I began playing around with Drupal a month or so ago in an attempt to find a better CMS for the newspaper where I work part-time. Last week, I discovered OpenPublish ... and spent the better part of two days trying to find a way to get it installed on my shared hosting account. But I had the same timeout problems that many others have had. I tried the suggested processes of increasing the max time ... with no luck.
After reading about someone using WAMP to install OpenPublish locally, then moving it over to the server, I tried that. I now have a semi-functioning install: http://newspaper.polestarstudios.com/
However, as you can see, I also have some problems, as indicated by the "n/a" in the header and footer. I also have some "broken handler" problems in views, as well as other problems I encounter here and there as I'm trying to learn my way around OpenPublish.
I came into website design from a print design background, so coding is NOT my strong suit. I have learned (X)HTML and CSS rather well ... but I know very, very little about PHP or JavaScript, so I prefer working in environments that don't require me to get too involved in scripting or coding.
I would love to get my install of OpenPublish working properly ... but I'm not sure where to begin when it comes to fixing it. Any suggestions?
Sincerely,
Katrina
Comments
As you've said, its a broken
As you've said, its a broken installation of OP. There is no php knowledge needed to install OP or Drupal (as I can tell from my experience). The only thing I can suggest at the moment is to try to install it again and see if you get the same errors and same front page.
sTattler.com
Reinstall means revisiting prior issues
The problem with reinstalling is that I run into the same problem I had before: the timeout issue.
I tried forcing a reinstall tonight by using the settings.php file to switch to a new (empty) database. And I had exactly the same timeout issue as before. So I went back to the old (semi-broken) install.
I wish I knew more about PHP; I keep thinking that there must be some settings that didn't transfer properly from the MAMP install to the shared host install ... if I knew enough to find them and fix them, maybe I could solve these problems.
I've also tried a reinstall on MAMP ... but now I'm getting the "white screen of death" instead of a site. Aargh.
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
Have you read this document?
Have you read this document? http://bit.ly/installop ? In particular
* Web Server - Apache 1.3 or Apache 2.x. We have reports of successful run on the latest version of Nginx. Drupal can also run on Microsoft IIS. Apache is still the most tested platform and strongly recommended.* PHP – Version 5.2.x
* Database – MySQL 4.1 or 5.0, though MySQL 5.0 is strongly recommended.
* Installing an optimizer like APC is highly recommended, especially for production use.
* Your memory_limit variable, in php.ini needs to be at least 64M, but 128M is highly recommended.
* If you are still having problems (seeing "white screens of death" or errors during installation) try setting max_execution_time to around 120 and realpath_cache_size to 512K, 1M or even 2M.
sTattler.com
Consistent and inconsistent results
Yes, I checked out all that with my hosting service before I made the first attempt at installing OpenPublish. As I noted earlier, I also went through the process of extending the max_execution_time and the cache size, but I still got a "30-second" error message, no matter what amount of time I'd set.
As for the problems I'm having with the MAMP installation now ... that's new. The first time I tried to install OpenPublish on my home computer with MAMP, I had no obvious problems. I don't know why I'm getting a blank white screen now.
I will continue experimenting ... probably some time next week. I'm currently booked with other commitments for the next four or five days.
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
Installing Open publish
Is very difficult.
And the documentation is terribly sparse and not very helpful.
It took me three weeks to finally get it installed. It was very frustrating.
I too am from the print background, so all this web stuff is very intimidating.
I kept hearing about php.ini and couldn't find any evidence it existed. Oh well.
I backdoored my way in.
Keep at it, you'll find a way in. And hopefully someone smarter than me will stop by and show you the way.
As for the White screen, try this, if you haven't
"Your memory_limit variable, in php.ini needs to be at least 64M, but 128M is highly recommended."
Mine was 32.
Would be nice if all these php.ini and settings came bundled.
30 second time out
I installed OP on my home computer, then transferred it to Dreamhost. It seems to be working fine, so far.
Like most who have commented, I could not get OP to install on my home computer. I tried all the suggestions, and still no success. Then, I got the "bright" idea to increase the input time, not just the max execution time. I kept all those changes and added one more. Bingo, it worked. I extended the max input time to 600. Don't know if it is necessary to go that high, but I did. Surprisingly, it immediately worked, and OP installed on my home computer. Then, I uploaded the install to Dreamhost, where many implied that it would not work. Well, it worked at first try after transfer. Oh, I used the latest version of Xampp.
Hope this works for others.
Still trying
It occurred to me today to see if not installing all the modules in OpenPublish would allow me to get through the install process successfully. So I FTP'd everything over except for the modules folder inside sites/all.
That did at least enable me to get to the install screen instead of the "timeout" screen. But, of course, I had a whole string of error messages because all the modules were not installed. So I decided to experiment to see how many modules I could install before i hit the "timeout" white screen.
I decided only to copy over the modules listed in the error messages. I would copy over one module and refresh the install screen, then copy over another module and refresh again.
