Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

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jfxberns
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Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by jfxberns » Sat Sep 24, 2005 5:22 am

Here are a few suggestions on ways to make "Browser Installation (the easy way)" more understandable and user-friendly:

1) In the "Browser Installation (the easy way)" (http://help.joomla.org/content/view/39/132/) and the " Manual Installation (the less easy way)" (http://help.joomla.org/content/view/40/132/) documentation pages fail to mention that, while you can install Joomla on a system with PHP5 / MySQL 4.1 / mysqli you must rename database.mysqli.php to database.php. I only knew this fact because I had happened to read "Migrating to Joomla from Mambo" (http://help.joomla.org/component/option ... temid,109/) which is not likely for people doing a first-time install. You should probably have a highlighted note on this topic as it seems that a lot of users (especially windows users) are having problems with this.

2) Even if you have MySQL 4.1 on my system, the “pre-installation check” said “- MySQL support Unavailable”.  Is this perhaps because I have compiled my PHP 5.0.x "--with mysqli"?  If that is the case, and if i have rectified the problem as outlined in the point above, then the  “pre-installation check” should also test for PHP mysqli support and that the proper database class has been installed so as not to give unneccessary errors.

3) After loading the site for the first time I got the “pre-installation check” page which said that configuration.php was “unwritable” which seemed to imply that the file SHOULD exist and be writable to do the installation.  (If not being writable is flagged as a problem, how else would a rational person expect to resolve the problem except to create the configuration.php file and make it writable?) 

So I did create the configuration.php file by copying configuration.php-dist to configuration.php and change the permissions to 666 so I could write to it, then I clicked the “Check Again” button, but when the page loaded I got the following error:

Warning: main(/path/to/joomla/install/includes/version.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/dtnews/public_html/includes/joomla.php on line 77

Fatal error: main() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/path/to/joomla/install/includes/version.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php/Smarty') in /home/dtnews/public_html/includes/joomla.php on line 77


If the install requires that the file configuration.php does not exist, you SHOULD NOT flag “configuration.php as unwritable” as a red-flagged problem, as it appears to the person instaling Joomla that they have encountered an error that needs to be resolved before they can install Joomla!

4) The“pre-installation check” displayed a “Directory and File Permissions:” section listing a number of directories as unwritable but gave no instructions HOW TO FIX the problem.  I would suggest that you a) set the proper permissions in the tar.gz / zip file that you send so it unpacks with the right permissions b) include a shell script that a somewhat technically inclined user can run to "prepare" the files & directories for installation and "secure" the installation afterwards (i.e. remove write permission on directories that should not have them post-installation) or c) at the VERY LEAST, include a note detailing what permission to give which directories so the installer can manually set the right permissions to allow the installation to proceed as well as notes on what permissions to revoke post-installation if required to secure the installation.

5) Ditto for the “Session save path Not set, Unwriteable” error.  Here is an error with no explanation of what the installer must do to rectify the situation—or if, in fact, they have to do anything at this point.

In general, if there are problems flagged in the “pre-installation check” page, there should be some clear description of what the users should do to resolve the issue, or you will have a lot of people that just scratch their head and give up in frustration.



Overall, I would rate the install process as a 1 out of a 5 possible stars, simply because there are too many "mystery errors" flagged and no explanation of what the users must do (if anything) to resolve the issue to proceed with the install.  I also think that there should be some things flagged as warnings / informational (perhaps orange / yellow?) that the person doing the installation should note, but are not critical and won't prevent installation.

Joomla looks like a great app.  I am not here to just bitch and whine.  Let me know what I can do to help and I will be glad to help...

-- John
John F.X. Berns
It's all about travel.
http://www.johnberns.com
http://www.travelguide.com

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by guilliam » Mon Sep 26, 2005 4:03 pm

documentation team will look into your inputs. thank you so much for doing so.

-guilliam
"I was one of those who wondered why people would pay so much $$$$ to do something that was so much fun!" -R. Harkrider, Fortran Code Engr.

