phpCMS - Explanations of GUI Settings

Page Extension to be parsed

Extension of content files to be parsed by phpCMS

Each file has an extension. HTML-files usually end with ".html" or ".htm".
This setting tells phpCMS what extension files have that it should look out for and parse.
In addition the web server has to be configured so as to send files with this extension to the parser (e.g. via a .htaccess file).

Default configuration is ".htm".
Regular HTML-files might be given the extension ".html" and phpCMS-files the extension ".htm". But even ".htm"-files that do not contain phpCMS fields would be passed through unchanged.

Name of Default Page

Page to display when directory is requested

When a client sends a request that does not specify a page name phpCMS will try to display this page.

Example: If your default page is set to "index" and your page extension is ".htm", then a request for http://server.com/docs/ would return http://server.com/docs/index.htm, if it exists.

Extension for Templates

File extension of template files

The file extension used for templates can of course also be chosen freely.
But the parser must know it...

Global Project File

Optional: project file valid for entire project

Here a global project-file can be defined that is used if a requested content-file contains phpCMS fields but no project-file or an invalid project-file is defined there.

Global Home-Directory for all Projects

Optional: home directory valid for entire project

Here a global home-directory can be defined that is used if the project-file doesn't contain a value to set the home-directory.

Plug-In Directory

Directory that stores phpCMS plug-ins

The directory containing the Plug-Ins for phpCMS. Throughout your project you may use "/test/parser/plugs" to access this directory.

Field-Delimiter Start Tag

Character signaling start of field

With this character the start of a field in templates and content-files is marked.

Field-Delimiter End Tag

Character signaling end of field

With this character the end of a field in templates and content-files is marked.

Menu delimiter

Character signaling end of a menu field

With this character the end of a menu field in the menu templates is marked.

Tag parameter delimiter

Character signaling end of a parameter in tags

With this character the end of a parameter in tag files is marked.

Use PAXPHP in your files

Parse embedded PHP code

PAXPHP lets you use regular PHP code within content, and template files.
So called DynaTags are an application of PAXPHP. DynaTags are user-defined tags that are substituted by a PHP expression marked up as PAXPHP

Parse PAX TAGS

Execute hard coded PAX TAGS

PAX TAGS are special functions that are hard coded within the PAX-Module.
Available PAX TAGS are: PAXINC, PAXLASTMOD, PAXCOMBO, PAXCOMBOALL, PAXMENU, PAXHIGLIGHT and PAXRTF.

Mail2Crypt (Anti Spam)

Hide e-mail addresses from SPAM bots

By using a tag like  e-mail addresses are scrambled on the fly to protect them from being harvested by SPAM bots. When turned off, addresses inside the tag are displayed as plain text. Mail2Crypt is configurable. See the manual for details. (Currently still under “PAX”)

In phpCMS 1.2.0 and higher Mail2Crypt is fully integrated into the Parser and works independent of PAX.

Mail2Crypt JavaScript Directory

Path to Mail2Crypt JS file

Here you may specify the path to the directory that contains the Mail2Crypt JavaScript file. The file "js_mail2crypt.js" which is needed to display scrambled e-mail addresses in the browser is located in the document root by default.

Mail2Crypt Icon Directory

Path to Mail2Crypt icon file

Here you may specify the path to the directory that contains the Mail2Crypt icon files. The Mail2Crypt standard icons are located in "/parser/gif/" by default.

Server Cache / Server Cache Directory

Allow storage and reuse of parsed pages on the server

Pages and parts of pages that have already been parsed by phpCMS can be stored (cached) on the server for reuse. A page thus cached does not have to be re-parsed on subsequent requests. Through this technique phpCMS significantly reduces the server’s response time.

When deactivating this feature the server cache needs to be cleaned (flushed) manually since pages still in the cache otherwise remain to be served to visitors.

Note to Linux users: PHP needs to have write access to the cache directory. Should you not want to grant write access - e.g. for security reasons - the phpCMS cache feature can not be used.

Client Cache

Allow storage of pages in the browser

Gives visitor’s browsers permission to store pages in their local cache. This setting takes effect for pages that are, or could be, cached server side. If this is not the case (e.g. because pages contain dynamic plug-ins) phpCMS deactivates this setting automatically.

Live time of Proxy/Client Cache in days:

Amount of time pages may be stored by clients

Specifies the amount of time clients are allowed to keep pages stored in local cache. After this time clients must send a request for a fresh copy of a page. This setting will be ignored if pages contain dynamic content, i.e. scripts or dynamic plug-ins.

A value of "1" means that proxy servers or clients must request a fresh copy of a page after one day.

G-Zip Compression

Compress pages before transmission

Specifies whether G-Zip compression should be used to transmit pages if available. All of today’s major browsers can handle G-Zip compressed files.

With this option switched on HTML files will be compressed in size by up to 70% before they are transmitted over the Internet. Pages thus transmitted load faster in your visitors’ browsers, and cause less traffic volume on your server!

This feature can be used only if PHP runs with the "zlib" extension loaded. Please refer to the PHP documentation for further details...

File-Stealth-Mode

Make URLs search engine friendly

Use of this feature is recommended.
In Stealth-Mode pages are accessed through “normal” looking URLs, i.e. without the “parser.php?file=” showing in the address bar. This makes sure that pages can be found and are indexed by search engines. Search engines often will not index pages whose URL contains a “?”!

