Getting Started

IsVipi OSSN requires a specific server environment to function optimally. That is why we have put in place a system requirements check during installation. If you encounter any error during this step, chances are your site will not function correctly. So, whatever you do, do not try to bypass this step.

IsVipi OSSN is free and open source released under GPL V3. You are allowed to modify the source code on the condition that you will make the modifications available for free as well. No one should sell this software to you and neither are you allowed to sell this software.

The footer copyright text “Powered by IsVipi OSSN” should not be removed. If you would like to have it removed, please consider making a donation.

System Requirements

These system requirements represent the minimum server environment through which IsVipi OSSN can run. They are a requisite and are solely dependent on your server. Most errors that are associated with this can only be resolved by your hosting provider.

  • PHP version 5.5 and above
  • MySQL version 4.1 and above
  • mod_rewrite
  • Curl
  • GD Library

Installation

Installing IsVipi OSSN should not take you more than 3 minutes. It is an easy step by step process. For the purpose of this installation process, we will assume that you have downloaded the latest release of IsVipi OSSN, extracted the content to a folder on your computer and have basic knowledge of how to upload files to your server.

Pre Installation

Before you begin installing IsVipi OSSN on your server, make sure that you have created the following:

  • a database
  • a database user
  • a password for the database user

Grant this user all permissions to this database. If you have any problem doing this, you could visit this link or contact your hosting company’s support staff. Please make sure that you have this information with you before you begin the installation process.

Installing on public_html or server root

If you have uploaded IsVipi OSSN files to the root of your server (public_html or www depending on your hosting provider), visit your site at http://mysite.com/. Replace "mysite.com" with your site name and follow the step by step instructions.

Installing on a Subfolder

If you have uploaded IsVipi OSSN files to a subfolder, visit your site at http://mysite.com/subfolder/. Replace “mysite.com” with your site name and “subfolder” with the name of the folder you uploaded the files to and follow the step by step instructions.

Installing on a Subdomain

In the case of a subdomain, we will assume that you have created your subdomain and pointed it to the right folder. Once you have uploaded IsVipi OSSN files to the relevant folder for this subdomain, visit your site at http://subdomain.mysite.com/. Remember to replace “subdomain.mysite.com” with your site’s details and follow the step by step instructions.

Known Installation Issues

There have been reports of some installation related issues that may not necessarily mean that your server did not meet the system requirements. Here are a few of these issues. We will keep on updating this section once we get more reports and find solutions to those issues.

500 internal server error

In most cases, this is due to an error handling code in the .htaccess file. The solution is to delete a section of the code in the file. If you come across this, please locate and open the .htaccess file in the root of the folder you are installing IsVipi OSSN on. Find and delete the code below:

      	# IF YOU GET a 500 Internal Server Error delete the chunk of code below
        #enable PHP error logging
        php_flag  log_errors on
        php_value error_log  error_log.log
	  
Database connection problems

This is a common occurrence. Please make sure that you have created a database and assigned a database user with all permissions enabled. Remember that IsVipi OSSN is primarily dependent on the database and therefore ensuring that you have correct database details is very important. If you are in doubt about anything, contact your hosting provider.

Feed and Messages won't load

If the timelines feeds or messages won’t load, please check your site url from your admin backend. Make sure that your site url does not have “www”, does not have a trailing slash “/” and starts with “http://”. Your site url should be in the format “http://mysite.com” depending on where you installed IsVipi. If you installed IsVipi on a subdomain, for example, your site url should be in the format http://subdomain.mysite.com.

Customization

Themes

We strongly advise that you do not make any changes to the default theme. This is because all your changes will be lost during an update. As an alternative, we recommend:

  • Copy the default theme
  • Rename it
  • Change the theme name from the admin panel under Settings » General » Theme Settings to the new one you have created.

For example, copy the default theme and rename it to "mytheme" (put any name of your choice). Then head over to the admin panel under Settings » General » Theme Settings and in the input box, enter "mytheme" (without the quotes) and click "Save Theme".

You can now play around with your new theme "mytheme" without any fear that an update would overwrite your modifications.

We are still looking for a better way of implementing custom themes. We will let you know once we have something solid to work with.

Miscellaneous

Cron Jobs

Cron Jobs are automated tasks that are programmed to run at particular intervals. IsVipi OSSN makes use of cron jobs to accomplish a number of tasks such as checking for updates and so on.

By default, cron jobs are run every time someone loads a page on your site. This can be resource intensive and can wear down your server especially if your site experiences heavy traffic thereby slow down your site. As an alternative, you can set up automatic cron jobs in your hosting cpanel.

You can read all about setting up cron jobs by following this link.

IsVipi OSSN Cron Jobs

IsVipi OSSN's cron job url is (replace details with those of your site):

  • http://mysite.com/cron/ - if you installed IsVipi OSSN in the web root
  • http://mysite.com/subfolder/cron/ - if you installed IsVipi OSSN in a subfolder
  • http://subdomain.mysite.com/cron/ - if you installed IsVipi OSSN on a subdomain

Schedule this to run every 15 minutes

Once you set up the cron job from your server, please disable the inbuilt cron job by going to your admin backend, Settings » General » Site Status Settings and uncheck “Run system cronjob”

Here is an example from our demo:

      	0/15 * * * * /usr/bin/wget -O /dev/null http://demo.isvipi.org/cron/