paBox Installation Guide

This guide will help walk you through the installation of paBox.

Before you begin
In order to install paBox, make sure you have the following:
-A server with PHP and MySQL support
-MySQL connection info (obtain this from your host
-An FTP program to upload files to your server

Installing paBox is very simple. There are no text files for you to edit, the install script will take care of that for you. Under normal circumstances and with a broadband connection, installaton shouldn't take longer than about 10 minutes.

Installation
1. Unzip the file you downloaded from the paBox homepage. Chances are that if you're reading this, you've already done that.

2. Connect to your server via FTP. Then, make a folder on your server where you would like paBox installed at. For example, if you create a folder called "pabox", you will probably be accessing your shoutbox by visiting http://www.yourdomain.com/pabox.

3. Open up the "pabox" folder from the file you just unzipped. You will need to upload everything in that folder. Uploading is a bit different for each FTP program, check it's manual for more details. NOTE: Unless you are upgrading, do not upload the "upgradeX.php" files.

4. If you use a *NIX (Linux, Unix, OSX and a couple others) server, you will need to CHMOD pabox.conf.php to 0666. CHMODing is done via your FTP program, you will need to check it's manual for more details on doing this. If you're using a Windows IIS server, you might need to set permissions on pabox.conf.php, you will need to ask your host to do this.

5. Now that everything is uploaded, you will need to run install.php in your browser. This can be done by visiting http://www.yourdomain.com/paboxk/install.php, where yourdomain.com is your domain name, and pabox is the path to paBox. Once you've got the installer up, it will take you through everything. But if you still need a bit more help, there's still more in this guide ;)

6. The first page of the installer just explains a couple things and tells you what you need. Click Continue after reading it.

7. On the second page, the installer will check to make sure you uploaded all of the files and they're in the correct spot. If it can't find a file, it will tell you which file is missing so you can try uploading it again. It will also make sure it's able to write to pabox.conf.php. If everything is uploaded properly, click Continue.

8. You will now be asked for the MySQL information which you need to receive from your host. Fill in the proper values. Click "Continue" to submit the form and proceed to the next step.

9. After submitting the settings, the installer will attempt to make a connection to the database and if it works, create the config file. If you entered the wrong MySQL information, the installer will give you an error and have you go back and try again. If everything went well, click Continue.

10. This section of the installer adds the neccesary data to your MySQL database to get paBox installed and ready to work. No errors should appear on this page. If they do, get in touch with PHP Arena support for further assistance. If everything worked, click Continue.

11. You will now be asked to create an administrator username and password. This is what you'll use to login to your paBox Admin Center. Make your password very secure so no one can access your admin center. If the world knows your favorite color is blue, using "blue" as a password isn't a good idea. It would be a bad choice for me to use "snuffy" as my password because that's my dog's name and other people know that. It might be difficult to remember, but it's better to use random letters and numbers as a password, such as "H8faSw48X". Also, passwords are case sensitve: "PaSsWoRd" is not the same as "password". Please note that the admin username and password aren't set in stone, they can be changed at any time. When you put everything in, click Continue.

12. Once the admin account has been created, click Continue.

13. Congratulations! You're almost done. Just delete install.php from your server immediatley because it can be a security risk by leaving it there. Now you're done. Enjoy your shoutbox :)