How To Install Pixelpost Photoblogging Software
Pixelpost is an open-source photo blogging system that is extremely simple to use, leaving your photos to do the talking on your website.
Step 1 - Download the latest version of Pixelpost
Visit pixelpost.org website to download the latest version. Here you'll also be able see a demo of the software and check out the various tools and extensions that are available.
Step 2 - Unzip and upload to your web server
f you are using Windows XP, right-click on the Pixelpost file and select "Extract all.." and click Next to extract the files.
You may want to have the photo blog as your main website (ie. www.yourwebsite.com), in which case you would just upload all the files directly to the public_html folder. Alternatively you can have Pixelpost work as an addition to your site, like www.yourwebsite.com/photo. Create the directory if need be, and upload the whole lot to your web server.
Step 3 - Change permissions for folders
Because Pixelpost will be managing your images once you have uploaded them, you'll need to set the permissions (known as CHMOD) on the images and thumbnails folders so they can be written by the software. To do this, in your FTP software right-click the folder and look for "CHMOD" or "Permissions".
Then in the window that appears, you'll need to type 777 in the box, which sets read, write, and execute permissions for all.
Step 4 - Set up a MySQL database for Pixelpost
This is another step that the install program can't do for you. For full details on how to set up a MySQL database, see the How-To Setting up a MySQL database and accessing it with phpMyAdmin
I have set up the database as follows, with ALL privileges because Pixelpost needs to create/drop tables during setup:
Step 5 - Run the Pixelpost install script
Handily, there is a step-by-step wizard for installing the rest and checking your settings. Simply open your web browser and go to www.yourwebsite.com/(photo blog folder, if any)/admin/install.php
All should run smoothly, but I came across an error on the "Requirements" page that said that the GD image library was missing. To fix this, I recompiled PHP with the GD library using the "Apache Update" feature in Web Host Manager
Once you're past the requirements page, you're home free and can customize the various settings and options for using Pixelpost. Happy photoblogging!
Tags: photoblogging, pixelpost | Category: Miscellaneous