Instructions for Installing and Using The Wall
*** Please read the LICENSE.HTML file in this directory. ***
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
You must have a Windows NT or Windows 95 based Web server which
provides a CGI interface. This software has been tested with the
Microsoft Information Server under Windows NT, and Microsoft FrontPage
under Windows 95. It should theoretically work with any 32bit
Microsoft Windows based Web server which supports a CGI interface.
A version for Linux is also available on request.
INSTALLATION
It is assumed that you have already unzipped the distribution into an
appropriate directory.
- Create a subdirectory in your html source tree where you wish to put
The Wall's Web pages.
- Copy the contents of the distribution's HTML directory to the
directory created in step (1).
- Copy the contents of the distribution's CGI directory to your Web
server's
CGI-BIN
directory or equivalent. If your server doesn't have
a CGI-BIN
directory or equivalent, you may copy the files into the
directory created in step (1).
- Edit addwall.html. This file is found in the directory created in
step (1).
- Change the 'value' tag in the 'WallConfig' hidden field to be the full
path to 'thewall.cfg'. This file will either be found in the
CGI-BIN
directory (see step (3)) or the directory created in step (1).
- If you wish each user entry to be separated by a paragraph tag (<p>),
then set the 'WallAutoParagraph' field's value to "on". If you set it
to "off", each user's entry will immediately follow the previous entry
unless the user includes appropriate HTML to prevent this.
- Change the rest of the file as you see fit. Be sure to specify the
path to 'thewall.exe' correctly in the '
FORM ACTION
' tag. If you have
a CGI-BIN
directory, this will usually be
'ACTION="CGI-BIN/thewall.exe"
'. If instead you've used the directory
created in step (1), it will simply be 'ACTION=thewall.exe
'.
- Edit wallhead.html and walltail.html. The contents of these files
will automatically be prepended or appended to the user's entries.
- If you wish, change the .GIF and .JPG files as you see fit.
- Edit The Wall configuration file called '
thewall.cfg
'. This file is
found in at the path specified in step (4.1). This file contains
documentation, and should be self-explanatory.
- Edit the other HTML files as desired.
- Provide links as appropriate from your Web pages to the directory
created in step (1).
USING THE WALL
Once set up, The Wall should require little or no further
administrative interaction.
Each user entry causes the following actions:
- The entry is automatically appended to the WallSrc file specified in the
configuration (see step (7)).
- The WallText file specified in the configuration is rebuilt from the
WallHead, WallSrc, and WallTail files.
Because the user's entries exist in both the WallSrc and WallText files at
any given time, if you need to alter the entries, you should either
- Change WallSrc and immediately add a new entry to force WallText to
be rebuilt; or
- Change both WallSrc and WallText.
TIPS
- If you are using The Wall to monitor user entries in real time, you
will have to use your browser's 'Reload' function repeatedly.
- If a hardware or system failure occurs at just the right moment while
an entry is being added, a file called '
wall.lck
' will wind up in the
CGI-BIN
directory or the directory created in Step (1). If this
occurs, users will receive a message that "We tried to add your entry,
but after ten tries the system wouldn't respond." If this occurs,
delete 'wall.lck
'.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED SUPPORT
If you have questions or require assistance, please email
dave@armchair.mb.ca.
PLEASE SET THE 'Subject:' TO "The Wall Support",
otherwise Dave Voorhis (the author) will probably lose your message
among the several hundred others he receives every day.