Stealth-Mode requires that you be able to use .htaccess files to configure your server. If you cannot use .htaccess files and cannot configure your server so that ".htm" files will be parsed by phpCMS, this feature must be deactivated.

Secure Stealth-Mode

Disallow access to secured directories

Use of this feature is recommended.
Secure Stealth-Mode blocks requests via “parser.php?file=filename.htm” to prevent unauthorized access to files located in directories secured through a .htaccess file.

Non-changeable extensions in Non-Stealth-Mode

File types not to be sent to the Parser

Specifies extensions of files references to which, in Non-Stealth-Mode, should not be changed to "parser.php?file=".

In Non-Stealth-Mode HTML links are automatically converted so that requests are correctly sent to the Parser. Here you may specify those kinds of files links to which should remain unchanged.

Error on empty TAG

Handling of empty substitute tags

With this option activated an error-message will be displayed should a tag be encountered that does not have its substitution string defined.
When deactivated, such a tag will be substituted with an empty string, i.e. it will not produce any output in the parsed page.

Debug-Mode

Display error messages during development cycle

When Debug-Mode is activated phpCMS’s internal error messages will be displayed if a file cannot be found or some other error occurs.

In Debug-Mode you may also use the phpCMS Debug-Tool. The Debug-Tool can be accessed by appending “?debug” to the URL of any content page.

Custom Error-Page / Custom 404-Error-Page

Use of customized error pages

When Debug-Mode is not activated, the Error-Page will be displayed should phpCMS encounter an internal error condition.

Special treatment is given to “Error 404s”. Since, from the server’s perspective, the file “parser.php” is the only one that is ever requested, the server cannot detect a missing content page and, consequently, cannot generate a 404 error message.

The difference between the regular “Error-Page” and the 404-Error-Page is that the 404-Error-Page is not sent via HTTP redirect, but instead is send directly by and though the parser. This way the status of the browser address bar remains unchanged.

In the event that no 404-Error-Page is specified or none exists, the regular Error-Page will be displayed.

Send P3P Header

Send P3P statement with HTTP header

P3P stands for “Platform for Privacy Preferences Project”. P3P offers a way to send machine readable privacy information to the browser. Some browsers base the acceptance of cookies on this information.

A starting point for finding further information is http://w3c.org/P3P/...

Global P3P Policy Header

Content of global P3P header

Here you may enter the machine readable P3P compact policy.

P3P Policy href

Directory of P3P Policy

Directory that stores the comprehensive P3P privacy policy. Usually this is “/w3c/p3p.xml”.

Statistics

Activate phpCMS’s statistics feature

This will activate phpCMS’s statistics function. When activated, phpCMS logs information about every request it handles which can then be viewed through the statistics module in the GUI.

Statistics-Directory / Log-Directory / Backup-Directory

Statistics data directories

Specifies directories for storing several statistics data. phpCMS needs write permission for these directories!

Statistics - Log File

Name of the statistics log file

Name of the log file that stores raw data on every page request.

Referrer Logging

Log and display top and last referrer data

Keeps a log of referrers that point to your site. This function works independently of the statistics module. To display a list of top and last referrers on your pages, you may use the plug-in "topref.php", located in the plug-ins directory, which can be integrated as a plug-in, script or via PAX.

Referrer - Directory

Directory of referrer log file

Directory that is used to store the referrer log file. phpCMS needs write permission for this directory!

Referrer - Log File

Name of referrer log file

Specifies the name of the log file that stores referrer data.

Referrer - Reload Lock

Duration of referrer reload lock

Specifies the amount of time in seconds during which repeat page requests originating from the same client IP will be ignored. This prevents, to some extent, an unwanted “counting up” of top referrers.

Startup directory of FileManager

Default display of the FileManager

Specifies which directory should be displayed in the FileManager when it is opened from the main navigation.

Show dirsize in FileManager

Calculate directory sizes

Specifies whether the size of directories should be calculated. Since this requires some heavy processing when a directory contains many files, it may lead to performance problems on slow servers or servers that are under high load.

Size of Editing Area in FileManager

Adjust dimensions of editing area

Specifies the dimensions of the editing area in the FileManager.

Shorten display of long file names

Length of file names displayed in FileManager

Specifies how many characters of file names should be displayed in the FileManager.

Shorten display of long URL aliases in CacheView

Length of URL aliases displayed in FileManager

Specifies how many characters of URL aliases should be displayed in the FileManager.

Select GUI language

Select GUI display language

Specifies which language should be used in the GUI.
NOTE: If your language is not yet available we invite you to help us translate phpCMS into your language!

Password

Set administrator password

Specifies the password that is used to access the GUI. Click on “Show me...” to view the current password (needs JavaScript).

Online-Editor

Allow use of the Online-Editors

Specifies whether the Online-Editor may be used. For security reasons use the phpCMS Online-Editor should be disallowed, if it is not currently used or not installed.

Check for Updates

Notification of phpCMS Updates

Activates update notification. The update check compares your current installation’s version number with that of the latest available version, which is stored in a text file on phpcms.de. As soon as a new version of phpCMS becomes available you will be notified by a small display in the GUI.