The PowerSeek installation should take less than 15 minutes. Follow the installation instructions below exactly. Do the steps as you read through them. The installation instructions below could have been written in a couple of sentences, but have been written to be as comprehensive as possible, so that you get it right the first time.
1.2.1 Extra Fields Keys
PowerSeek offers you the facility to add extra fields at installation time. Note that extra fields are also referred to as extra fields/keys in setup.cgi - setup.cgi enables you to configure PowerSeek and additionally add extra fields. You may add extra fields at a later stage from PowerSeek versions 3.x
What is extra fields keys?
Extra fields/keys enables you to add additional fields for your link listings. You can have up to 20 extra fields/keys. Plan your extra fields well.
The following standard fields for link listings are available by default:
title |
The link title is stored here |
description |
The link description is stored here |
keywords |
The keywords describing the link or web site. |
url |
The URL of the web site |
name |
The name of the owner/submitter of the link or web site. |
email |
The email address of the owner/submitter of the link or web site. |
urldate |
The date when the link was added |
Let's say that you are creating a specialized Directory on the topic of web cams. Let's also say that it will provide users with links to web sites with live web cams on them. Naturally you would want to use more or less the following fields/keys:
title
description
keywords
url
name
email
urldate
country
city
operational_hours
indoors_or_outdoors
date_of_going_live
The field names in 'red' would be extra fields that you create so that this information is available with the links in your directory.
1.2.2 How to add extra fields/keys at setup/installation time
This section assumes that it's the first time you run setup.cgi and you would like to make use of extra fields/keys.
If there is already links in your database and you want to add extra fields, please see the following to add extra fields: 3.5 Extra Field/Key Settings
When you run setup.cgi you will reach a section where there is a 'Create Extra Fields/Keys' button. Click this button. Once you clicked the 'Add Field/Key' button, you will be presented with a form where you can add extra fields/keys. Below is a description of the details you need to supply to create an extra field: |
|
Field/Key Name: This is the name of the extra field you would like to add.
Field/Key Descriptive Name: This name will be identified with the field name. For example: City, Country, Telephone Number, etc...The descriptive name will be used to describe the field when it's contents is displayed in the control panel.
Field/Key size: (Number of characters) - This is the maximum number of characters that is allowed in the field. Keep in mind that the large fields may slow down searching on your database.
Visible in link listings when browsing control panel? It might be a good idea to set this to 'No' if this field/key is going to contain large amounts of text. The control panel lists links and when each link has a lot of text the pages listing the links in their respective directories/categories might load slowly.
Do you want this field/key to be searched? If you choose 'Yes' above then this field will be searched for matches when end users search your search engine. This setting has no effect if this is an image field/key or if this field/key will only contain numericals.
Is this going to be an image field/key? Set this to 'Yes' if this field is going to represent an image field/key. Image fields/keys holds URL's to images. When used in your link listings, the image is automatically displayed - you just enter a URL path to an image and the image is displayed with your links.
Is this field going to contain numbers or characters? Choose numbers if this field/key will only hold numerical values. Choose characters if this field will hold characters and numericals. If this is going to be an image field, then this setting defaults to 'Characters'. Set this to 'Characters' if you are not sure what it does.
Text if no value is available: You could for example use: N/A or Not Available - This text is displayed when this field/key has no value in your link listings.
Value required when submitting from the Add URL form? When this is set to 'Yes', then end-users will need to supply a value for the field when adding or modifying links.
When you completed the details, click on the 'Add Field/Key' button. When you have added all the fields you require, click the 'Apply Field/Key Changes & Create New Links Table' button.
Installation of PowerSeek should be very easy if you follow the installation instructions exactly as described in the installation steps.
If you are having problems with MySQL, please see the MySQL Trouble Shooting section in the knowledge base.
Trouble shooting questions have also been answered in the Installation Trouble Shooting section of the PowerSeek Knowledge Base.
In a lot of cases, simply going over the steps of the installation instructions might solve the problem.
Is the permissions of the 'data' directory 777 ?
