Check to see that your web server has Perl 5 with the LWP module installed. Also, if you are ordering the SQL module as well, check to see that you have access to a database server like Msql or Mysql... Telnet access is usually a good thing but not necessary. You need to be able to run a nightly cron job (timed event). This cron job will update your database every night by adding new urls and verifying old urls. You can run it yourself through a telnet session instead of on a nightly basis, if you need to. I have found that web hosters don't like to change their current setup for any given customer. If you have no particular attachment to your web host and they don't support what is needed, the best solution is to move to a web host that is guarenteened to support the script. It is not that big a deal to move your site over. And your current web hoster is obviously not keeping up with the times, if they lack these basic things. If they don't have this stuff, what else might they be lacking? Go here for more info on switching
First, you need to change the first line of the .cgi files to reflect the location of perl version 5 on your server: #!/usr/bin/perl5 Be sure to leave the #! in front of the full path to perl5. Remember, on some servers, you need to have your cgi's in the cgi-bin. You can tell if this is the case, by installing the script in another directory. Then try to access the script, if it just prints out the script as text, then you have to put the script in the cgi-bin. Next, you need to be sure that the saves dir is available and writeable. To do this, you need to create the directory and chmod 777 'directory name'. You also need to chmod 755 the .cgi files. Chmod's can be done through telnet or through an ftp client that supports it. Chmoding is generally not necessary on NT servers. After that, you just need to be sure that all of the other config settings in site_searcher_config.cgi are correct. Older versions have the config settings at the beginning of the site_searcher.cgi file. The next step is to get the url_adder.cgi to run on a daily/monthly basis. It is the script that actually updates the database, by adding new urls (crawling the sites, updating existing urls (deleting bad urls or renewing indexed data), and just deleting urls that you have specified for deletion. First, you need to edit the maindir setting near the top of the url_adder.cgi script. That should be set to the full path to your admin directory. If you are unsure of the full path, ask your web hoster. It should start with either c: (for NT) or / (on Unix). To activate this script, you need to activate a cron job. The mycron file contains the appropriate info to get a cron job going except that you must edit it to change the paths for your server. Be sure not to change the numbers, unless you understand what they mean. If you can telnet to your site, you can type crontab mycron, in the directory where mycron is, to activate it. If you can't telnet in, you must ask your web hosting company how to get setup with a cron job. Usually, it just involves sending them the mycron file. If you are installing on an NT server, you need to setup a 'scheduled task' (i.e. cron job) instead. Goto: Start - Programs - Admin Tools - Scheduled tasks Then through the interface you can easily run the url_adder.cgi script at a given time. Just set it up to run once a day late at night. Now, you should be all set to go!
The site_searcher_config.cgi file has a setting for this.
Inside the site_searcher_config.cgi file there is a setting for this. You can set it to whatever number you wish.
Template files are generally stored in the html_templates directory. The first part of the template files is defining the look that each item in the current search return will have. Everything below '--START OF EACH ITEM DEF--' and above '--END OF EACH ITEM DEF--' is part of this definition. There are other items that get defined for the various modules as well. They will use the same concept of an item def. The variables, (*Variablename), are field names coming from your database. You can position them however you like. Below that section, is just normal HTML. That is where you would adjust the look of the page, like the background color and the look of the form... This form of template is very flexible since it simplifies everything to just another bit of html.How do I make a link to a specific search of my choice?
Run the actual search through your engine and then use the url that is on the returned page.Does it spider the site or just get the url specified?
It just gets the url title, description, keywords... from the specified url. Crawling to other urls connected to the original url i.e. spidering, is not done.Can I turn off the url verify and email?
Yes, those are easily adjustable config settings.How much disk space does a 10,000 url database take up?
Approximately 5 megs.Can I turn off the ranking system?
Yes, there is a config setting for this. There is a speed advantage to doing this since the program doesn't have to sort out the urls, it merely returns them in 'most recent first' order.How do I adjust the ranking system?
There are config settings for this in the site_searcher_config.cgi file. Basically, its just a series of numbers which get added to the rank of a site as that particular criteria is matched. Like if search term is in the title, add 1000. These config settings allow you to adjust the ranking to fit the way you would like it to work. The default settings that I have setup should be good enough for you if you aren't interested in playing around with this feature right away.How does the category for each url get set?
This can be sent in with your user's url submissions, and can then also be adjusted via the online admin area. You can see this easily in the demo.Can I put a search box on another web site?
Yes, it is just a standard web form so it can be placed anywhere on the web, as long as you use the full url, like http://...What is a cron job and what does this one do?
A cron job is just a way of letting the script run every so often without you having to execute it directly. For this package, the url_adder script runs once every day. It can be run less or more frequently depending on your preference. The url_adder takes all of the submitted urls and grabs the pertinent data from them. Then adds it to the database. Once a month, the url_adder checks all of the urls to be sure that they are still valid.Will the site slow down while the cron job is running?
No, this cron job is designed to run without causing any problems with your server load.What can I do if my web hoster doesn't allow cron jobs or whatever?
Some web hosting companies don't allow such things or has older versions of Perl installed. If this is the case, you need to move to a new host in order for this script to work. This is not only good for this package but for any future packages that you wish to install. There is no reason to stay on a server that doesn't keep up with the current releases of everything. For better hosting, check out: http://www.fatcow.net/ http://www.nwrks.net/ http://www.he.net/ http://www.hiway.net/Can I customize the search results page with my background and banners?
Yes, the html template files allow you to redesign the look of that page.