PHP v5.0.4. mySQL v4.1.11, IIS6 - What have I done wrong?

[jstratton]

Man, do I want to use this CMS, but I'm having the worst time getting it running.  Strange probs that I've never seen before.

My first problem was during the install.  I always ended up with a blank index.php until I finally just gave my CMSms folder absolute permissions and went through the install all over again.  After doing this I managed a working front page, but I can't seem to overcome this improper formatting problem on my admin and home pages:

After clicking any link, I find myself at a page with all the necessary text, but no graphical formatting (fig1.)  I see the clickable links, but there's a white background and no image.  If i refresh the page. everything looks great.(fig2.)    

I decided I'd give it a try with Firefox, rather than IE, and of course everything works just fine.  I guess I don't mind using Firefox to manage my page, but I certainly can't ask every user out there to access my main page via firefox.  I've tried clearing my cache and all that, and think it has something to do with the way IIS is handling the /tmp/cache dir, although proper permissions have been set...?  I've cleared my CMSms cache, and even tried other machines which have never touched the site before - all have the same problem.


Is possible to cache to the database, rather than the filesystem?

http://www2.northendpc.com if it helps anyone figure out what I'm doing wrong.  Thanks much in advance for your help!

Also, is anyone else out there running CMSms with IIS and willing to post their config.php (less the secure details)?  What's the best way to go?

Other than that, I'm impressed so far!  Loved the gallery of CMSms sites (what finally sold me) and look forward to showing off one of my own....
                 

[Ted]

Sorry, I don't have IE anywhere that I can duplicate this problem.  Something does seem kind of strange though...  is this on a slower box?  It's taking well over 1.5 seconds to bring up a cached page.

One of the things I like to do is actually open up the stylesheet itself and make sure it's not making an error for some reason (it's not), since it is dynamic.  http://www2.northendpc.com/stylesheet.php?templateid=1

I'm kind of stumped on this one.  Anyone else have an idea?

[Greg]

Hard to see what is happening  with the code as view source doesn't work ...

[jstratton]

Sorry, I don't have IE anywhere that I can duplicate this problem.  Something does seem kind of strange though...  is this on a slower box?  It's taking well over 1.5 seconds to bring up a cached page.

actually, no, the box actually hosts quite a few other sites, all of which are running really well.  www.harrigfeldlaw.com for instance loads up pretty well, alone with www.hiddenspringswifi.com.

I've actually tried this on a few machines now - so weird that I can get it to work Firefox, but not IE.  Is there any easy way to add a module or tweak a setting to have CMSms cache to the database, rather than the filesystem?  I did notice that before I had my permissiongs set correctly, this problem was on every page, every time, rather than intermittent.

All the settings are pretty much straight out of the box.  Here's my config.php if it's of any value.  I'm certainly willing to let someone into the admin or via ftp if necessary.

Code: Select all

$config['dbms'] = 'mysqli';
$config['db_hostname'] = '';
$config['db_username'] = '';
$config['db_password'] = '';
$config['db_name'] = '';
$config['db_prefix'] = 'cms_';
$config['root_url'] = 'http://www2.northendpc.com';
$config['root_path'] = 'e:/wwwroot/northendpc.com/cmsms';
$config['query_var'] = 'page';
$config['use_bb_code'] = false;
$config['use_smarty_php_tags'] = false;
$config['previews_path'] = 'e:/wwwroot/northendpc.com/cmsms/tmp/cache';
$config['uploads_path'] = 'e:/wwwroot/northendpc.com/cmsms/uploads';
$config['uploads_url'] = 'http://www2.northendpc.com/uploads';
$config['max_upload_size'] = 1000000;
$config['debug'] = false;
$config['assume_mod_rewrite'] = false;
$config['auto_alias_content'] = true;
$config['image_manipulation_prog'] = 'GD';
$config['image_transform_lib_path'] = '/usr/bin/ImageMagick/';
$config['use_Indite'] = false;
$config['image_uploads_path'] = 'e:/wwwroot/northendpc.com/cmsms/uploads/images';
$config['image_uploads_url'] = 'http://www2.northendpc.com/uploads/images';
$config['default_encoding'] = '';
$config['disable_htmlarea_translation'] = false;
$config['admin_dir'] = 'admin';
$config['persistent_db_conn'] = true;
$config['default_upload_permission'] = '664';
$config['page_extension'] = '.shtml';
$config['locale'] = 'en_US';

[Nexonen]

I am having exactly the same problem, but with the formatting for the admin control panel.

In IE, every other click or so in the admin loads a page with no formatting. View | Source isn't available as mentioned. In FF, everything loads fine without any problems.

On my local server, things are usually fine, but I have occasionally had no formatting in IE.

Trying to download /admin/style.php?ie=1 gives me a "not found" error (presumably because style_ie.css doesn't exist).

If there's a proper fix, I'd really like to know. For now, I've just modified /lib/classes/class.admintheme.inc.php so that it doesn't use style.php, as I presume this is causing problems for IE. My rather bad workaround is on line 1159 if you are interested. Replace:

Code: Select all

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.php" />
<!--[if IE]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.php?ie=1" />
<![endif]-->
<!-- THIS IS WHERE HEADER STUFF SHOULD GO -->

with

Code: Select all

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="themes/default/css/style.css" />

I presume there is something similar for the user side of things.

[jstratton]

I was never able to resolve this issue without moving from Windows to Linux.  The ONLY way I was able to get through a successful install was to give the IUSR full permissions to site's root, install, and then revert permissions.  Even after this I still had trouble with simply running it.  I eventually had to put it aside and move to another simple CMS, Website Baker.  I'm still waiting to see if maybe another CMSMS release down the line will have the functionality and security I need to run on a Windows box, until then I'm stuck with WB.

Has anyone else out there been able to get this running on a Windows 2003 machine?

I am having exactly the same problem, but with the formatting for the admin control panel.

In IE, every other click or so in the admin loads a page with no formatting. View | Source isn't available as mentioned. In FF, everything loads fine without any problems.

On my local server, things are usually fine, but I have occasionally had no formatting in IE.

Trying to download /admin/style.php?ie=1 gives me a "not found" error (presumably because style_ie.css doesn't exist).

If there's a proper fix, I'd really like to know. For now, I've just modified /lib/classes/class.admintheme.inc.php so that it doesn't use style.php, as I presume this is causing problems for IE. My rather bad workaround is on line 1159 if you are interested. Replace:

Code: Select all

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.php" />
<!--[if IE]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.php?ie=1" />
<![endif]-->
<!-- THIS IS WHERE HEADER STUFF SHOULD GO -->

with

Code: Select all

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="themes/default/css/style.css" />

I presume there is something similar for the user side of things.

[Ted]

That stinks that you had to do that.  If you have time, you might want to try one of the dev releases (http://cmsmadesimple.org/cms-daily.tar.gz) and see if it's any better.  I have tweaked some things, and you never know if it might have fixed the problem...

On a side note...  how do you compare WB to CMSMS?  Pleaes, be honest. 

[jstratton]

To be completely honest I have no idea, I was never able to get it up and running.  I can definitely say there's far more support and resources available for CMSMS than WB.  As far as ease of install and use is concerned, I can only tell you from personal install experience that from a Windows perspective, I'd recommend WB over CMSMS. 

I basically went out to opensourcecms.com and hit up just about every CMS out there to see how it would run, ease of use, etc.  Many of the top rated CMSs were just too much.  I really wasn't all that interested in having a lot dynamic content, forums, blogs, etc.  I just wanted something where I could create a few static pages, a contact form, and maybe toss in a few graphics while still being able to (later on) change stylesheets, etc.  and have the option of adding more later.  I wanted the basic of the basic and Website Baker fills that need, easily.  I've had very few problems with it, most of which would've been avoided by some decent documentation.

The CMS I'm ultimately looking for is one that I can recommend on to another business or a customer.   To be able to create a site, complete with theme/style and static content and then say here, here's your site - you maintain it, it's easy - that's what I want.  Wordpress is a great example of what works - a great community, great support, an actual Wiki.  I believe CMSMS could very well be the next Wordpress if there was an equal compatibilty for those running Windows.   I know we've covered this before, but if you could find a way to get that cache into the database...

I'll come back and report after I see WB3 and give CMSMS a second try here when I have some time.  Ultimately, I'd like to be using your product.  (Plus, I can't possibly say across the table to a group of professionals, "I recommend Website Baker."  It sounds like I'm making brownies. )

That stinks that you had to do that.  If you have time, you might want to try one of the dev releases (http://cmsmadesimple.org/cms-daily.tar.gz) and see if it's any better.  I have tweaked some things, and you never know if it might have fixed the problem...

On a side note...  how do you compare WB to CMSMS?  Pleaes, be honest. 

[Ted]

Ok, thanks for your candor.

I'm going to try and see what I can do, but I'm not sure where to start.  I have my old Dell lappy laying around.  I might be able to get that up and running with XP and see if I can recreate the problem.

I'll let you know if I figure out something...