bBlog quickstart

by Marion Bates <mbates at whoopis.com>

Installing bBlog php-based blogging package. The documentation for bBlog covers the relevant information nicely and concisely. This howto is for users with severe ADHD.

1. Download bBlog. http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/bblog/bBlog-0.6.tar.gz?download

tar -xvzf bBlog-0.6.tar.gz /path/to/your/webpage/directory
bBlog's files will expand into a directory called "blog".

2. Set up database.

mysql -u root -p
(enter mysql root password)
mysql> create database bblogdb;
mysql> grant all privileges on bblogdb.* to bbloguser@webhost identified by 'bblog_password';
mysql> flush privileges; 
If the database is on the same server as the webpage will be, then "webhost" above should be "localhost".

Remember or write down all the values above -- database name, user, pass, and host. You will need them again soon.

3. Tweak bBlog permissions. The following directories/files have to be writeable by the webserver. You might be able to get away with mode 775 in this case, but if the webserver runs as "nobody" then you'll probably have to go with 777, as below:

cd /path/to/your/webpage/directory/blog/bblog
chmod -R 777 cache/
chmod 777 compiled_templates
chmod 777 config.php

After installation, you will make config.php un-writeable again.

4. Web setup. Point a web browser to http://www.yourwebsite.com/.../blog/bblog/install.php and verify that bBlog is happy with permissions. Follow the prompts and when asked for database login info, fill in what you specified in mysql earlier. Also create an admin login and pass for the blog itself (does not need to be same as mysql login, and in fact, SHOULD be different!) Continue clicking through the install process until it tells you it's finished. Then delete the files and directories it mentions and fix permissions on config.php.

cd /path/to/your/webpage/directory/blog/bblog
rm install.php
rm -rf install/
chmod 755 config.php

5. Log in to your blog. Point a browser to http://www.yourwebsite.com/.../blog/bblog and log in with the admin login/pass you created in step 4 (NOT the login/pass of the actual database). Create a post, tweak settings, etc. and visit http://www.yourwebsite.com/.../blog to see what your blog looks like to the public.


References: