Complete, Concrete, Concise » Web Tools
Troubleshooting the Apache Server Not Starting
This tutorial assumes XAMPP or AMPPS installed on a Windows XP machine with Service Pack 3. The instructions should work for other versions of Windows, but no guarantee is made. For non-Windows systems, the general causes and procedures should be the same, but adapted for whatever OS you are running. It is frustrating to install the Apache Server (whether through a package like XAMPP or AMPPS or separately installed) and not have it work. The most common reason is that some other application is using the ports needed by the Apache Server. These are port 80 (http) and port 443 (https). To check this, we need to see what applications are using which ports. Some images may be clicked for full sized versions. Download a TCP Port Monitoring Application 1) Download CurrPorts from NirSoft. The download link is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
How to Install and Run Multiple Versions of XAMPP on your Computer
These instructions are for Windows XP with Service Pack 3, but should be the similar for other OSes Why would I want to install multiple versions of XAMPP? When developing or testing software, it is nice to be able to test it on a variety of versions of Apache, PHP, Perl, and MySQL to test out that things behave the same across various versions Installing XAMPP 1) Install each version of XAMPP into its own directory. As you can see, I have 3 different versions of XAMPP installed on my system (plus AMPPS, but that folder is not shown): You can also install other Apache, PHP, Perl, MySQL bundled packages (like AMPPS) as well, just make sure they are in separate directories XAMPP 1.7.3 is installed in the /xampp folder. It was the first one I … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
Installing AMPPS – Apache Server, MySql, PHP, Perl with Installation Scripts
These instructions are for installing AMPPS 1.2 on Windows XP with Service Pack 3. It should work for other configurations as well. Some images may be clicked for full sized versions. AMPPS is an extremely easy to install and use Apache Server which comes bundled with MySQL (a database), PHP (server side scripting language), Perl (another server side scripting language), Python (yet another scripting language) and auto-installation scripts for 225 different web applications. Why would I want to install it? To allow development and testing on your local machine instead of on a remote (and probably live) server. I use it to test out changes to my website before uploading and committing changes to the real site. Compared to XAMPP, AMPPS is easier and friendlier to use because of its auto-installation scripts. This allows you … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
How to Change ‘localhost’ to a Domain Name
This tutorial is for XAMPP 1.7.3 running under Windows XP with Service Pack 3. It may be similar for other version combinations, but no guarantee is made. Assumes you have installed XAMPP. Instructions can be found here. UPDATE 17-March-2012:If you are running Windows 7 (and possibly Vista) the default security settings prevent you from running applications with administrative privileges. This means that you won’t be able to save changes made to the hosts file. For instructions on opening the hosts file for reading and writing please see this article. Installing XAMPP allows you to develop, test, and play around with web server code on your local machine. You can configure and test out your website locally, instead of live somewhere on the web. It does have the drawback that to access your website you have … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
How to Change the Apache Port in XAMPP
These instructions are for XAMPP 1.7.3 running on Windows XP. They should be similar for other configuration combinations, but no guarantee is made. These instructions should also work for an Apache Server install that is not part of a XAMPP install (specific details regarding file locations and restarting of the Apache Server will differ). NOTE: XAMPP 1.7.4 and XAMPP 1.7.7 display misleading port information in the XAMPP Control Panel. Regardless of which port you specify Apache to listen to, the XAMPP Control Panel will always display: Apache started [Port 80] This is WRONG!!!! This is a HARDCODED string in XAMPP 1.7.4 and 1.7.7. It does not reflect the actual port Apache is listening to. Yet another reason why you should not be using XAMPP 1.7.4 or 1.7.7. By default, Apache Server listens on port 80, but this … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
How to Turn Off ‘display_errors’ in XAMPP
If you are here because: (1) when you try to run Joomla 1.5.x, 1.6.x, or 1.7.x under XAMPP 1.7.4 or 1.7.7 you get lots of errors like Strict Standards: Accessing static property JCache … or (2) you are running a popular PHP application and gettings errors when installing or running it out-of-the-box then see this page instead. NOT RECOMMENDED: One of the reasons for installing XAMPP is to be able to detect errors in your site and code. Disabling error reporting makes this a lot harder. These instructions are for XAMPP version 1.7.3, but it should work for other versions as well. If you are getting errors, the CORRECT thing to do is to FIX those errors, not hide them by turning off ‘display_errors’. Those errors are still there whether the setting is on or off. Think of it this way, … Read entire article »
Determining the last time Google indexed your website
You can always log into your web service provider and check your visitor logs, but if you are running a site where you don’t have access to these logs (for example: wordpress.com, blogger.com, posterous.com, etc), then you are out of luck. However, you can always let Google tell you. (1) Go to Google search and search for your URL: (2) Click on the cached link next to you URL: (3) Read the last time Google indexed that page: Note: Google doesn’t always crawl over all your pages when it comes back for a visit (that would be a waste of bandwidth and resources – why reindex a page that doesn’t change?) so the date might still be off, but it does give you a ballpark figure. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
Adding a New User to a MySql database in XAMPP
This tutorial assumes that you have XAMPP 1.7.3 installed. The procedure should be the same for other versions of XAMPP. A XAMPP installation procedure for Windows XP can be found here. Click on images for full sized versions. (1) Enter http://localhost/phpmyadmin into your browser’s URL field. This will bring you to the phpmyadmin main page. (2) Select the database to which to add a new user by clicking on it: (3) Click on the Privileges tab: (4) Click on Add a new user: (5) Fill in the user information: User Name: Leave the dropdown selection as Use text field and enter a user name in the edit box on the right side. A user name may be a maximum of 16 characters in length. The MySql documentation recommends using only ASCII characters in the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
How to Add a Password to the XAMPP root User
This is NOT recommended! By default, databases in XAMPP are created with the user root having a blank password. This poses a security risk if the computer or database are publically accessible. However, for local development and testing, this should not be a problem. This tutorial assumes that you have XAMPP 1.7.3 installed. The procedure should be the same for other versions of XAMPP. A XAMPP installation procedure for Windows XP can be found here. WARNING: you will need to update your phpmyadmin configuration file to login using the new password, otherwise you will no longer be able to use phpmyadmin. Even if you assign a password to root, someone can still gain access to it by inspecting the phpmyadmin configuration file (where the password is plainly visible). Click on images for full sized … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
Deleting a MySql Database Under XAMPP
This tutorial assumes that you have XAMPP 1.7.3 installed. The procedure should be the same for other versions of XAMPP. A XAMPP installation procedure for Windows XP can be found here. Click on images for full sized versions. (1) Enter http://localhost/phpmyadmin into your browser’s URL field. This will bring you to the phpmyadmin main page. (2) Click on the Databases tab. This will bring you to a page listing all your databases. (3) Select the databases you wish to drop by clicking on the checkbox next to them. Then click on the drop icon located below the databases cdcol is the cd collection sample database that comes with XAMPP – it is safe to delete, if you like, just be WARNED that the application will no longer work. information_schema is a necessary database for XAMPP … Read entire article »
Filed under: Web Tools
Recent Comments