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by manuman » Mon Sep 26, 2005 4:43 pm

Hi jfxberns

This page is reasonably old and probably due for a re-vamp. We will certainly be looking at the points you have made and look to make the Installation Manual a lot clearer.

Thanks for your input.

Cheers
Shayne
Shayne Bartlett - Joomla Co-Founder
CTO/Web Architect: Elastik Limited https://elastik.space

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by jfxberns » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:14 am

You guys are doing AMAZING stuff.  I just want you to know I am trying to help and not be critical.

Keep up the amaxing work and a big thanks to all that are creating this amazing product!
John F.X. Berns
It's all about travel.
http://www.johnberns.com
http://www.travelguide.com

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by guilliam » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:19 am

jfxberns wrote: You guys are doing AMAZING stuff.  I just want you to know I am trying to help and not be critical.

Keep up the amaxing work and a big thanks to all that are creating this amazing product!
Everyone is doing its best towards the each and every success of Joomla! if oyu have time and a hand to spare you may want to help the documentation team in proof reading, editing, etc.. basic doc works..

if so,.. do check the thread: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,429.0.html --> the documentation team needs all hands it can get.
Last edited by guilliam on Wed Sep 28, 2005 4:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by kai920 » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:41 am

Wiped out my site and doing a new install.  Just a small grammatical error I noticed under the "Install Sample Data" check box
Don't uncheck option this unless you are experienced in using Joomla!
Last edited by kai920 on Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by guilliam » Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:09 am

kai920 wrote: Wiped out my site and doing a new install.  Just a small grammatical error I noticed under the "Install Sample Data" check box
Don't uncheck option this unless you are experienced in using Joomla!
ACTIONED. will do the correction in the NEXT release. again, thank you for your input @kai920

pls post other corrections you find in:

http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,59.0.html

.
"I was one of those who wondered why people would pay so much $$$$ to do something that was so much fun!" -R. Harkrider, Fortran Code Engr.

http://www.joomlaconsultancy.net

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by Michelle Bisson » Wed Sep 28, 2005 3:25 am

if so,.. do send @manuman (shyane) a pm(personal message) for your interest.
Instead, we would like everyone who wishes to help the doc project, to read this post and respond to it.  There is a small questionaire.  Please do not contact us by pm as our mail boxes are fulll. lol

http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,429.0.html
Michelle Bisson, POPcliQ, http://www.popcliq.com
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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by t17169 » Mon Oct 10, 2005 10:45 pm

In general, if there are problems flagged in the “pre-installation check” page, there should be some clear description of what the users should do to resolve the issue, or you will have a lot of people that just scratch their head and give up in frustration.



Overall, I would rate the install process as a 1 out of a 5 possible stars, simply because there are too many "mystery errors" flagged and no explanation of what the users must do (if anything) to resolve the issue to proceed with the install.  I also think that there should be some things flagged as warnings / informational (perhaps orange / yellow?) that the person doing the installation should note, but are not critical and won't prevent installation.

Joomla looks like a great app.  I am not here to just bitch and whine.  Let me know what I can do to help and I will be glad to help...

-- John

[/quote]

Excellent suggestions, but then, I'm just a user, not someone tech proficient.  However, Mambo 4.5.2 was a piece of cake for me to install thanks to this tutorial:  http://www.mambers.com/showthread.php?t ... t=tutorial

I spent over 14 hours this past weekend trying to install Joomla before I had no choice but to give up.  While at this point, someone is going to do it for me, I still want someone to walk through the process simply so I can document in non-laymen's terms what I did so others like me can do it, too. 

As I said on a post (entitled Cannot Intall, btw), seems to me the point of open source is access for everyone.  Access used to be about $$$ and if this is only for those who are technically proficient, then a lot of people will be left out who could end up doing a lot of good for a lot of others.  Which always seemed like the point to me.

