I'm am very pleased to release EasyMOD beta version 0.1.13, the "I'm sick of calling it alpha" edition Making some good progress now!
Introduction:
EasyMOD is an automatic MOD installer. It does in seconds what used to be the laborious and time consuming task of manually editing files. EM will install EasyMOD Compliant (EMC) MODs and also try to install all other MODs as well. For most users, MOD installs should be completely automated. There are break points so you can check what EM proposes to do before it makes any permanent changes.
Author's Notes:
This release is a "must have"! Most notably, there is support for SQL processing and the COPY command is fully supported, including *.* notation. Also the installation process has been further refined and a few important bugs have been squished.
The only major feature missing is an uninstaller, which is definitely planned in the next major release. This version lacks a certain degree of polish and I already know the SQL and COPY commands are a bit buggy, but nothing show stopping. This is the 10th public release of the program and most parts are battle tested.
MOD Authors: learn all about the proposed SQL Command implementation. Initial efforts have already been taken to document how best to write MODs for EM (EasyMOD Compliant). A key to success will be getting MOD Authors to write their MODs so they don't clash with other MOD installations. My goal is to present a clear, reasonable, and unobtrusive as possible method.
Lastly, thank you to everyone that has pitched in, whether it be translations, graphics, or hard core testing. Thanks!
Installation:
Download EM:
(from the attachment at the bottom of this page)
New installs:
- Extract in your admin directory. The proper directory hierarchy should be admin/mods/easymod and it should be setup like this...
- From a web browser, open http://{YOUR" target="_blank BOARD ADDRESS}/admin/mods/easymod/easymod_install.php and the install will guide you through everything. No modifications occur before warning you.
- If you are using FTP access make sure you, as the owner, have write permission on ALL your phpBB files (744)
- Once installed, you may wish to install the Country Flags MOD which is the only "official" EMC MOD. It is also attached at the end of this post.
It is advised that you remove any previous admin/mods/easymod directories. Once they are out of the way, just follow the install instructions above. EM will figure everything else out
Features:
- Choose from some fully automated installation methods and some manual methods as well. You decide what's best for you!
- the modified files generated can be:
- written directly to server (requires write access in the "mods" dir)
- written to a buffer and FTP'd into place (requires FTP access)
- written to a tmp file and FTP'd into place (requires PHP FTP extension)
- downloaded to your local machine
- written on screen in a separate browser window (requires you to be sadistic )
- If you are satisfied with the modifications, the files can then be moved into place
- by the copy command (fully automated: requires write access to ALL dirs from phpBB root downward)
- FTP'd into place (fully automated: requires FTP access)
- by default, FTP is done using fsockopen
- alternately, using the PHP FTP Extension provides a second option
- execute a script (fully automated: requires permission to run scripts)
- manually loaded (requires your time )
- SQL processing for all supported DB types
- MD5 hashing and blowfish encryption to protect sensitive data
- Preview Mode allows viewing how proposed changes will look in a file
- robust installer
- the program is ready to accept translations for multiple languages
- support for ALL MOD Template functions (COPY command needs some work)
- install MODs to all installed themes
- install MODs to all installed languages
- automatically backups up files before modifying (you should still make your own backups though!)
- continued processing if non-English or non-subSilver file fails - you decide if you want to continue or not
- password protected - even admins cannot access EM unless the board owner gives them the password
- object oriented programming - classes could be used in other programs
- install EMC MODs
- *try* to install non-EMC MODs
- settings ACP
- installed MODs history ACP
- view MOD script from the install screen (click link)
- security-conscious every step of the way
- MOD script line numbers appear where ever they will be helpful
- convenient install debugger
- I'm sure there are more but I don't feel like thinking about it anymore
EM is going international Translations of lang_easymod.php are needed!!! Several translations have already been completed although EM will not fully utilize them until later. Below are the languages submitted and their current status:
--I really need to apologize to the folks that have submitted translations. I will set up an area where you can automatically upload translations and not have to depend on me
Language version changes
The language change log can be found here
Change Log:
The complete change log can be found here
Enjoy!
-Nuttzy
3/22/05 I put a new version with the latest SpellingCow software. The previous zip was downloaded 43,383 times!