How to run FPA? Topic is solved

[claven123]

#4
Run the FPA script
Go to your domain, appending the FPA script to the URL: https://www.domain.tld.cc/fpa-en.php. Review the FPA Report.

I'm not sure how to do this step, the instructions are not clear to me. I have uploaded the FPA php file to my / folder via FTP. Do I replace 'domain' with my site domain xyz.com ? I did that and it could not be found. The other section is marked 'work in progress'.

D

[AMurray]

Yes replace it with your own domain name..... .

[claven123]

I get a 404 error.

d

[abernyte]

If your domain/fpa-en.php gives you a 404, then the file fpa-en.php is not in the root of your site.

[AMurray]

[sorry realise an earlier reply came through just as I was trying to post this answer]

Did you upload fpa-en.php to the folder with joomla in it? That is, you need joomla installed first (so that the FPA can report the information about it), and then you place the fpa-en.php file the same folder as Joomla files are located. Normally that would be your hosting's root folder like "public_html" (or whatever it might be)

404 means "not found" obviously but there are several reasons why this is the case

(1) the file is simply not on the location you're trying to run it from - what is your actual site URL (provide a link here please......) - post the exact address you're trying to run the fpa-en.php script from.

(2) difference in case such as "FPA-en.php" vs "fpa-en.php" on Linux servers - Linux/Apache would treat those to examples as two different files; so you need to ensure if the file name is "fpa-en.php" then you put that in the web address, and not "FPA-en.php".

If you were trying to browse to https://yoursite.com/FPA-en.php and came up with a 404, then try https://yoursite.com/fpa-en.php.

It might be easier to get assistance initially from your hosting support with first locating the file, and/or getting them to upload it and run it to see if it's a problem with their servers or something we can't identify at this point (from the little information you've given us).

[sozzled]

Normally that would be your hosting's root folder like "public_html" (or whatever it might be).

Hopefully, people would not normally install,their J! websites as a jumble of files under /public_html.

This might be acceptable if you only have one website, but it's not good in practice.

In other words, if you had two websites, then they should be arranged something like

/public_html/site1

/public_html/site2

That way you know what you're working with.

Anyway, the instructions for where to upload the file fpa-en.php are well documented at
https://forumpostassistant.github.io/docs/. As @abernyte correctly observed, if people get a 404 error, it's because the file fpa-en.php was not uploaded to the root folder for the website associated with the user's domain.

[claven123]

Using filezilla, I uploaded to the / directory as stated in the direction the root directory. So, I see the file in the right pane after / (I only have one website)
So, I also just now uploaded the file to the public_html directory, which was not in the directions and it works.

d

[AMurray]

and a post script for the record - the "public_html" directory is the "root" folder - but may have variations of the name such as htdocs, httpdocs etc - whatever the hosting company calls it.

[sozzled]

For the sake of clarification, /public_html is the default "root directory" for a webhosting user's account. For the average, first-time user who purchases a webhosting package and point their primary domain a file structure, that file structure will be /public_html.

I don't operate that way. I would also suggest—without having evidence to support it—that more experienced website operators would also not operate that way. In other words, while it's not unreasonable for people who have very basic webhosting requirements to install their website as a collection of folders and files directly under /public_html (or some other folder such as httpdocs, etc.) and have their domain (e.g. www.example.com) point to /public_html, people will run into problems when they create a second, third or subsequent website (that may or may not use the primary or add-on domain) and they want to keep things separate.

I attempted to illustrate a way to separate these website folders in my previous post.

In other words (what I will describe as "arrangement 1"):

primary domain ---> /public_html/site1

sub-domain 1 ---> /public_html/site2

sub-domain 2 ---> /public_html/site3

add-on domain 1 ---> /public_html/site4

subdomain 1 of add-on domain 1 ---> /public_html/site5

... and so on.

Instead of what often happens (as I will describe as "arrangement 2"):

primary domain ---> /public_html/

sub-domain 1 ---> /public_html/site1

sub-domain 2 ---> /public_html/site2

add-on domain 1 ---> /public_html/site3

subdomain 1 of add-on domain 1 ---> /public_html/site3/site1

... and so on.

The second-mentioned arrangement means that one has to be careful modifying characteristics of the "primary" website without affecting all the other websites located lower in the directory tree. It's possible to work around these problems by employing a .htaccess rule, such as

Code: Select all

 RewriteBase /

but this can be a bit ... well ... "tricky".

Unfortunately, in a forum setting like this, it's a bit difficult for me to explain what I would describe as a good practice. Perhaps, if someone else has an article that illustrates this better, they may care to write an article for the Joomla Community Magazine (if, and when, the magazine returns to normal operation)?

[claven123]

Yes, thanks for the clarification on the root directory definitions. I've never been told that or read it. I'd assumed that / was the root directory. I was just following the directions......

"""Detailed instructions with all the ifs and buts can be found elsewhere.
1) Upload the script to your Joomla! Site Root "/" directory. Run the script through your browser.
2) When the script has finished you will see a large form on your screen with loads of information about your
""""""

My site files are indeed in the public_html directory.

I'm very appreciative of all the help you guys have provided me thus far! I'd have to say the user interface of the FPA is very, very well done.

D