So if I ever manage an install, I will definitely contribute a how to for illiterates like me. I was writing down what I did with each install.  The odd thing was, they all seemed to fail for different reasons.  And that Mambo was so easy (the first thing I ever installed in fact) and Joomla was so impossible.  The "____ for Dummies" hasn't spun off a million versions for lack of an audience.   

I think there should be a newbie folder for questions by people who are just normal Joe's.  One of the things about the Mambo forums was that there were 'illiterate users' there, too, whereas the new Joomla forums can seem a bit daunting for those of us who are so far below your tech proficiency levels, yet quite determined to figure it out for ourselves.  The more user friendly this becomes, the more support the Joomla community will have.  So if I can ever write from a user who is an absolute beginner, I'd be more than happy to contribute, test installations (yeah right:), etc.  I love what this is...now if I can just install it!

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by guilliam » Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:40 am

John,

will do the WALKTHRU installation(as i call it installation walkthru's for dummies). if youre an experienced documentator, i will glad to give oyu a hand in one of your installation while i guide you using YIM or MSN..(i prefer yim or skype voice though).

second, if you can dedicate time for documentation pls check this thread: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,429.0.html

third, if youre in a hurry and cant wait another minute for a Joomla 1.0.2 to be installed in your website.. try this thread:

http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,8602.0.html


- guilliam
"I was one of those who wondered why people would pay so much $$$$ to do something that was so much fun!" -R. Harkrider, Fortran Code Engr.

http://www.joomlaconsultancy.net

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by t17169 » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:17 am

will do the WALKTHRU installation(as i call it installation walkthru's for dummies). if youre an experienced documentator, i will glad to give oyu a hand in one of your installation while i guide you using YIM or MSN..(i prefer yim or skype voice though).

second, if you can dedicate time for documentation pls check this thread: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,429.0.html

third, if youre in a hurry and cant wait another minute for a Joomla 1.0.2 to be installed in your website.. try this thread:

http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,8602.0.html


- guilliam


Were you replying to me (t17169) or John?  I think John is capable of an installation and I would love to finally succeed at one and love to write about it for other dummies like me.  So I will take you up on the skype offer.  Will pm.  Thanks!

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by guilliam » Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:24 am

t17169 wrote: will do the WALKTHRU installation(as i call it installation walkthru's for dummies). if youre an experienced documentator, i will glad to give oyu a hand in one of your installation while i guide you using YIM or MSN..(i prefer yim or skype voice though).

second, if you can dedicate time for documentation pls check this thread: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,429.0.html

third, if youre in a hurry and cant wait another minute for a Joomla 1.0.2 to be installed in your website.. try this thread:

http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,8602.0.html


- guilliam


Were you replying to me (t17169) or John?  I think John is capable of an installation and I would love to finally succeed at one and love to write about it for other dummies like me.  So I will take you up on the skype offer.  Will pm.  Thanks!
ooops sorry,.. im replying to you(@t17169) ,.. got your pm and i replied. :)

-guilliam
"I was one of those who wondered why people would pay so much $$$$ to do something that was so much fun!" -R. Harkrider, Fortran Code Engr.

http://www.joomlaconsultancy.net

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Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required '/path/to/joomla/install/includes/v

Post by muddauber » Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:44 pm

Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required '/path/to/joomla/install/includes/version.php' 

has reared its ugly head again with Joomla 1.0.9 install.
I've seen some notes on the forum with this mentioned, but
no clear explanation for resolving the problem.

My problem exists after a complete successful install. Set up
templates, pages, menus etc without a hitch. Tested site
with several machines and browsers. All looked good.

Came back the next day and I get
Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required '/path/to/joomla/install/includes/version.php'

Now, I can't clean it up. Any suggestions other than doing a complete reinstall or
creating a new database, etc would be helpful and greatly appreciated.
I installed on an Apache server

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Re: Some Some Suggestions on Improving the "Browser Installation (the easy way)"

Post by t17169 » Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:12 am

muddauber,

This thread is so old you might want to go elsewhere.  Dead threads aren't very good for help.  Try posting here:
http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,36.0.html


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