Elgg 1.8.3 Install (Please Help)

Hi everyone!

i previously had a web developer do all my work for me. Now that money is tight im learning everything on my own. I have knowledge of dreamweaver 5.5, and core FTP. When you look at my website files through core FTP, once connected you see in order..

(folder) <..>

(folder) ..

(folder) data

(folder) data1

(folder) pub - inside here is the "mod" folder and im assuming thats where all my previous 1.7.6 Elgg version files are.

(folder) views_simplecache

(zip file) data_new.tar.gz

(zip file) hostubly.rar

index.html

(zip file) usl.tar.gz

views

view_types

I downloaded and did everything the directions told me to do when i downloaded elgg 1.8.3. i think i did at least.

my website is www.universitystudentlyfe.com or USL for short

So now when i try to view my site its just a white screen. :(

any ideas?

 

 

 

 

  • BTW the files now appear when viewd in core ftp in this order...

    (folder) <..>

    (folder) ..

    (folder) data

    (folder) data1

    (folder) pub - inside here is the "elgg-1.8.3" file

    (folder) views_simplecache

    (zip file) data_new.tar.gz

    (zip file) hostubly.rar

    index.html

    (zip file) usl.tar.gz

    views

    view_types

  • Thanks for the reply Webgalli, unfortunately i still dont know what the problem is. i get the "403 Forbiddwn" error meaning i have no permissions. From what ive been reading this is most likely a SIMPLE fix but im still clueless as what to do.

    It might be worth mentioning. i forgot to disable the plugins in my site before i started to delete the files on my remote server via core FTP. How the heck do i change permissions? Is that even the problem?

    if anyone is willing to teamviewer with me to help out id greatly appreciate it. Or just post here

  • Could the problem be that i did not put the elgg 1.8.3 file in the correct place?

    (folder) <..>

    (folder) ..

    (folder) data

    (folder) data1

    (folder) pub - inside here is the "elgg-1.8.3" file ---- or should the elgg-1.8.3 file be where the "pub" file is. and not inside the pub file?

    (folder) views_simplecache

    (zip file) data_new.tar.gz

    (zip file) hostubly.rar

    index.html

    (zip file) usl.tar.gz

  • I believe you should try putting the elgg folder outside pub, in other words, put it in the same folder where index.html is (outside pub)

    Rodolfo Hernandez
    Arvixe/Elgg Community Liaison

  • I don't fully understand the folder structure you are describing.

    Let's assume the upmost directory of your webspace is "home". Normally, a folder named public_html (maybe pub in your case?) is inside the home directory. This public directory is the "root directory" of your domain, i.e. when browsing to www.universitystudentlyfe.com the content of this "root" will be shown. This might also be the diretory where the Elgg files should go to. In your "home" directory the data directory for Elgg should be, too, i.e. outside the "root" directory.

    Something like that:

    home

    home/data      >>> Elgg data directory

    home/public_html    >>> Elgg root directory

    inside there are for example

    home/public_html/index.php

    and subdirectories like

    home/public_html/mod

    Simply copying Elgg 1.8 over an existing installation of Elgg 1.7 could also result in a white screen. There are instructions included in the Elgg 1.8 zip file how to upgrade. If possible I would test out the upgrade on a test server (or your local computer) to make sure all installed 3rd party plugins are compatible.

  • Forbidden

    You don't have permission to access / on this server.
    you actually ** paid some 'Dev' good $$ to leave your site on this bad crappy non-working state ?

    That "403" is a symptom of some permissions issue somewhere - Have you tries asking that 'Dev" to check that your Domain's folders, etc were left in a usable state for someone else to work with ? or do you gotta go back & pay him/her some moare to get this fixed..  from your error messages - this could take some effort to resolve - without looking over your shoulders at your domains's code, configs. Th 'teamviewe' situation - probly shud be posted @ the Prof Svcs Group. But if you think you can post more detailed messages etc., mnaybe can be helped outside that other group...

  • (folder) <..>

    (folder) ..

    (folder) data

    (folder) data1

    (folder) pub - inside here is the "mod" folder and im assuming thats where all my previous 1.7.6 Elgg version files are.

    (folder) views_simplecache

    (zip file) data_new.tar.gz

    (zip file) hostubly.rar

    index.html

    (zip file) usl.tar.gz

    views

    view_types

    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

    That is how my website files are seen in core ftp or dreamweaver CS5.5 before i started tinkering with anything. The site worked fine before until i started to mess with it. According to what rjcalifornia described i should "put" the "elgg-1.8.3" file outside the pub folder. EX)

    (folder) <..>

    (folder) ..

    (folder) data

    (folder) data1

    (folder) pub

    (folder) elgg-1.8.3

    (folder) views_simplecache

    (zip file) data_new.tar.gz

    (zip file) hostubly.rar

    index.html

    (zip file) usl.tar.gz

    views

    view_types

    Ill do this step but im pretty sure that wont be enough, dont i have to copy over an htaccess.html file? I feel this would be a lot easier for everyone helping to diagnose if you could just get into the server and see how everything is organized to give better feedback. I would really appreciate such help if anyone has the time or patience.

  • Well i backed up my original files. When i add a folder named "disabled" in the mod directory. The site goes from Blank white page, to the elggg 1.7.6 version with all plugins disabled."Login is visible" When i log in, and try to access administration to activate plugins again, all pages after the dashboard just hangs or goes straight to clear white page. WTF?

    I did this before i tried installing elgg 1.8.3 and everything worked fine. Do i have to change some php settings? help?!

    This is not easy at all from what i understand

  • Elgg 1.7.6 worked fine before you tried to upgrade to Elgg 1.8? If yes, and you get white pages even after removing the files of Elgg 1.8 you most likely removed either too much (i.e. something of Elgg 1.7.6 is missing) or something of Elgg 1.8 remained (I suspect for example files in the views folder).

    Upgrading from Elgg 1.7 to Elgg 1.8 should not require any changes in php settings. But you can not simply overwrite the old files with the new files. For example the views folder need to be deleted before copying Elgg 1.8 into your root directory.

    Depending on what plugins you have installed and if any files - either in Elgg core or in 3rd party plugins - have been modified it might be the cleaner and safer solution to remove all files of Elgg 1.7 first before installing Elgg 1.8. Basically, all data is saved either in the data directory or in the database. The only file to keep is the settings file (enginge/settings.php). If necessary you should also check the .htaccess file in the Elgg root directory to see if it's different from the default file (htaccess_dist). Any changes in .htaccess should later be included in the new .htaccess file of Elgg 1.8 (don't keep the old one as other things have changed, too).

    If your Elgg 1.7 files are inside "pub", this is the root directory of your domain. This is the directory where Elgg 1.8 needs to be installed into. And NOT into the mods subdirectory.

    Regarding the update procedure you should read UPGRADE.txt that's included in the Elgg 1.8 zip file. As I said before I personally prefer to remove all Elgg 1.7 files when upgrading to not have any deprecated files remaining and I only keep 3rd party plugins in the mods directory that are not affected by the upgrade directly (but you need to keep in mind that not all 3rd party plugins are compatible with Elgg 1.8 yet).

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