, chmod them now.
Login to your WSN Links site as an administrator and run upgrade.php, by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wsnlinks/upgrade.php in your web browser.
Redo all sponorships in your admin panel. Update usergroup permissions. If you use in-category searches, regenerate all links as the upgrade script will prompt you to.

TO UPGRADE FROM 2.5x: top

Download your config.php file, remove "$emailtable = 'wsnlinks_email';" from it, and upload the changed file.
Upload to overwrite all files except your /integration/ directory, including templates (you may attempt to adapt your stylesheet and templates if you wish).
If your language files are not chmoded to 666, chmod them now.
Login to your WSN Links site as an administrator and run upgrade.php, by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wsnlinks/upgrade.php in your web browser.
Redo all sponorships in your admin panel. Update usergroup permissions.

TO UPGRADE FROM 2.3x or 2.4x: top

Go to your admin panel's 'manage languages' section and download a copy of each of your languages.
Save your language(s) in your /languages/ directory of WSN Links on your computer. Name the files using the same file name as the title you have been using for the language. For example, english-only users should download their language and save it as default.lng while multilingual users should save as English.lng or Deutsch (Du).lng or Nederlands.lng, etc.
Upload to overwrite all files EXCEPT your /attachments directory. You must replace all templates, or adapt them carefully. Be sure to upload the styles directory.
Login to your WSN Links site as an administrator and run upgrade.php, by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wsnlinks/upgrade.php in your web browser.
Go to the settings area of your admin panel and update usergroup permissions and 'manage redirects'.

For all older versions you will need to download the 'old upgrades' package from http://scripts.webmastersite.net/wsnlinks/members/ and upload those files to your main WSN Links directory before continuing.

TO UPGRADE FROM 2.2x: top

Go to your admin panel's 'manage languages' section and download a copy of each of your languages.
Save your language(s) in your /languages/ directory of WSN Links on your computer. Name the files using the same file name as the title you have been using for the language. For example, english-only users should download their language and save it as default.lng while multilingual users should save as English.lng or Deutsch (Du).lng or Nederlands.lng, etc.
Overwrite all files EXCEPT your attachments directory and config.php. You must replace all templates, although you may be able to adapt some of them. Be sure to upload the styles directory.
If your language files are not chmoded to 666, chmod them now.
Login to your WSNLinks site as Administrator and run upgrade 2.2-2.3.php
As administrator run upgrade.php
Go to the settings area of your admin panel and update usergroup permissions and 'manage redirects'.

TO UPGRADE FROM 2.1x: top

Go to your admin panel's 'manage languages' section and download a copy of each of your languages.
Save your language(s) in your /languages/ directory of WSN Links on your computer. Name the files using the same file name as the title you have been using for the language. For example, english-only users should download their language and save it as default.lng while multilingual users should save as English.lng or Deutsch (Du).lng or Nederlands.lng, etc.
Overwrite all files EXCEPT your attachments directory and config.php. You must replace all templates, although you may be able to adapt your header, footer and stylesheet into the new files fairly easily.
If your language files are not chmoded to 666, chmod them now.
Login to your WSNLinks site as Administrator and run upgrade 2.1-2.2.php
As administrator run upgrade 2.2-2.3.php
As administrator run upgrade.php
Go to the settings area of your admin panel and update usergroup permissions and 'manage redirects'.

TO UPGRADE FROM 2.0x: top

Go to your admin panel's 'manage languages' section and download a copy of each of your languages.
Save your language(s) in your /languages/ directory of WSN Links on your computer. Name the files using the same file name as the title you have been using for the language. For example, english-only users should download their language and save it as default.lng while multilingual users should save as English.lng or Deutsch (Du).lng or Nederlands.lng, etc.
Overwrite all files EXCEPT your attachments directory and config.php. You must replace all templates, although you may be able to adapt your header, footer and stylesheet into the new files fairly easily.
If your language files are not chmoded to 666, chmod them now.
Login to your WSNLinks site as Administrator and run upgrade 2.0-2.1.php
As administrator run upgrade 2.1-2.2.php
As administrator run upgrade 2.2-2.3.php
As administrator run upgrade.php
Go to the settings area of your admin panel and update usergroup permissions and 'manage redirects'.

Note: Upgrading from 2.00 on up will not damage any custom fields you may have.

TO UPGRADE FROM VERSIONS 1.x DIRECTLY TO THE CURRENT VERSION: top

In phpmyadmin, change the 'recip' field of wsnlinks_links to 'type' and run these queries:
UPDATE wsnlinks_links SET type='regular' where type='0';
UPDATE wsnlinks_links SET type='recip' where type='1';
Use phpmyadmin's export tab to download all data (not structure) of your wsnlinks_links and wsnlinks_categories tables. Check the 'complete inserts' option box.
Do a new install of WSN Links.
In phpmyadmin, upload the data you exported before.
In your admin panel, go to 'regenerate counters' and regenerate all types.

TO UPGRADE FROM WSN LINKS BASIC EDITION: top

Overwrite all files exept the /attachments/ and /templates/ directories.
Login to your WSNLinks site as Administrator and run upgrade.php
Follow the instructions for upgrading from the version number of your basic edition. To upgrade from 2.56B, for example, go up to the instructions for upgrading from 2.56. To upgrade from 3.12B, go to the instructions for upgrading from 3.12.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO VERY LARGE DIRECTORIES top

If you have many hundreds of categories, you may notice an increasing lag on the 'suggest category' and 'edit category' pages after submitting. To avoid this (and avoid possible script timeouts) you will need to follow the instructions at http://scripts.webmastersite.net/wsnlinks/wsnmanual/link.php?id=172