I'm looking at XOOPS (and cms in general), and was wondering how people administer it day-to-day. Do you

- do all things via a web control panel, and depend on backups on the server?

OR

- do things locally on your box, and then upload as necessary, so that you always have the "official" versions of your (non-db) content of the site?


The reason I ask is that I am a little nervous about not doing things locally, uploading as necessary. I am not even sure if this is something easy to do.



-TIA

As XOOPS is a dynamic web content management system, almost all it's content (except images, most likely) is in the database. This means that for the day-to-day management you don't need to have a local copy of your content to edit. All editing and adding is done into the database itself. If you're on a shared host, probably daily backups of the database are made, but if you want to be really really really secure, you can make a database dump yourself using phpmyadmin or similar tools. Same with all your files. A monthly backup (or an update of the previous backup) of all your files in your site, should be enough, as you will not need to edit those ever again (if it is all running smoothly).

As for the setup and implementation of a new site, I think it is best to do that locally (using the XSAS for instance -do a search, it's the XOOPS Stand Alone Server, an excellent tool to test XOOPS locally without any hassle). Mostly theme editing there, but you might want to change a few things in a few files when you're cr3eating your new site layout etc.

I hope this helps!

Herko

I keep a local copy of customized files.

I usually edit them locally, and then upload them to the server.

Sometimes I'll make changes on the server. In that case, I'll download the changes to my computer, so that they'll be in synch.

In addition, I do periodic backups of the server, download the backups to my computer, and then copy them to a CD.

My web hosting service does backups too, but I don't want to depend on that. In fact, they told me that their backups are done on another device within the same box. That wouldn't protect against certain types of problems, such as fire, water damage, theft, etc.

Whoa - XSAS is cool. Very cool.

Exactly what is associated with the db and what with the theme? I'm thinking of using XSAS to twiddle and tweak, and then I'd be ready to upload stuff to the online site. However, I'll of course need to know what was put in the db so that I (I guess) will have to replicate doing that with the online admin tool.

Speaking of tweaking a theme, is it best to just copy an existing theme to a new directory and hack away? Are ALL of the things associated with the theme centralized in the theme's subdirectory?

Themes are stored as files on the server, and they control the layout (positioning of the dynamic elements) of a site. The theme file also designs the static elements. Themes are files, so it is best to edit them locally, and then upload to the server. Make sure that paths are relative (but also keep in mind that the theme file path in itself is relative: it can be your site's root, or as a module page, which both have diferent paths, but the same theme file). Use the relative paths like <{$xoops_url}> and xoops_imageurl for that You can use a theme you like and change it, or you can create the look you want in dreamweaver, and then edit that in a text editor to put the dynamic elements in. Both ways work, althoughthe second requires you understand the way themes are built, and Smarty (the template engine).

Templates are stored in the database, and they control the design of a site. So, editing templates is done in the database (using the XOOPS Template Manager in the system admin -> templates section). However, once you have tweaked your templates to what you want on your local copy, you can create a downlaodable version of your template set, which you can easily import into your site. So the transfer from local to server is very easy.

I hope this helps

Herko

Thanks for the info.

I saw the "Clone" option for templates, and was wondering if there was a way to export them, too. I kind of had assume there was - cool.

I need to read up on the theme/template terminology.

Do you use XSAS for local work?

btw - I hope things pick up for you. And "Pining the fjords" sounds like the title for a song...

Quote:There's a nice guide in the XOOPS Wiki.
Quote:Personally, no. But XSAS is based on the server I use (and have been using for so long that I didn't want to switch to XSAS). However, I recommend XSAS to everyone, it's VERY easy and simple to use!

Quote:Thanks Pining for the Fjords is actually a snippet from one of the most famous Monty Python sketches, the Parrot Sketch, where a guy walks into a pet store with a dead parrot in a cage. The shopkeeper keeps denying the bird is dead: o Naaah, it's not dead, it's restin'. Beautiful plumage, the Norwegian Blue. -Resting!? o Yes, it's pining for the fjords!

Herko