emAlbum v2.1
Standard Edition
http://www.emalbum.com
First Released: February 17, 2003 (v1.0)
Last Updated: August 13, 2003 (v2.1)

Copyright
Requirements
Installation
Upgrading
Templates and Language Files
Troubleshooting
Support

:: Copyright

emAlbum Standard may be used and modified by anyone so long as they keep the copyright notice and the comments intact in every file. Selling the code for this program without prior written consent is expressly forbidden. Obtain permission before redistributing this software over the Internet or in any other medium. In all cases the copyright must remain intact and viewable to the eye. In addition, we cannot be held responsible for any harm this script may cause.

 
:: Requirements

emAlbum will run on any operating system/web server combo as long as the server allows CGI Scripts and is running Perl 5 or higher.

emAlbum has been tested on the following:
  • Operating Systems: FreeBSD, Red Hat Linux, Windows 2000/XP
  • Web Servers: Abyss, Apache, IIS

:: Installation

This section will explain how to install emAlbum Standard v2.1 on Unix and Windows systems. If you are upgrading your version of emAlbum, please see the Upgrading section below.

  1. Unzip the contents of emAlbum-v*.zip to a folder on your computer.

    You should see two folders:
    - cgi-bin: Contains the emAlbum scripts and configuration files.
    - public_html: Contains your template images and album folders.


  2. Use a text editor to open your settings.cfg file which is located in your cgi-bin/emAlbum folder. This is the main configuration file and will determine the features and function of emAlbum. A detailed explanation of each setting can be found in the online documentation.

    Troubleshooting:
    - If you are having trouble determining your server path settings, execute the env.cgi script that was included in this download to help.
    - If you need help configuring your settings.cfg file, visit our support forum, we're happy to help.

  3. FTP into your web server/host and upload your files.

    Upload the contents of the cgi-bin folder into a folder that can execute CGI scripts - usually called cgi-bin. Make sure to transfer all of these files in ASCII mode.

    Linux/Unix Servers
    - Set the permissions (chmod) on emAlbum.cgi, emAlbum_setup.cgi, and env.cgi to 755 (rwxr-xr-x).
    - If the path to Perl is anything other than #!/usr/bin/perl, edit the first line in both emAlbum.cgi, emAlbum_setup.cgi, and env.cgi with the correct path.

    Windows Servers
    - The permissions are usually already set by your host, so you should not need to worry about them.
    - Environmental variables are usually already set up for Perl, so you probably would not need to worry about changing the path to Perl, but it might be a good to edit the first line in both emAlbum.cgi, emAlbum_setup.cgi, and env.cgi with the correct path, just in case.

    Upload the contents of the public_html folder anywhere on your web server, but not under the cgi-bin folder. Make sure to transfer all these files (images) in BINARY mode.

    Note: You can change names of the albums, images, or thumbnails folders but you cannot change the name of the emAlbum folder that goes under your cgi-bin folder.


  4. Open your web browser and enter the URL to your emAlbum_setup.cgi file. The setup file will test your settings and inform you if something is not working correctly. If all of the setup tests pass, you will see a link to view your album. Click that link and if everything was setup correctly you should see a Test album. Verify that everything works in the test album.


  5. Now you can begin uploading all of your images to your web server.

    You can choose to put all of your thumbnails in one directory or organize them by matching the same directory structure in your thumbnails directory to your albums directory. Make sure to change settings.cfg accordingly.

    Delete the Test folder and add as many top-level folders as you like. *emAlbum will not recognize folders with a period (.) in the folder name or folders that begin with an underscore (_)* Each top-level folder can have one level of sub-folders. You can have as many sub-folders as you like, but emAlbum does not support sub-sub-folders.


  6. Your emAlbum installation is now complete. emAlbum.cgi can be executed directly, through Server Side Includes (SSI), or by using a DirectoryIndex - visit our Support Forum for more details. Read the Template and Language File section below for information on how to customize your template.

    Thumbnails: I recommend using XnView to create your thumbnails. It is a free program that works on Linux and Windows. Read about thumbnails in the online documentation for more details on how to use XnView.

:: Upgrading
 
From version 2.0 - 2.05:

To upgrade from versions 2.0 - 2.05, follow the following steps in the Installation section above with the following exception:

  • Replace your existing emAlbum.cgi and emAlbum_setup.cgi files with the new ones
  • . Unix Note: make sure the files permissions are 755.

  • Copy over your settings from emAlbum.cfg to the new settings.cfg. There are new settings in settings.cfg so just renaming emAlbum.cfg will not work. You can safely delete emAlbum.cfg afterwards.


  • Replace your existing language file with the new one.

  • Add the new filetype images to your template images directory.

  • Replace your existing template with the new one or if you have edited your template, add the new CSS code to it. The new CSS code can be found in New_CSS_Code.txt

  • If you are using the new thumbnail directory feature, you will need to create directories under your thumbnails directory that matches the directory structure of you original images. The folder names are case sensitive.

 
From version 1.0 - 1.3:

To upgrade from version 1.0 - 1.3, follow the steps in the Installation section above with the following exception:

  • For Step 3, create a new folder in your servers' cgi-bin folder. You can call it what you like, v20 perhaps? Then upload the contents of the cgi-bin folder (from the zip file) to the v20 that you just created.


  • Note: If in a previous version of emAlbum you used the Album Message feature, the new.gif image will show up when you view your albums. I suggest renaming the new.gif file to new.gif.bak while testing emAlbum v2.1
    After completing the upgrade and testing that everything works, you can safely delete the old emAlbum files. (emAlbum.js, emAlbum.css, album.cgi, image.gif, index.html, new.gif, and all of the old cgi-bin files)


:: Templates and Language Files

emAlbum v2.1 now supports the use of templates and language files. With the use of the template, you can easily blend emAlbum into your site. All you need to do is make sure that the emAlbum tags are in your template. Visit our Support Forum or online documentation for tutorials and tips on using the templates.


:: Troubleshooting

The emAlbum_setup.cgi file is your best tool for troubleshooting. If you are having problems with your setup, the emAlbum_setup.cgi file offers the option to send us a support email. It is a great resource for us to help solve any installation issues.

Common Problems:
I get a Internal Server Error when loading emAlbum.cgi or emAlbum_setup.cgi.
- Check the path to Perl is correct.
- Make sure the files were uploaded in ASCII mode (NOT Binary) and make sure the permissions are set to 755.
- Your text editor may have corrupted your files. I have seen cases where Notepad and Dreamweaver have caused problems. You might have to re-download emAlbum and use another text editor, such as EditPlus.


:: Support

If you're having problems, have a suggestions, want to make a comment, or anything else, you have the following options:

Visit our Support Forum
Contact us from our Contact Page

 
© 2003, emAlbum. All Rights Reserved.