Installing OWLS

The installation of OWLS requires the use of FTP software. If you are not familiar with the use of FTP, have your server administrator help you with the installation of the scripts.

NOTE: Currently the use of OWLS has only been tested on two servers, as the experience of other users comes in, this document will change to reflect the issues and problems of those who have tried OWLS.

Installation can be as simple as uploading all the scripts, as a whole into your web space and begin using it. However, depending on the way your host server is set up, you may have to modify the permissions on certain files:

1. If you have trouble creating new exercises, you may have to make each of the directories for the exercises and readings world writable so that the OWLS scripts can create scripts. Set the permissions of the directories to be 747. (if you don't know how to change the permissions on files, see your FTP documentation or ask your server administrator)

2. The scripts need to be able to modify the following files in the includes directory, you may have to make them world writable or 747:

• exercisecontent.html
• frontcontent.html
• globals.php
• linklist.php
• readingcontent.html
• workshoplist.php

3. You will probably wish to customize the header and footer for all the pages. This can be done by modifying the header.html and footer.html files in the includes directory. Any changes to these will be reflected on all of the pages of the OWLS site. Consider keeping all of your images in the images directory.

4. You may wish to change the display of fonts and sizes throughout the site. This can be done by modifying the styles.css file in the main directory of the site. This includes a few different styles that the site uses. Feel free to modify the fonts and sizes indicated by those styles using the Cascading Style Sheet syntax.

5. You may now begin creating exercises by accessing the link for your site (e.g. htttp://myuniversity.edu/~myname/owls/workshop/ ). After installation you will probably want to customize the preferences for your site, which you can do by accessing the preferences link from the workshop.

Consult the FAQ if you run into problems during installation. Steps 1 and 2 may not be necessary depending on your server. If you had to perform additional tasks to get OWLS up and running on the server considering sharing this with others by emailing owls@foolsworkshop.com. This will help in building better documentation for future versions.

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OWLS is a free open-source project created by Konrad Mitchell Lawson
Visit the OWLS homepage for more information.
owls@foolsworkshop.com

Last Updated: November 7, 2002