phpLedMailer Install Guide
Documentation Index

Introduction
This document will help guide you through the installation of phpLedMailer as well as walk you though setting up and sending your first mail item (or newsletter, as some might call it.) The advanced topics page will cover some of the more advanced features and how to properly use them to maximize your experience with phpLedMailer.

Requirements
Below is a list of requirements for phpLedMailer to function properly. You (or you host) must satisfy these technical dependencies before you can install and use phpLedMailer.

  1. PHP 4.1+ or PHP 5+ must be configured and known to be working correctly. PHP must also be compiled with the appropriate database handling module. This depends on which type of database engine you select
  2. One of the following webserver options:
    Apache - Highly recommended and preferred.
    Microsoft IIS
  3. phpLedMailer uses ADODB (with some modifications/improvements) to attempt to abstract the database layer. At present date, the following database engines are supported (You must have at least one):
    MySQL (with InnoDB support)*
    PostgreSQL (8.0+ tested, but older versions may work as well)
    Microsoft SQL Server 2000
    Oracle 8i+
    SQLite (PHP 5+ only)

    Note:
    * MySQL needs to be complied with InnoDB Support in order to support transactions and referential integrity constraints. You can use MyISAM tables handlers (MySQL's default), but this may lead to incomplete data in the database, and orphaned records when parent items are delete. For example, when you delete a subscriber, any records in other tables that may be laying around will become orphaned, as phpLedMailer relies on cascading deletes from the database engine to remove these records. Use at your own risk!

  4. Some type of Mail Server. This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how often people don't take this into consideration. While phpLedMailer doesn't do anything specific to any one mail server, you must consider the fact that your list may push out hundreds of e-mails every time you send a message (depending on how many subscribers you have), so it must be able to handle the load. Some recommended MTA (or mail transfer agents) include:
    QMail (personally preferred by Ledscripts.com's staff members)
    Exim
    Postfix
    Sendmail
    Microsoft Exchange (Not really recommenced, but it works)

Installation

  1. First you must extract the zip file and all of its contents. Since you're reading this guide, I'm gonig to assume you've successfully completed this task.
  2. Copy config.inc.php-default to config.inc.php -- this is the default configuration file (which must be edited, see next step)
  3. Open config.inc.php with notepad, or your favorite text editor, and configure the database connection settings. This is the only file you'll need to manually edit. See the Database Configuration for more details on this.
  4. You may also choose to modify the subscribe and unsubscribe templates on your site
  5. Upload all the files into a folder on your server, such as http://www.mysite.com/phpLedMailer/ -- This is the location where all files will reside and all administration tasks will be performed from.
  6. If you want to make use of image uploads through the WYSIWYG editor, then be sure to allow the web server write permission to the misc/ and misc/userfiles directories (chmod 777 on *nix systems).
  7. Load the install script at the URL you've uploaded all the files to. The example above, this would be:
    http://www.mysites.com/phpLedMailer/install.php
  8. Follow the on-screen installation instructions. This step will take care of creating all database structures and populating them with some initial data.
    Note: If using the SQLite database option, you mayl need to first populate a database file with sqlite-schema.sql (in the docs/ folder), then continue with the installation. See the database configuration page for more details.
  9. Once you have completed the installation you must remove install.php before you can continue to use phpLedMailer.
  10. You should now be able to access your administrative control panel by pointing your browser to:
    http://www.mysites.com/phpLedMailer/admin.php
    Enter the username and password you selected the during installation process.
  11. The first thing you'll want to do after getting into the administration interface is go to the 'Configuration' page and modify these items to suit your needs. If you don't know what one of the fields is, see the advanced topics page for more information.
  12. Consult the 'Help' menu item for information on creating mail items and sending them to users.
  13. In the simplest form, you can create a link from within your site to /phpLedMailer/subscribe.php, or, you can simply copy the contents of the subscribe.html file (in the templates/ folder) into a page for your website and customize the look and feel to your liking. See the Templates Configuration page for more details on templates.
  14. See the Web Services page for details on enabling and consuming phpLedMailer as a web service.

Copyright Ledscripts.com 2005