Help
-
FireFrenzy
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:30 pm
Well, first a word of warning that if you're unfamiliar with Apache, PHP, or MySQL, the process of getting everything configured may take a while, likely a few hours -- though if you catch on quickly it may be considerably shorter. In any case, don't be frustrated if, unlike many installations, it takes more than a few minutes. And you needn't be a programmer to get the game running, though it would certainly help.
First, you'll need to have PHP and MySQL installed, as well as a web server, such as Apache. The methods to go about this differ depending on what operating system you use. Assuming that you're on a Windows OS, I would recommend http://www.expertsrt.com/tutorials/Matt/install-apache.html. Navigating to this location creates all of the necessary database tables and entries, completing the setup. This is what's meant in the readme.txt file when it states that, "You do not need to do anything in the database, servers and everything are transparently installed."
That's it. I believe that those are all of the necessary (and some unnecessary though helpful) steps. Afterwards, the game should be ready for sign-up and all.
First, you'll need to have PHP and MySQL installed, as well as a web server, such as Apache. The methods to go about this differ depending on what operating system you use. Assuming that you're on a Windows OS, I would recommend http://www.expertsrt.com/tutorials/Matt/install-apache.html. Navigating to this location creates all of the necessary database tables and entries, completing the setup. This is what's meant in the readme.txt file when it states that, "You do not need to do anything in the database, servers and everything are transparently installed."
That's it. I believe that those are all of the necessary (and some unnecessary though helpful) steps. Afterwards, the game should be ready for sign-up and all.
-
FireFrenzy
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:30 pm
I'm certainly no expert on these matters, but I should expand upon what I've written to provide a better explanation -- to the best of my knowledge.
To host a typical website, first you'd need to find a Domain Name Registrar to register a domain (website) name (typically for a monthly cost). You could choose most any available domain name. You could do this via BitTraffic.com, BlueHost.com, GoDaddy.com, LunarPages.com, or a host of other competing websites.
Next, you would be concerned with putting the data on the website. Here, you can either host from your own computer or procure web hosting services.
What I described in my previous post is the former, hosting from your own computer or "localhost." Setting this up on Windows Vista is likely a similar process to the other Windows platforms -- so it should be possible. Now, that said, it obviously requires your computer to be constantly on, to have a reliable connection, to have a static IP, etc., as it uses your own computer.
However, the method you'd probably prefer, though it costs money (typically monthly), is to procure web hosting services (from websites similar to those offering domain name registration). Through this method, you would pay for web hosting services for the domain name you registered. Thereafter, you would use a username/password to access server space allocated to your website. Hence, you wouldn't be using your own computer, but rather the computer of the given hosting service. So it wouldn't matter what OS is on your computer, how often it is on, or anything. This is likely the most popular route.
So, what you'd likely want to do:
-Register a domain name (costs money).
-Procure web hosting services for that domain name (costs money).
-Load the source code to that domain name via FTP, SFTP, or other file transfer protocol.
-Uses services provided (likely phpMyAdmin) to create the MySQL database name for the game, and then navigate to the website to complete the installation (similar to the last two steps of the previous post).
Of course, this assumes that you've got some money to spare. If you haven't, I'm not sure that you could do much more than host it off of your own computer without a domain name (thus people would enter your IP address to visit the site).
I hope that clarifies the options and possibilities somewhat, and isn't too scatterbrained to be understood.
To host a typical website, first you'd need to find a Domain Name Registrar to register a domain (website) name (typically for a monthly cost). You could choose most any available domain name. You could do this via BitTraffic.com, BlueHost.com, GoDaddy.com, LunarPages.com, or a host of other competing websites.
Next, you would be concerned with putting the data on the website. Here, you can either host from your own computer or procure web hosting services.
What I described in my previous post is the former, hosting from your own computer or "localhost." Setting this up on Windows Vista is likely a similar process to the other Windows platforms -- so it should be possible. Now, that said, it obviously requires your computer to be constantly on, to have a reliable connection, to have a static IP, etc., as it uses your own computer.
However, the method you'd probably prefer, though it costs money (typically monthly), is to procure web hosting services (from websites similar to those offering domain name registration). Through this method, you would pay for web hosting services for the domain name you registered. Thereafter, you would use a username/password to access server space allocated to your website. Hence, you wouldn't be using your own computer, but rather the computer of the given hosting service. So it wouldn't matter what OS is on your computer, how often it is on, or anything. This is likely the most popular route.
So, what you'd likely want to do:
-Register a domain name (costs money).
-Procure web hosting services for that domain name (costs money).
-Load the source code to that domain name via FTP, SFTP, or other file transfer protocol.
-Uses services provided (likely phpMyAdmin) to create the MySQL database name for the game, and then navigate to the website to complete the installation (similar to the last two steps of the previous post).
Of course, this assumes that you've got some money to spare. If you haven't, I'm not sure that you could do much more than host it off of your own computer without a domain name (thus people would enter your IP address to visit the site).
I hope that clarifies the options and possibilities somewhat, and isn't too scatterbrained to be understood.
-
The Beatles
- Fear me for I am root
- Posts: 6285
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 8:12 pm
Excellent explanation.
I should also add that zymic.com gives you 5 free hosting accounts with extremely generous disk usage and bandwidth limits. If you don't mind a service you don't pay for (some people gain peace of mind from paying), it is excellent. You get an url such as faf.zqx.net or similar. Before shelling out money, I highly recommend trying them.
Setting FAF up should be a simplification of what FireFrenzy has described -- just skip the steps relating to installing Apache/MySQL/PHP, and just upload the files, then configure the server.
By the way, the above writeup is very good, we ought to include it in documentation somewhere.
I should also add that zymic.com gives you 5 free hosting accounts with extremely generous disk usage and bandwidth limits. If you don't mind a service you don't pay for (some people gain peace of mind from paying), it is excellent. You get an url such as faf.zqx.net or similar. Before shelling out money, I highly recommend trying them.
Setting FAF up should be a simplification of what FireFrenzy has described -- just skip the steps relating to installing Apache/MySQL/PHP, and just upload the files, then configure the server.
By the way, the above writeup is very good, we ought to include it in documentation somewhere.
:wq
-
Slasher
- The FAF Forums SMEGHEAD!!! lol
- Posts: 2635
- Joined: Mon May 03, 2004 5:08 pm
- Location: http://florida4us.com/
- Contact:
-
Members connected in real time
