Wesley's Tool-Box

Wow, I must really be in the groove tonight. I think I'll do the last section after sleeping, but a glass of Pepsi should keep me awake just enough to write this section.

5. s9y (Serendipity)
In search for a good blog (weblog) solution to install on my web server, I came across Serendipity Weblog System, or 's9y' for short. There are other PHP-based blog systems out there such as Tatter Tools which seems to be gaining popularity in Korea, but I'm quite comfortable with how s9y works and I think it's good for you, too. I mean, just look at this place! **cough**

Let's run something useful that uses the APM setup. Since I have phpBB and s9y running on this website, I'll look at those. Sounds pretty obvious, considering the reasons why I'm writing this.

4. phpBB

phpBB is a popular internet message board system usually found in many websites and communities around the globe. In Korea, Zeroboard is often used more, however. Both systems use PHP and MySQL to operate. Actually, phpBB is more flexible in that it can use other database engines such as MS-SQL and Access. In the past I would have installed Zeroboard, but I decided to go against the local norm now. I'll do a bit of comparison between the two in a later article if I'm willing.

You know, installing MySQL stumped me a lot in the past. I'm a little better at it now, hopefully. Let's dive in!

3. MySQL

Now we need another pillar to put up - a database engine. MySQL is a popular open-source choice for this and works with most of the solutions needing database functionality. Installation of MySQL completes are triple-module setup commonly referred to as "APM" (Apache-PHP-MySQL) or "AMP". Since it's installed on OS X, the whole server setup is called "MOXAMP" (Mac OS X-Apache-PHP-MySQL). Install on Linux and you have "LAMP". You get the idea. The APM setup is prequisite for a lot of dynamic website configuration: you have a web server (Apache) that accesses various database entries (MySQL) through scripting language (PHP), like a blog post.

Oh, yeah, the installation.

This article serves two purposes: to show what steps are needed to have a functioning website running on a Macintosh computer, and to remind myself not to forget how to do this later. Yes, I must be dumb.

Okay, you need:

- A Macintosh computer (mine is a Mac mini)
- Mac OS X 'Panther' 10.3.9 or higher (mine is running 'Tiger' 10.4.1)
- Internet connection (direct, or through a router that you can configure)

The phpBB forum system now has appopriate forums and topics created, as well as links that allows you to return here. Note that it's now called 'Wesley's Extended Forums' instead of 'Wesley's Experimental Forums'. I might need to replace the 'phpBB' logo on the top left, but only after the rest of the sites are moved out.