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MAMBO INTEGRATION FOR FLASHCHAT
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This file describes the steps required to integrate FlashChat into a Mambo environment. The normal installation procedure, as described in the FlashChat readme.txt file, does NOT apply in this case.

YOU MUST FOLLOW THESE STEPS PRECISELY!

STEP 1:
In the FlashChat distribution (the "chat" folder, which should be available to you upon decompressing the files that you downloaded), re-name the "flashchat_mambo.php" file to "flashchat.php" and delete the existing flashchat.php file.


STEP 2:
Open the "common.php" file located in the "inc" directory of your FlashChat distribution. You should be able to use any plain-text editor, like TextPad (www.textpad.com) or Windows Notepad. Find the group of PHP commands that relate to CMS integration. They will have the "cmses/" label in them:

//include_once(INC_DIR . 'cmses/defaultCMS.php');
//include_once(INC_DIR . 'cmses/statelessCMS.php');
include_once(INC_DIR . 'cmses/mamboCMS.php');
//include_once(INC_DIR . 'cmses/phpNukeCMS.php');
//include_once(INC_DIR . 'cmses/postNukeCMS.php');
... etc...

As shown above, you must put double-slashes before ALL CMSES except for the "mamboCMS" line. This will deactivate all other CMS support except for Mambo. Double-slashes are how programmers "comment-out" a line, thus deactivating it.

Thus, ONLY this line will NOT be commented:

include_once(INC_DIR . 'cmses/mamboCMS.php');

STEP 3:
Upload the contents of the "chat" directory to Mambo's "uploadfiles" folder. Thus, your server directories will look like:

/{main mambo directory}/uploadfiles/chat/index.php
/{main mambo directory}/uploadfiles/chat/flashchat.php
...etc. for all other files in the FlashChat "chat" folder

Please note that you do NOT need to upload the "src" folder (in fact, it's better not to because it will slow down the Mambo integration), since this folder contains Flash source code. Also, if there is a "flashchat.xml" file, you should delete it *before* uploading, since this file will be auto-generated by the server in STEP 5.


STEP 4:
Now, make sure that the "chat" folder (which you uploaded in the previous step) is CHMOD'd to 777. After installation, you can CHMOD it back to 744 or any other readable format, but we need to make sure that the "chat" folder is writeable. If you do not know what CHMOD means, please consult with your website host.


STEP 5:
Execute the generateMamboXML.php script in Mambo's uploadfiles directory, by opening this file within your web browser. This will generate a file named flashchat.xml in the "chat" folder, which is necessary to Mambo's install process.

Thus, you will point your browser to:
http://www.yourdomain.com/{path to mambo}/uploadfiles/chat/generateMamboXML.php

If you have done this step successfully, you should see this message in your web browser:

"XML should be generated. Continue with Flashchat Mambo installation process."

If you do NOT see that message, then please go back to the previous steps above and make sure that you're doing them correctly.


STEP 6:
Login to Mambo as the administrator.

Go to the Install/Uninstall components screen in Mambo's Administration control panel (i.e., in the "Components" menu of the Administration screen, choose the "Install/Uninstall" option from the drop-down list).

Go to "Install from directory" at the bottom of the screen, and input the path to Mambo's upload directory with "/chat/flashchat.xml" at the end. For example, on my server, this path was:

/tufat_com/home/public_html/mambo_root/uploadfiles/chat/flashchat.xml

When you are sure that you have the correct files, click install.

If there are any errors, check to make sure the XML file was generated correctly.  If the directory you are installing from does not have write access, it may not have been generated correctly (see STEP 2 above regarding the CHMOD command).


STEP 7:
Move "admin.flashchat.php" file, which can be found in the "components/com_flashchat/mamboadmin" directory, into the "com_flashchat" folder under Mambo's "administrator/components" directory.


STEP 8:
Make sure that the config.srv.php file in the "components/com_flashchat/inc"
directory has write permissions before installing (CHMOD to 777). You can change the permissions back to read-only after installation.

Using your web browser, open the install.php file, located at:

http://www.yourserver.com/{path to mambo}/components/com_flashchat/install.php

This file will use the MySQL options that your current Mambo installation uses, and it will create the necessary table structures in MySQL using the same table prefix that Mambo uses. If FlashChat is able to read your current Mambo settings correctly, then this form should be auto-populated for you. Do NOT change anything in this form - accept all the default values.

If you find that this install.php form is NOT auto-populated for you, then please go back to steps 1-7 to ensure that you did everything correctly.


STEP 9:
You must now add the FlashChat module to your menus . The module must be 'published' before it can be used. Please refer to your Mambo documentation if you are unsure of how to do this.

HINT: Go into Site -> Menu Manager -> User Menu. Click the New icon at the top, center of the page. Choose MOS Component. Click Next. Choose Flashchat, then create a name for the link in the "Name" field (for example "FlashChat"), and make it visible only to registered users by changing the "Access Level". Click Save. Mambo should put you back in the menu manager.  To publish, click the checkbox by the new FlashChat menu item and choose publish from the menubar at the top. FlashChat should now appear in your menu when a registered user is logged in.


STEP 10:
Login to Mambo as a normal user or as a moderator, click on the FlashChat module link, and start chatting!

If you notice any errors in these steps, or have any suggestions for improvement, please post a message on the TUFaT.com support forum, located at http://www.tufat.com

Thank you for using FlashChat!

(c) 1999-2004 Darren G. Gates