1. Installation and Setup

1.1. License

Before installing and using this software, please read the License Agreement (included with this software) carefully. By using the software, you also accept and agree to the License Agreement. If you don't have a copy of the License Agreement, you can contact us for a copy.

1.2. Unzip the software

Unzip the software to a folder on your computer's hard drive. The unzipped folders and files will have a structure similar to this :

• /App_Code - Shared VB classes source code
• /App_Data - Empty (blank) MS Access database
• /bin - FreeTextBox DLL
• /pt
  • /admin - Files that make up the blog's Admin area
    • /images - Images and icons used by the blog's Admin area
  • /blog - Files used by the Blog itself 
  • /feeds - XML feed folder
  • /images - Images and icons used by the software
  • /language - Language files in XML format
  • /themes
    • /default- The default theme files (templates)
      • /images - Images used by the default theme
  • /uploads - Upload folder
  • default.aspx
  • web.config - Application configuration file
• license.txt - License Agreement
• notice.txt
• readme.htm

1.3. Modify 'web.config' file

Edit the /pt/web.config file with a plain text editor such as Notepad and change the following settings as required :

• cfgConnect (mandatory) : This is the database connection string used to connect to your database (MySQL, MS SQL, or MS Access). If you are not sure what your database connection string is, please contact your web hosting company. There are also several examples in the 'web.config' file you can use as a template.

• cfgDatabase (if required) : 
  -1 - Automatically try and determine database type from the connection string (default )
  0   -  MySQL database
  1   -  MS Access database
  2   -  MS SQL database
  
• cfgProvider (if required) : 
  -1 - Automatically try and determine database driver/provider from the connection string (default )
  0   -  ODBC driver
  1   -  OLEDB driver
  
• cfgTableID (if required) : You only need to change this setting if you will be installing more than one copy of the software on the same site, and want to use the same database for each copy, instead of a different database for each copy.
  
• cfgAppID (if required) : You only need to change this setting if you will be installing more than one copy of the software on the same site.

1.4. Upload application files to web server

• /pt folder : Upload the entire /pt folder (including all the files and folders inside it) to your web server. You would typically upload the /pt folder to your web site's root directory, but it can also be uploaded to a sub-directory.
  
• /bin folder : Upload the file(s) inside this folder to the /bin folder located in your web site's root directory (if none exists, create it)
  
• /App_Code folder : Upload the files inside this folder to the /App_Code folder located in your web site's root directory (if none exists, create it)
  
• MS Access (if required) : If you will be using MS Access as your database, upload the presstopia.mdb file in the /App_Data folder to the /App_Data folder on your web site, or to another folder with read and write permissions. NB: this is an empty database, the tables will be created later.

1.5. Check folder permissions

Make sure that the /feeds and /uploads folders on your web server have read and write permissions so you can upload images and create XML feeds. Also, if you will be using an Access database, remember that the folder in which the database (.mdb) file is located must have read and write permissions.

1.6. Run the Installer utility

Once all the files and folders have been uploaded, you are now ready to connect to your database and create the database tables :

1. Using your web browser, browse to the /admin/install.aspx page on your web server.
2. Click the Begin Installation button to run the installer utility.
3. The software will now perform various checks on your installation and automatically correct as many errors (if any) as possible. For example, the utility checks the database to see if the required tables exist inside it. If it doesn't (as would be the case in a new installation) the software will create the tables.
4. Carefully review the errors reported by the Installer utility, and take action as required. You can run the installer as many times as required untill all the errors (if any) have been resolved. 
5. Once all the errors have been resolved, click the Admin Logon link in the top right corner and logon with the default admin User ID and Password (user and password, respectively).

1.7. Change the 'Default Admin' UserID and Password

This step is very important! Click the List Users link in the navigation bar, then click the Edit link for the Default Admin user. Change the 'Default Admin' UserID and Password to prevent unauthorized access.

1.8. Verify and update configuration settings

Next, click on the Configuration link in the navigation bar. Review each configuration setting and modify the default values as required.

1.9. Delete /admin/install.aspx

Enter a post or two to see if everything is working OK, then delete the /admin/install.aspx file used to install the software.

1.10. Done!

Congratulations. The software should now be fully functional. 

2. Changing the appearance

Presstopia Blog is highly customizable. You can change almost every visual aspect of the application. There are 4 files that control the look and feel - a .css file and three .ascx files. The .css file controls most of the appearance of the software, while the .ascx files primarily control the layout and location of the various elements on the page. These files are all located in the /themes/default folder :

2.1. Style.css

This is a standard CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) file and it plays a major role in the appearance of the software. Many aspects of the appearance, such as font type, font size, font color, borders, background and so forth, can be changed by changing the relevant CSS attributes. 

2.2. Main.ascx

This is the main template file and determines the general layout of each page. It therefore holds the elements that are displayed on every page view, such as the header, logos, latest items, profile, archives, etc.

2.3. PostFunctions.ascx

This file determines how post related elements are displayed, such as when posts are displayed on the home page, viewing an individual post, commenting on a post, etc.

2.4. UserFunctions.ascx

The file determines how user related elements are displayed, such as registration, logon, password reminder, etc.

2.5. Basic rules when modifying *.ascx files

To ensure that you don't "break" the software when you make changes to the template, here are some general rules regarding the modification of the .ascx templates :

• Page Directive :
  
  The top line in each *.ascx file (<%@ Control ... %> ) can not be moved, removed, or modified :
  
• ASP.NET Controls :
  
  You can not remove elements that begin with  <ASP: such as :
  
  <ASP:LITERAL id="TplCommentError" runat="server" />
  
  Also, don't change the attributes for an ASP: element, such as the id or the runat attributes.
  
  Some ASP: elements are so-called container (or 'parent') elements because they contain other elements (child elements). In such cases, don't move the child elements outside of the parent element. For example :
  
  <ASP:PANEL id="TplCommentPanel" runat="server>
      <ASP:REPEATER id="TplCommentList" runat="server">
          <ITEMTEMPLATE>
          </ITEMTEMPLATE>
      </ASP:REPEATER>
  </ASP:PANEL>
  
  In the example above, you can't move the ASP:REPEATER element tags outside of the ASP:PANEL tags. Similarly, you can't locate the ITEMTEMPLATE tag outside either the ASP:REPEATER or ASP:PANEL tags.
  
• Inline VB Code : 
  
  VB (Visual Basic) code elements are contained in <% ... %> tags. You may technically remove these elements, but you may lose some functionality. For example, if you remove the  <%=GetProfile()%> element from default.aspx, the software won't crash, but it won't display the profile either. Of course, you may not want to display the profile, in which case it's fine to remove it.
  
• Language Elements :
  
  A special type of VB code element is the loc.GetString element. For example :
  
  <%=loc.GetString("Comments")%>
  
  These elements display the various text strings from the language files (located in the languages folder). For example, the above element will look for the "Comments" variable in the language files, and display its value (which also happens to be the word Comments, unless you changed the language file) . You can replace these elements with hard-code text if necessary, but we recommend making any desired text or wording changes in the language files instead. Note : The part between the brackets (e.g. "Comments " ) is case sensitive.
  
• General :
  
  Always make small, incremental changes and test the look and appearance after each change. That way you won't have to redo a large modification if something breaks.
  
  Please do not remove the Powered By Presstopia message in Main.ascx. This helps us gain visibility and grow, which ultimately benefits you as well.

2.6. Changing the logo

The logo file is located at themes/default/images/Logo.gif. To change the logo, simply replace the logo file with your own logo file. Alternatively, you can change Main.ascx to point to another logo image file.

3. Acknowledgements