Flightpath 0.5.0.rc3 February 12, 2010 http://flightpath.sf3am.com readme.txt for information and updates, see the Flightpath Development blog: http://blogs.sf3am.com/flightpath for updated information on this version of Flightpath, see the codex page: http://wiki.flightpath.sf3am.com/codex/Flightpath_0.5.0.rc3 Flightpath alpha version 0.5.0.rc3 is the version of Flightpath that followed Flightpath 0.5.0.rc2. It is a preliminary (not production ready) release candidate version of Flightpath 0.5.0 http://wiki.flightpath.sf3am.com/codex/Flightpath_0.5.0 It was released February 12, 2010 --license-- Flighpath was created by Daniel J. McKeown (copyright 2007-2010) and is released under the GNU GPL, version 3 or later. You can find out more on the Flightpath license page (http://flightpath.sf3am.com/license). The official documentation on Flightpath, including this readme.txt, is licensed under the GNU free documentation license, version 1.3 or later. See the Help:Contents page on the codex (http://wiki.flightpath.sf3am.com/codex/Help:Contents) for more info. --system requirements-- -a web server (dedicated or shared hosting) -PHP 5.2.9 or higher -space and permission on the file server for HTTP file uploads --Installation-- 1. download Flightpath 2. unzip the ZIP file on your desktop computer 3. Open up the file "flightpath-home.php" (the home page PHP file) in a text editor. You will need to find the variables used for setting the API keys. Replace the defaults "fpsf3am" and "fpdefault2009" with your desired API keys (passwords). 3a. If you are setting up Flightpath in a subdirectory (and not the root directory), open up the file "flightpath-rss2.php" and specify which subdirectory you are using by putting its name into the $subz variable as directed on the file's comments 4. Using FTP, upload all the files and directories in the package (including the modified "flightpath-home.php") into the directory or subdirectory on the web where you want Flightpath to reside (e.g. example.com/ or example.com/subdirectory/) [You need to copy the files and subdirectories from inside the "flightpath" directory, so that index.php sits at your domain or subdirectory root--you do not need to copy the "flightpath" directory itself onto your web server] [In order to maximize the flexibility of your Flightpath installation, you may want to edit your php.ini file (in the subdirectory that Flightpath resides in) to increase the maximum upload size, if your host allows access to that file] [On some systems, it may be necessary to change the permissions on the files before they work properly. Jim says: "I chmodded all of the files to 0-7-7-7 and it works." 0-7-5-5 or other settings may also work, but the main point is that the PHP files need to have permission to run, and the directories "bookmark" and "uploads" need to be writable by the programs, while at the same time you want to leave your site as secure as possible--so try to find a configuration that works for your server while not giving permissions that are too broad.] 4a. If you want to have a listing of the files on your uploads directory (yoursite.example.com/uploads), then take the index.php file from the Flightpath main directory, copy it (do not remove it) and paste a copy of it in the uploads directory. This will give a listing of all your uploads. (The Flightpath index.php file can actually be dropped into any web server directory for easy listing of the directory's contents.) 5. Visit your new Flightpath page (i.e. yoursite.example.com/index.php or example.com/subdirectory/index.php) and start sharing messages, bookmarks and files on your own site --features and bugfixes for 0.5.0.rc3-- --updated layout/changed DTD to HTML 3.2 (This includes bigfixes related to the style7.css file being deprecated but still being called on some pages, and it also makes allows the layout to render correctly on Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8.) finished 2/11/2010 --layout/design changes (Widened left column, enhanced layout clarity.) finished 2/11/2010 --copy changes (Changed wording from "your name" to "name" in forms to allow the name field to be used more generally.) finished 2/11/2010 --directory file listing (The Flightpath home directory [the one that it is installed in] now has all its files and directories listed on the index.php page.) (This allows for user-designed addons to be dropped in the main directory and show up automatically on the index page.) finished 2/11/2010 --code cleanup (Working on streamlining Flightpath code, especially on the flightpath-home.php page.) finished 2/12/2010 --How to use Flightpath-- Flightpath requires that you enter a valid API key--all other fields are optional. The program lists the last 10 posts, and allows perma-links to specific posts. The archive builder can be used to access previous posts. Flightpath is for sharing messages, bookmarks and files. It is designed to make it easy for users to share items on their own site, and also link to resources on their site while using other sites, like social networking or blogging applications. Flightpath handles bookmarks, SMS and uploads differently in how it creates a post file for each; however each type of post has a post file and can be