To set the permissions of the 'data' directory, do the following:
Step 1
Ftp into your hosting account.
Step 2
Set permissions of the 'data' directory to 777
Is the permissions of the files in the 'data' directory set to 777 ?
Step 1
Ftp into your hosting account.
Step 2
Set all the files that you transferred to the 'data' directory
to the permission setting of 777
Is the permissions for the 'html' directory correct?
To assign/set permissions of 777 to the 'html' directory, do the following:
Step 1
FTP into your hosting account
Step 2
Set the permissions of the 'html' directory to 777
Does all the .cgi and .pm files have the correct permissions?
Ensure that all the .cgi and .pm script files have permissions set to 755 - Also ensure that config.cgi has the permission setting of 777
Important Note: If you are upgrading from Ver 2.x to Ver 3.x then you need to follow these upgrade instructions.
Only follow these upgrade instructions if you are upgrading Ver 3.x to a newer Ver 3.x
1.4.1 Upgrade Instructions For Linux/Unix based hosts
Follow the instructions below if your server is Unix/Linux based.
The upgrade should take minutes and is a very simple process.
To upgrade your existing copy of PowerSeek, do the following:
1. Download the upgrade version and unzip the files that comes with the .zip archive.
2. Replace all your existing PowerSeek .cgi and .pm files with the new ones that came with the .zip archive.
3. Ensure that all .cgi and .pm files you transferred has the permission setting of 755 on your host.
1.4.2 Upgrade Instructions For Windows
Follow the instructions below if your server is Windows based.
To upgrade your existing copy of PowerSeek, do the following:
1. Download the upgrade version and unzip the files that comes with the .zip archive to your hard drive.
2. After unzipping the .zip file there will be a file called psconf.exe. Run this file and a window will appear that asks you for the full server path to config.cgi - Enter the full server path to config.cgi on your host and press the 'Configure PowerSeek SQL Scripts' button.
If you are unsure what the full server path to config.cgi is, download PowerSeek's admin.cgi file from your host. Open it with a unix compatible text editor like Textpad (http://www.textpad.com) - In the first few lines of the file you will see a line reading:
$config_cgi = "c:/home/yourdomain.com/www/config.cgi";
In the example above c:/home/yourdomain.com/www/config.cgi would be the full server path. Note that the full server path in this example is fictional. It will not be the same as yours.
3. Now replace all your existing PowerSeek .cgi and .pm files with the new ones that you just configured with the Windows utility.
1.5.1 Upgrading From Turbo Seek to PowerSeek - Overview
PowerSeek is not the same product as Turbo Seek. This means that PowerSeek works in the same way Turbo Seek does but it's internals are completely different. PowerSeek is a complete rewrite of Turbo Seek.
The upgrade involves importing the links from Turbo Seek to PowerSeek. This should be painless and is done via web interface if you have less than 20 000 links. If you have more than 20 000 links the procedure should also be painless - more about that later.
1.5.2 PowerSeek Requirements
PowerSeek has the same requirements as Turbo Seek but you will also need access to a MySQL database and Perl DBI modules. If you have access to a MySQL database and are on a virtual host, it is in most cases a certainty that the DBI modules (used by PowerSeek to communicate to MySQL) is installed.
Additionally you will also need the LWP::Simple Perl Module. This Perl Module is used by the crawler and link checker. This is a very popular module and chances are good that it is already installed if you're on a virtual host. Your host will in most cases also install it for you if you request them to do it.
1.5.3 Upgrade Instructions
Follow the installation instructions as described in the installation instructions above. If you are using extra fields/keys with Turbo Seek, please read 1.5.4 before doing Step 9 of the PowerSeek installation instructions.
After your PowerSeek installation has been completed when running setup.cgi you will have an option to import links from Turbo Seek to PowerSeek in setup.cgi. If you have more than 20 000 links then you will need to import links via telnet/ssh. To import links from Telnet/SSH, execute the upgrade.cgi script that resides in the PowerSeek 'admin' directory.
1.5.4 Upgrading From Turbo Seek to PowerSeek with extra fields/keys.
Please read the text below, carefully if you have any extra fields/keys in Turbo Seek that you would like imported into PowerSeek with your links. If you don't have extra fields/keys in Turbo Seek, ignore this section.
Note that you have to add the extra fields/keys before importing any 'data' from Turbo Seek into PowerSeek. You will have to create the extra/fields keys in PowerSeek's setup.cgi (setup.cgi gives you the option of creating extra fields/keys.)
You also have to create the fields/keys in the same order as they are in Turbo Seek. In other words if you have the following extra fields/keys in Turbo Seek for example:
address
state
zip
You will have to have address as the first field, state as the second and zip as the third in PowerSeek. This can all be done when running setup.cgi of PowerSeek.
To see in what order the keys/fields are in Turbo Seek go to the control panel of Turbo Seek. Click on the 'Settings & Options' button. Then click on 'Define, Edit or Delete Keys/Fields'
1.5.5 Changes After You Have Upgraded To PowerSeek
PowerSeek is a complete rewrite of Turbo Seek and its inner workings is completely different from Turbo Seek. Where Turbo Seek stores it's links in small files, and imports it into a search index for searching purposes, PowerSeek uses a MySQL database for everything. Everything except the templates and settings data is stored in the database. This means that all link data is stored within the MySQL database inside various tables.
Templates
After the upgrade you will have to redo your templates. The reason for this is because there are a lot of new add-on's and features to the templates. There is also many new templates that will need customization.
Add URL Forms
If you have more than 2000 categories you will need to make use of the 'large engine add url forms' intended for large search engines. There are 2 different sets of add url forms you may use. One set is for medium sized search engines and directories and the other for large search engines and directories. For a complete explanation of this please visit:
8.1.1 Medium-Sized and Large-Sized Search Engines Add URL Forms
Banners
Note that banners added to the banner rotator of Turbo Seek are not imported into PowerSeek. You will have to re-add the banners into PowerSeek.
Step 1. Unzip the .zip archive in which PowerSeek came
Step 2. Transfer Image Files
When you extracted the PowerSeek .zip installation archive there will be a directory called 'html'. Transfer the files to your existing PowerSeek 'html' directory. The 'html' directory is the directory where PowerSeek stores it's images. PowerSeek also uses this directory to place generated HTML files.
There will be files that already exists. Replace the existing files with the new files from the 'html' directory that you just extracted. If you are transferring files with an FTP program then it will most likely ask you if it should overwrite files. Answer 'Yes' to this.
Step 3. Set Permissions of Image Files
Now you should have transferred mostly image files to your PowerSeek 'html' directory. Now set all the files inside this directory to the permission setting of 777. You can find out how to set file permissions here if you do not know how to set file permissions.
Step 4. Transfer .cgi and .pm files
When you extracted the PowerSeek .zip installation archive there will be a directory called 'cgi'. Transfer the files in this directory to your existing PowerSeek 'cgi-bin' directory that holds the PowerSeek .cgi and .pm program files. Replace all the existing .cgi and .pm files with the new .cgi and .pm files from .zip archive except config.cgi - Do not replace your existing config.cgi with the new one from the .zip archive. config.cgi holds your PowerSeek configuration and we want to keep the PowerSeek configuration because it is already configured.
If you placed the .cgi and .pm files in a sub directory, for example 'cgi-bin/search' then you will transfer the .cgi and .pm files to this directory. Note that inside the 'cgi' directory that you extracted from the .zip archive there is an 'admin' directory as well. Also transfer this directory with it's files - replacing your old .cgi and .pm files. Your PowerSeek installation will also have an 'admin' directory inside for example 'cgi-bin/search'.
Step 5. Set file permissions of .cgi and .pm files
Set the permissions of all the .cgi and .pm files that you transferred to your cgi-bin directory to 755 except config.cgi - Set config.cgi to the permission setting of 777 - You can find out how to set file permissions here if you do not know how to set file permissions.
Step 6. Transfer PowerSeek 'data' Files
When you extracted the PowerSeek .zip installation archive there will be a directory called 'data'. Transfer the contents of this directory to your PowerSeek's 'data' directory. Do not replace any existing files in the 'data' directory. Only transfer files that does not exist in the PowerSeek 'data' directory. Your FTP program will ask you if it should replace existing files with the new files. Choose not to replace any existing files.
Step 7. Set file permissions of data files.
Set the permissions of all the files that you transferred to your PowerSeek's data directory to 777 - You can find out how to set file permissions here if you do not know how to set file permissions.
Step 8. Run setup.cgi
Now load setup.cgi inside your browser. It will be situated in the cgi-bin directory under the 'admin' directory. Below is a fictional example of how it will look like:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/search/admin/setup.cgi
or for example:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/admin/setup.cgi
Go through all the steps until it says that the PowerSeek setup is complete. You will also see a link that you can click to log into the control panel.
You don't need to change anything when running setup.cgi - The reason you need to run setup.cgi is because setup.cgi will create new database tables that will be used.
Step 9. Upgrade Complete
The upgrade is now complete. The steps below are related to changes to the new PowerSeek ver 3.x. Please go through them to make the necessary changes/updates to your PowerSeek installation. If you would like to see a list of all the new features and changes then look inside the PowerSeek .zip installation archive for a file named history.txt (It lists all new features and changes)
Step 10. Premium links now has a separate link info template
Note that you will need to customize this template to have the look and feel of your search engine. To do this go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Link Info Premium
Note that if you are using custom templates for specific categories that you will need to customize the premium link info templates for the custom templates you created. If you don't know what custom templates are then you can ignore this as you will most likely not have created custom templates for categories.
Step 11. Premium links now has a separate modify form
Note that you will need to customize this form to have the look and feel of your search engine. To do this go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Modify Templates
Step 12. Check texts
There are new text responses to your visitors when they add links, modify links or add comments. To check these responses to make sure that you have the correct texts for the responses, go to the PowerSeek Control Panel >> Settings >> Text Configurations
Step 13. Enabling the User Registration System
PowerSeek Ver 3.0 now comes with a user registration system. This is optional and you do not have to use it if you don't want to. The user registration system requires visitors to register an account to be able to post links. They also need to validate their email address via email. To enable the user registration system follow the following steps:
Go to the Control Panel >> Global Engine Settings >> New Submission Settings
Where asked: 'Would you like to use the user registration system' choose 'Yes'.
Now go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> 5. Standard ADD URL Template Plug-In's
There will be new templates that will need customizing to your Search Engine's look and feel. These templates enable users to have their own control panel / logins / etc...
To integrate the user registration system with your existing PowerSeek templates, edit your existing templates to include a 'Login' and 'Register' link. You can include these links by placing for example the following HTML code inside your existing PowerSeek templates:
<a href="!!rgs_login!!>Login</a>
<a href="!!register!!>Login</a>
Step 14. Enabling Advanced Search Functionality
PowerSeek now also comes with advanced search functionality. You can now offer your visitors an advanced search. To do this, edit your existing PowerSeek templates to include a link to the advanced search page. To do this place the following inside your PowerSeek templates:
<a href="!!advanced!!>Advanced Search</a>
Note that you will need to customize the advanced search templates. To do this go to the PowerSeek Control Panel >> Template Manager >> 4. Search Results Template Plug-In's
Step 15. How to enable the reciprocal link checker
Powerseek now comes with a reciprocal link checker where you can require submitters to link to your web site before you will accept their link for inclusion. To find out how to enable this see:
11.4 How to enable Reciprocal Link Checking
Step 16. How to enable image uploading for submitters
Submitters can now upload an image with their link. To find out how to enable this see:
11.5 How to let submitters upload images
Step 17. Settings
Go to the Control Panel >> Settings >> Global Engine Settings - There are some new settings that you will most likely want to configure. Go through all the settings to make sure that everything is the way you would want it to be.
Step 18. Make Backups
Note that the database backup in Versions 2.x is not compatible with Ver 3.x - Make a backup of your database once the upgrade to ver 3.0 is complete. You can do that by going to the Control Panel >> Plug-Ins >> Data Backups
Step 1. Unzip the .zip archive in which PowerSeek came
Step 2. Transfer Image Files
When you extracted the PowerSeek .zip installation archive there will be a directory called 'html'. Transfer the files to your existing PowerSeek 'html' directory. The 'html' directory is the directory where PowerSeek stores it's images. PowerSeek also uses this directory to place generated HTML files.
There will be files that already exists. Replace the existing files with the new files from the 'html' directory that you just extracted. If you are transferring files with an FTP program then it will most likely ask you if it should overwrite files. Answer 'Yes' to this.
Step 3. Configure .cgi and .pm script files.
After unzipping the .zip file there will be a directory called 'cgi' - In this directory there will be a file called psconf.exe. Run this file and a window will appear that asks you for the full server path to config.cgi - Enter the full server path to config.cgi on your host and press the 'Configure PowerSeek SQL Scripts' button.
If you are unsure what the full server path to config.cgi is, download PowerSeek's admin.cgi file from your host. Open it with a unix compatible text editor like Textpad (http://www.textpad.com) - In the first few lines of the file you will see a line reading:
$config_cgi = "c:/home/yourdomain.com/www/config.cgi";
In the example above c:/home/yourdomain.com/www/config.cgi would be the full server path. Note that the full server path in this example is fictional. It will not be the same as yours.
Step 4. Transfer .cgi and .pm files
When you extracted the PowerSeek .zip installation archive there will be a directory called 'cgi'. Transfer the files in this directory to your existing PowerSeek 'cgi-bin' directory that holds the PowerSeek .cgi and .pm program files. Replace all the existing .cgi and .pm files with the new .cgi and .pm files from .zip archive except config.cgi - Do not replace your existing config.cgi with the new one from the .zip archive. config.cgi holds your PowerSeek configuration and we want to keep the PowerSeek configuration because it is already configured.
If you placed the .cgi and .pm files in a sub directory, for example 'cgi-bin/search' then you will transfer the .cgi and .pm files to this directory. Note that inside the 'cgi' directory that you extracted from the .zip archive there is an 'admin' directory as well. Also transfer this directory with it's files - replacing your old .cgi and .pm files. Your PowerSeek installation will also have an 'admin' directory inside for example 'cgi-bin/search'.
Step 5. Transfer PowerSeek 'data' Files
When you extracted the PowerSeek .zip installation archive there will be a directory called 'data'. Transfer the contents of this directory to your PowerSeek's 'data' directory. Do not replace any existing files in the 'data' directory. Only transfer files that does not exist in the PowerSeek 'data' directory. Your FTP program will ask you if it should replace existing files with the new files. Choose not to replace any existing files.
Step 6. Run setup.cgi
Now load setup.cgi inside your browser. It will be situated in the cgi-bin directory under the 'admin' directory. Below is a fictional example of how it will look like:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/search/admin/setup.cgi
or for example:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/admin/setup.cgi
Go through all the steps until it says that the PowerSeek setup is complete. You will also see a link that you can click to log into the control panel.
You don't need to change anything when running setup.cgi - The reason you need to run setup.cgi is because setup.cgi will create new database tables that will be used.
If you get a message that config.cgi is not writable then load up setup.cgi as follows in your browser:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/search/admin/setup.cgi?fct=fields_keys
Replace the fictional path above to setup.cgi with the real path to your setup.cgi
Now go through the steps until the setup is complete.
Step 7. Upgrade Complete
The upgrade is now complete. The steps below are related to changes to the new PowerSeek ver 3.x. Please go through them to make the necessary changes/updates to your PowerSeek installation. If you would like to see a list of all the new features and changes then look inside the PowerSeek .zip installation archive for a file named history.txt (It lists all new features and changes)
Step 8. Premium links now has a separate link info template
Note that you will need to customize this template to have the look and feel of your search engine. To do this go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Link Info Premium
Note that if you are using custom templates for specific categories that you will need to customize the premium link info templates for the custom templates you created. If you don't know what custom templates are then you can ignore this as you will most likely not have created custom templates for categories.
Step 9. Premium links now has a separate modify form
Note that you will need to customize this form to have the look and feel of your search engine. To do this go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Modify Templates
Step 10. Check texts
There are new text responses to your visitors when they add links, modify links or add comments. To check these responses to make sure that you have the correct texts for the responses, go to the PowerSeek Control Panel >> Settings >> Text Configurations
Step 11. Enabling the User Registration System
PowerSeek Ver 3.0 now comes with a user registration system. This is optional and you do not have to use it if you don't want to. The user registration system requires visitors to register an account to be able to post links. They also need to validate their email address via email. To enable the user registration system follow the following steps:
Go to the Control Panel >> Global Engine Settings >> New Submission Settings
Where asked: 'Would you like to use the user registration system' choose 'Yes'.
Now go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> 5. Standard ADD URL Template Plug-In's
There will be new templates that will need customizing to your Search Engine's look and feel. These templates enable users to have their own control panel / logins / etc...
To integrate the user registration system with your existing PowerSeek templates, edit your existing templates to include a 'Login' and 'Register' link. You can include these links by placing for example the following HTML code inside your existing PowerSeek templates:
<a href="!!rgs_login!!>Login</a>
<a href="!!register!!>Login</a>
Step 12. Enabling Advanced Search Functionality
PowerSeek now also comes with advanced search functionality. You can now offer your visitors an advanced search. To do this, edit your existing PowerSeek templates to include a link to the advanced search page. To do this place the following inside your PowerSeek templates:
<a href="!!advanced!!>Advanced Search</a>
Note that you will need to customize the advanced search templates. To do this go to the PowerSeek Control Panel >> Template Manager >> 4. Search Results Template Plug-In's
Step 13. How to enable the reciprocal link checker
Powerseek now comes with a reciprocal link checker where you can require submitters to link to your web site before you will accept their link for inclusion. To find out how to enable this see:
11.4 How to enable Reciprocal Link Checking
Step 14. How to enable image uploading for submitters
Submitters can now upload an image with their link. To find out how to enable this see:
11.5 How to let submitters upload images
Step 15. Settings
Go to the Control Panel >> Settings >> Global Engine Settings - There are some new settings that you will most likely want to configure. Go through all the settings to make sure that everything is the way you would want it to be.
Step 16. Make Backups
Note that the database backup in Versions 2.x is not compatible with Ver 3.x - Make a backup of your database once the upgrade to ver 3.0 is complete. You can do that by going to the Control Panel >> Plug-Ins >> Data Backups
Step 1. Backup your data
Go to the Control Panel > Plug-Ins > Data Backups and click the 'Backup Database' link. After clicking the 'Backup Database' link, the PowerSeek backup script will back up all your database tables. All data in the database PowerSeek uses will be exported to your PowerSeek 'data' directory and placed inside a subdirectory called dbbackup. The 'data' directory is explained in the installation instructions of PowerSeek.
Step 2. Backup your data files
Now transfer the entire contents of the PowerSeek 'data' directory to your hard drive.
Step 3. Do clean install of PowerSeek on the new host
Please refer to the installation instructions to do a clean installation.
1.1 PowerSeek Installation Instructions
Step 4. Restore your backed up files
Now transfer the contents of the 'data' directory that you backed up previously to the 'data' directory of your new PowerSeek installation. Then assign the permission setting of 777 to all the files that you transferred to your 'data' directory. (Including any sub directories with their contents) You can find out how to set file permissions here.
Step 5: Restore database data
Go to the Control Panel > Plug-Ins > Data Backups
and click on the 'Restore Database Backup' link.
You should now have a perfect duplicate of what you had on the old host with all your links, settings and templates in tact.
