I'm brand new at this so please bear with me. A couple of years ago I put together a Front Page based web site which I desperately want to upgrade. WEP looks like it is something I can learn and put to good use.

But I can't find a clear answer to: Can I use WEP on an existing web hosting site? We use Host Monster and have paid ahead so the Board is not interested in making a hosting change. Can I use this on Host Monster?

Thanks. Allen

Allen,
From a quick look at the Host Monster site, it looks like TYPO3 should run there. I would suggest grabbing the WEC Server Checker from http://webempoweredchurch.org/products/wec_server_checker/ which will do some specific tests to determine whether TYPO3 can run. Once you put the file on your server, you post a link to it or paste the results here and we'll check it out for you.

While it does look like TYPO3 should run OK on this host, there are some things to be aware of. TYPO3 is more resource intensive than things like a Frontpage or Wordpress site. This means a WEC site with TYPO3 may run very slowly and have more problems on a low cost hosting provider versus a host who specializes in TYPO3. You won't know for sure until you try, and there's nothing right now that says it won't work, but just a heads up that things can vary from one host to the next.

Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff,
Thank you for taking the time to check for me. I looked at that program you mentioned and it is way over my head - I can make no sense of it at all. I think WEP is going to be a bit more than I can handle. Your basic instructions are even beyond me.

Again, thank you for taking your time. I'm going to have to try something much simpler for my skill level.

Allen

Allen and Jeff,
I am in the process of moving to Hostmonster and typo3 runs there without much problem. The main difficulty that I have encountered is RealURL is not supported. Consquently, one of the first things that you have to do when you install typo3 is to uninstall the RealURL extension. That is fairly straightforward using the Extension Manager module.
I have also found it expedient to increase the PHP memory setting to 128M rather than the default 32M. (There is a PHP default file within the cpanel, which you edit and then copy to relevant directories. There is also a place within Typo3's Install > All Configuration settings for maximum memory.) Apart from that, I cannot remember any other hiccups. Just thought it might save some initial frustrations which, happily, are easily fixed.
Cheers,
Calum

Calum,
Maybe if I got deeper into WEP I'll begin to understand more of these terms.
If you say you can get something running on Hostmoster I'll assume that somehow I'll figure it out as well -- please stay nearby!!

I'm going to be working through this very slowly, so let's see where I end up.

Thanks for letting me know it is possible!

Allen

Allen,
Feel free to ask lots of questions around here...we'll answer them as soon as we can I also saw some positive reviews of HostMonster from other TYPO3 users today, so it sounds like you'll be just fine.

Thanks,
Jeff

Allen,

If at some point you decide you really want to use WEC, you have the option of paying Vine to install it for you using your host; or hosting at VineHosting.com where they will install and update for free as long as you are hosted with them.

God Bless,
Mark

I think I may be able to help a little with this. The general steps are pretty straightforward to install the WEC starter package. The biggest thing you'll want to do to start is to install into a sub-folder of your main site. (I chose a folder called WEC.) That will let you install the package and test using www.yourchurch.net/wec. You'll still need to follow the instructions to get everything installed, but it should be pretty painless if a little confusing at times just because it's a new world.

Turning off RealURL isn't too hard; there are instructions on this site for how to do that. You can usually find them with a search or it may even be in the docs - I don't remember at the moment.

In a nutshell, you're going to:
1. Create a new sub-folder on your web-host under your current folder holding the WWW files.
2. Upload the WEC starter package into that folder according to the directions.
3. Install per the directions.
4. Ensure that RealURL is turned off.

(Possible #5 - work with host to verify the permissions are set appropriately for the WEC folders/files if you have issues.)


The great thing about the WEC package is that with a little bit of work up-front you can have a really easy to maintain website. I'm mostly hands-off for my part right now. Just tweaking new functionality and I'm pretty much the one pushing for that.

I just uploaded WEC onto Hostmonster and when I attempt to begin the 1-2-3 install tool I receive a PHP error. Can this be corrected? Thanks.

This is the error I get:

TYPO3 requires PHP 5.1.0 or higher.

Here is what I got when I ran serverchecker:


-= PHP Scripting Test =-
OS Linux Passed
Version 4.4.9 Failed
PHP Version number is too low!
Server API cgi Passed
Max Execution Time 30 Passed
Memory Limit No memory limit in effect! Passed
Max Upload Filesize 2M Warning
Max upload file size is lower than the TYPO3 default. Consider raising
upload_max_filesize to at least 10M. This can be set in the php.ini configuration
file if you can access it, or ask your hosting company to do so.
Required Functions success Passed
max_traversal success Passed
Consistent settings across directories true Passed
Safe Mode disabled Passed

-= Email Test =-
email sending via mail() info Warning

-= MySQL Database Test =-
Status Missing Information Warning
Please edit the top of this file and enter your database information
as provided by your hosting company or system manager.
Client Version 5.0.67 Passed
SQL Safe Mode Passed

-= File Permissions Test =-
777 Permissions allowed No Passed
Minimum write permissions 0755 Passed
Symlinks Success Warning
When you install TYPO3, either use the .zip package or make sure that you copy the
index.php file from typo3_src to the TYPO3 root.

-= Apache Web Server Test =-
Version 2.2.9 Passed
mod_rewrite unable to determine this setting due to the server configuration Warning
mod_security can't determine Warning
Allow Override Success Passed
Rewrite URLs success Passed

-= Graphics Test =-
GD library found Passed
GraphicsMagick library failed Failed
GraphicsMagick not installed
ImageMagick library found Passed