perma-linked. In addition, Flightpath provides users with direct links to uploaded files within post perma-links, so the files can be used for purposes outside the scope of the Flightpath system. The name field allows multiple users to share the same Flightpath installation, just as long as everyone uses a unique and consistent identifier. Or the admin can use the first API key and can give out the second to users. The difference between the API keys is that the first one (default "fpsf3am") allows the user to fill out his or her name for the identifier field. The second one (default "fpdefault2009") instead creates a name for the user (something like Tester_ip.address.00.00_name). --addons-- Flightpath now makes it easy to create your own addon. Since Flightpath uses a nosql data structure that keeps all data in simple text files, it should be easy for anyone that wants to write additional features to simply write a .php file that works by calling up data from the Flightpath app (for example the /bookmark and /upload directories) and manipulating it in an interesting way, perhaps by calling in other web resources. The new addon can therefore be placed in the main Flightpath directory (the one with flightpath-home.php in it) and automatically be detected by the index.php page. The file listing feature ensures that by just dropping your .php file(s) in the main directory, you have an addon ready to be used right from the index page. --Known issues-- Many of these issues are planned to be addressed in Flightpath 0.5.0 -Tagging system is crude and unfinished -The IP address checker (for the second API key) does not work on certain systems, returning nothing -Text encoding problems: does not handle apostrophes properly -App security relies on a single password -No way to delete posts or uploads using Flightpath application (FTP or some other method of file management should be used.) [edit] Send in your patch If you discover issues in the code or would like to submit a patch, send a message to: flightpath --at-- sf3am.com You must agree to license your work under the GPL version 3 or later in order for it to be included in the Flightpath codebase. [edit] see also Flightpath home page Flightpath development blog for features planned for later versions, see Flightpath 0.5.0 for information on latest releases, see Flightpath version history --Upgrading-- -Make sure you have PHP 5 (Flightpath 0.5.0.rc3 cannot run with complete functionality on PHP 4 [the file listing on the flightpath-home.php page will fail]). -The basic PHP files that make Flightpath work were changed in Flightpath 0.5.0.RC1, so any upgrade between lower and higher releases should include an erase of the old PHP files (they have the word "alpha" in them). -In order to upgrade, you need to save a copy of your old "flightpath_alpha_0_41.php" file for reference so you don't lose your passwords. Unpack the ZIP file containing the new version. Edit your new "flightpath-home.php" file so it has your personal passwords (API keys) instead of the defaults. Then, upload the Flightpath 0.5.0.RC1 installation package files (with your changes to "flightpath-home.php") on top of your old installation via FTP, saying yes to replacing the previous files. Once you've done that, your 0.5.0.RC1 should be ready to go. -The new (0.5.0.RC1-created) and old (0.420- and 0.421-created) Flightpath files should be able to live next to each other, but the "last 10" order may be thrown off by the presence of old files. 0.421RC1 and 0.421RC2 and 0.5.0.RC1+later created files should be totally compatible with one another. --about Flightpath-- When I started moving my web site from static pages to dynamic ones, my first experiments with scripts were simplistic content management programs that I wrote in Perl/CGI. With a large amount of help from my brother Jim, I was able to keep my joeypc.com/news page going from 2002 until some time in 2004 when I was using some of the same technology, mainly the upload utility, in group projects at business school. Flightpath is an ultra-lightweight content management system for web sites that follows in that tradition--offering a solution for easily sharing and uploading of files, facilitating group work and open communication flows. It was created by me (Daniel J. McKeown) in 2007, based on a previous project, MigratoryMessenger, which in turn was based on a program named Qwittr, also started in 2007. For 2008 Flightpath lay dormant, but in 2009 a new home page and development blog were set up. A public beta may be released; however it would have to pass certain standards for usability which it may not yet meet. Flightpath 0.41 was completed in 2007. Versions 0.411 and 0.412 followed in March of 2009. By the end of March 2009, Flightpath 0.420 was released, the first one made available for download on the web. In August 2009, Flightpath 0.421-RC1, a version with an improved directory reading system that requires PHP 5, was released. A few more releases followed. The next year, Flightpath 0.5.0.rc3 came out with more improvements. --more info-- changes and improvements to the documentation or code may be made--you can find updates and more information at the development blog: Feedback on this document? Send an email: