Introduction to osCommerce: Notes to Facilitate Use of Server and the Use of Digital Pictures for your Commercial Site
1. In order to use osCommerce effectively, we have to set permissions for the files that are part of osCommerce. This is true whether we are working on the sephone server in Maine or the USP server here in Suva. Setting permissions means we can change what is contained in those files. This is necessary for many of the tutorials we will be doing. 2. If we are working on campus it is much easier to set permissions for the files. First we have to install osCommerce on the server. We will just access the server: http://koro.student.usp.ac.fj/~name_n/oscommerce/catalog/install. Name will be a name given to you by IT services here at USP. Ajit Sharma will have loaded osCommerce onto your server space. You just have to install it. We will do that in class. However, to use it, we must be able to write to the files. This means we must change permissions so that we can read, write, and execute. Later you will want to change these permissions back so that someone from the outside cannot change what you have created. Once osCommerce is installed, then we will access the administration menu by: http://koro.student.usp.ac.fj/~name_n/oscommerce/catalog /admin However, to make changes in files from the admin menu, we will have had to change the permissions of those files. To change permissions from on campus is easy. We just have to access the server through ftp://koro.student.usp.ac.fj though internet explorer. Then we type our logon and password which will be provided to you by IT services here on campus. We then will see our files.
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Special Note: (It is easier to have TWO internet explorer windows open: one for catalog/admin and one for the server files we want to change. When we access the admin menu, we will go to tools, and file manager. From there, we can look at the contents of any file and make changes in that file as long as we have changed the permissions for that file. The new version of osCommerce may not allow us to make changes in the files in file manager. We can always copy the file to our desktop, make the changes, and upload to our server space. So there is always a way of getting around problems!!!!! As each tutorial requires different files to work with, we will be changing permissions for files as we go along, so it is easier to have access to those files for permission changes by opening a second internet explorer window to have access to the files. (We cannot make permission changes from within the admin menu. This is why we need access to the files though the server and not the osCommerce admin menu as the file manager tool will not allow us to make permission changes.) If your computer has internet explorer 7, you can see your files within any directory you highlight with your cursor by opening a page at the top right of the internet explorer screen. Then you click Open ftp Site in Windows Explorer. It will take a few minutes, but all the files will show. You may be asked for your logon and password again. This happens on the Maine server all the time. Then if you right click on the file you want to change the permissions for, a pop up box will show. At the bottom of this box, there is the word Properties. Left click on this word. A chmod box with checkboxes in it will show. Chmod means change mode. So you will make sure all the check boxes are clicked. Now you can go back to working with the files and make whatever changes you want. If you have the old version of internet explorer, all you have to do is to right click on the file (sometimes twice) and a pop up box will open with the word chmod at the bottom. Then left click on chmod and the permissions or chmod box will show. Click all the checkboxes and the permissions will change to allow you to edit the file. 3. If you are working from off campus, you will likely need to access a secure system to access the USP server.
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There are two ways to do this. IT here at USP has suggested the A method listed bellow. I prefer the B method as it is easier. A. This is done by downloading a secure file transfer protocol (psftp.exe) from: http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/ You then can place this on your flashdrive or your own computer and then access the server by executing psftp.exe. The only problem is that you must know the commands to work on the server as there is no user friendly interface from off campus access. You can download commands for a UNIX operating system from the internet or see the photocopy provided to you. But you can make the permission changes by using: chmod 777 filename There are many other commands such as to list the files in a directory. B. You can download the free secure file transfer protocol called winscp on your flashdrive or own computer from www.winscp.com. When this program is executed, you put in the host name which will be Koro.student.usp.ac.fj Also put in your logon and password. Be sure to spell everything correctly. Make sure the port is listed as 22. Then select the server type of SCP. Click on Login. You will then access the USP server and you will be connected in a short time. You will see what is on your desktop on the left and what is on the USP server on the right. It is very slick and easy to do. I suggest you use this second method as it is a lot easier and you can see your files immediately. 4. If you are working on the Sephone server in Maine, I will give you a logon and password and tell you how to access the server.
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Generally, the server is: student???.usp.sephone.com. To get to the server files you must ftp://student???.usp.sephone.com and to get to your catalog and admin menu you will http://student???usp.sephone.com/catalog/admin. 5. You will have to download osCommerce open-source software and upload the catalog yourself. 6. Each of you may have a logon and password for both systems depending on the size of the class. The server in Maine can be accessed through ftp like the server here in Suva can be accessed through ftp from on campus. The server in Maine is not a “secure” server. 7. When each group starts to create its own commercial site, you should have access to a digital camera so you can place pictures of your goods on your osCommerce site. Please size the pictures as 480 (w) by 640 (h) so that when a consumer clicks on them to see them closer, the picture does not become so big that the consumer cannot see the entire product.
The above instructions will clear up a lot of the beginning problems you may have.
CONTINUE TO TUTORIAL 1
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