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Personally, I think there are better scripts available for this kind of thing, but as Newspro
seems to be both popular and a problem area for many users, I decided to give instructions for it
regardless.
Also, the NewsPro program is no longer available in that format, so if you don't already have
it, getting hold of the program may prove difficult as the AmphibianWeb site no longer offers it
for download.
There is a new version called Coranto, which is being
developed independantly however.
I am leaving these instructions in place for those of you that already have the program, or know
where to obtain it. I may create a tutorial for Coranto in the future, depending on how much
demand there is for it.
However, I strongly suggest looking more closely at programs that use MySQL if your site is
likely to have a lot of news items. There are also several remotely hosted versions
available, and using something like Blogger would
likely give you faster, more reliable pages.
Requirements
Before you start, you will need the following:-
- A CGI-BIN account
- A text editor
- An FTP program
- The latest version of the NewsPro script
Restrictions
Before proceeding with the installation process you need to be aware of several restrictions to
using this type of script at Spaceports.
First of all, it is not possible to use SSI (Server Side Includes) on the 'planet'
servers. This means that you are not able to use that method to embed the news in your static
HTML pages.
Server Side Includes are not your only option though.
There are two alternative methods for use on the 'planet' servers:-
- Frames
- Using standard frames to include the news on the CGI-BIN server within a frame will work for
visitors with a fairly recent graphical browser. You will need to include an alternative
version of your page using the NOFRAMES tag for non-supporting browsers.
Inline frames- Using inline frames in a similar way will work for visitors with a very recent graphical
browser only. This method does have the advantage that you can include an alternate link to a
page on the CGI-BIN server for non-supporting browsers.
There are also two methods for use on the CGI-BIN server:-
- SSI
- Server Side Includes can be used on the CGI-BIN server. This will mean linking to your
news pages, but will work for most browsers - even text versions (assuming your pages do not rely
on graphics too heavily).
PHP- PHP has the option to include other files in a similar way to SSI. As with SSI, it only
works on the CGI-BIN server. If you go this route, you may as well use a PHP news script to
begin with.
Preparation
First of all you will need CGI-BIN account at Spaceports, so if you do not already have one,
log into the members' area using your 'planet' account details, and follow the link to apply for
one.
Next you will need to download the latest version of the NewsPro script.
Unpack the files from the archive into a suitable directory on your own system and read the
file named readme.txt using Notepad (or similar) before going any further.
Uploading
You are now ready to upload, so start your FTP client and connect to your CGI-BIN account.
Create a directory called newspro and CHMOD it to 755.
Upload all the files except readme.txt (which isn't needed) inside this directory
in ASCII mode.
CHMOD the files using these settings:-
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
.htaccess
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
archive.tmpl
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
arclink.tmpl
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
ndisplay.pl
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
news.txt
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
newsdat.txt
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
newspro.cgi
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
npa_add.pl
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
npconfig.pl
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
nplang.pl
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
nplib.pl
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
nsettings.cgi
- 755 (-rwxr-xr-x)
viewnews.cgi
- 666 (-rw-rw-rw-)
viewnews.tmpl
Setting it up
Run the script from your browser by going to
http://cgi-bin.spaceports.com/~username/newspro/newspro.cgi
(replacing username with your username of course).
Log in as setup with no password.
What you enter for the file paths depends on when you applied for your CGI-BIN account:-
- Before July 2000
/home/username/public_html/newspro
After July 2000 and before mid-February 2002/home2/username/public_html/newspro
After mid-February 2002/home3/username/public_html/newspro
Replace "username" with your username (without the ~ character).
The rest is pretty straightforward, and depends on your own preferences - just follow the
script's prompts.
Have fun.
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