After I had copied 25 modules, I got the white "timeout" screen, even though I had these settings in my php.ini file:
max_execution_time = 1200
max_input_time = 1200
memory_limit = 128M
realpath_cache_size=2M
Here's a question for those of you who have installed OpenPublish on home computers and moved it over to a shared hosting server: What exactly are the steps for that? When I tried it, that's when I ended up with a semi-broken install of OpenPublish that had "n/a" in the header and footer, as well as other problems.
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
Transferring OP 1.6 from home computer to shared host
I can't promise to remember exactly now how I did it. Only done one such install.
url is: http://hereiswisdom.org
That's the best I can remember right now.
So far I have upgraded nodewords module, but not the drupal core. Not sure I want to mess up a working program right now. I don't feel comfortable with the upgrade process with drupal core yet. Still have a 5.xx site that I'm leary of upgrading to 6.15. Guess I'll eventually have to do it though.
A side thought. I still think those who are "experts" with these programs, as in creating them, etc. do not have the slightest clue about how to explain the process of install, etc. to those without their level of skill and knowledge. I know they believe they are explaining things as simply as they can. However, what is simple to them is like quantum physics to the rest of us. To me this is the biggest fault of programs like Drupal. It turns out that a lot of what I have discovered by experimenting could very easily have been explained to us neophytes with some simple abc's instead of the "computer speak" which has no meaning to me and many others.
Maybe I'll give some examples someday of how I would explain some of the truly complicated "simple" steps to making various things work.
Anyway, hope the above list of steps helps some.
Similar process ... different results?
Well, I followed similar steps when I tried installing OP on my Mac using MAMP ... but I did have trouble trying to relink the database after I moved it; I wonder if that had anything to do with the semi-broken OP site I ended up with.
I will eventually try that process again, and if I run into problems, I'll post details here.
And yes, I know what you mean: People who are really good at something are not always good at teaching it to others. I teach computer workshops (on graphic design software such as Photoshop and InDesign) part-time; I've been teaching computer classes since 1994. And I have developed a pretty good knack for explaining technological processes in down-to-earth language and breaking processes down into step-by-step directions.
But when I'm the learner, I need the same kind of step-by-step explanations that I develop for my students. Which is probably why I've become so good as an instructor ... I teach the way I would like to be taught!
If I ever get the hang of Drupal and OpenPublish, I might write a few tutorials ... someday.
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
We need to make you an expert
We need to make you an expert of OpenPublish, ASAP :)
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http://twitter.com/inadarei
Katrina, can you post the
Katrina,
can you, please, post the output of
<?php phpinfo(); ?>from the server that you posted php.ini settings for, here?P.S. Trying to cheat Drupal by not uploading some modules is not going to work :)
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http://twitter.com/inadarei
Not sure what you mean
I'm not sure what you mean by "post the output of
<?phpphpinfo();
?>
And I did install all the core modules for OpenPublish ... just not the extras (such as flag, pathauto, etc.). Not that I expected it to work perfectly ... I've just been experimenting to see what happens.
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
In the root of your web
In the root of your web folder create a file called index.php which will have only one line:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>Access your site from a browser, copy/paste the information on that page, or better yet, if you can - export to pdf and attach pdf "screenshot" here.
Thanks.
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http://twitter.com/inadarei
What specifically are you looking for?
That's a lot of info; I'd rather not post all that here. What exactly are you looking for?
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
The values
The values of:
max_execution_time
max_input_time
memory_limit
realpath_cache_size
as reported by that page, please.
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http://twitter.com/inadarei
PHP info values
Local and master values:
max_execution_time: 30, 30
max_input_nesting_level: 64, 64
max_input_time: 60, 60
memory_limit: 256M, 256M
realpath_cache_size: 16K, 16K
realpath_cache_ttl: 120, 120
So it's obviously ignoring any values I put in the php.ini file. Hmmm. Wonder if I can get anyone at the hosting company to do anything about this? Well, I can ask ... worst-case scenario, the answer is "no."
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer
Yeap, it looks like they are
Yeap.
Two possible problems:
1) Are you restarting Apache after you edit php.ini? You need to restart Apache or changes will not get picked up. Maybe restart is not going through.
2) They are having you edit wrong php.ini file.
What's the hosting company, if I may ask?
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http://twitter.com/inadarei
One problem solved ... new problem arises!
I did a little online research to see if there's a way around the php.ini file ... especially on shared servers ... and discovered that you can use the .htaccess file. So I added these lines to my .htaccess file in the same folder that I'm using for the OP installation:
php_value max_execution_time 600
php_value max_input_time 600
php_value realpath_cache_size 2M
That got me past the "max_execution_time" timeout and into the install screen. I was thrilled! Until I typed in the database information -- and got a huge list of errors, most of which start with "Warning: MySQL server has gone away ...."
I did some brief research on that; apparently, it means that there's a "timeout" issue for MySQL. It's very late where I live, and I have to get up early to go to work, so I don't have time tonight to research it enough to find a solution. I'll worry about that tomorrow!
Katrina
Site builder, writer, trainer, graphic designer