For Customization and Installation Help go to: qlWebDS Installation Help, Customization, Category Dumps, Banners and Template Designs
No Hosting Account? We strongly recommend our affiliated and very reliable hosting plans at RegisterMyWWW.com which we have been using since 2006.

qlWebDS Installation Procedure

1. We recommend backing up your Website before installing any script, unless this is a brand new hosting account
2. Create a new MySQL Database. Avoid the word "directory" in your Database Name or Admin Login. Some servers seem to have a problem with this.
   You may use "dir" as part of a name
3. Unzip the downloaded qlWebDS file
4. In the db_params.php file enter your information from your MySQL database:
   On some hosting accounts such as RegisterMyWWW.com or GoDaddy.com "localhost" might need to be replaced with a database URL/connection string

   define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
   define('DB_NAME', 'EnterYourDatabaseNameHere');
   define('DB_USER', 'EnterYourDatabaseUsernameHere');
   define('DB_PASS', 'EnterYourDatabasePasswordHere');

5. Open an FTP connection to your server
6. To set up your site as a Directory only, upload all files to your server's (depending on hosting company) public_html, docs, htdocs or www directory.
   In most cases it'll be the "public_html" directory
7. On hosts like RegisterMyWWW.com or GoDaddy.com, upload all files to the root of the site where you plan to install the Script
8. If you are installing the script in a Subfolder (www.YourSite.com/Subfolder), assign 755 permissions to it now (chmod 755 YourSubfolderName/) and upload all files
9. In your browser type in http://www.YourDomain.com/install.php OR http://www.YourDomain.com/SubFolder/install.php
10. Follow the instructions on the screen
11. Create your Admin Username (avoid the word "directory" in your Admin Username), Password (do not use any special characters in your password) and enter your E-mail
12. Next, click on Admin Area link (http://www.YourDomain.com/admin OR http://www.YourDomain.com/SubFolder/admin OR http://YourDirectory.YourSite.com/admin) and log in to Admin
13. Once you log in to Admin (in order for your directory to function) you need to enter your Website's URL in the "Your Site's URL" field under the Config Menu
14. On your Server:
    Assign 777 permissions to backup directory (chmod 777 backup/)
    Assign 777 permissions to cache directory (chmod 777 cache/)
    Pro Version Only: Assign 777 permissions to logos directory (chmod 777 logos/)
    Assign 777 permissions to logs directory (chmod 777 logs/)
    Assign 666 permissions to sitemap.xml.gz (chmod 666 sitemap.xml.gz)
    Pro Version Only: Assign 666 permissions to users_online.txt (chmod 666 users_online.txt)
15. Immediately, delete install.php from from your server
16. DO NOT remove registration_.html or any other files from your server as this would make the script inoperative!
17. The .htaccess file (htaccess.txt) makes the Main Menu Items - Search Engine Friendly - even if your Mod Rewrite is off
18. Customize the htaccess.txt file (instructions are inside the file) and upload it back to your server
19. On your Server: rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess (allows Search Engine friendly URLs for your Categories, Links and the Main Menu Links)
    REMEMBER: On some hosting accounts it'll take up to 1 hour for your Mod Rewrite to start working once you activate your .htaccess file, so be patient!
20. In Admin/Site/Categories - Create your Categories and Sub-categories
21. In Admin/Site/Sitemap - Generate Sitemap
22. In Admin/Main - Clear PageRank (Deluxe, Premium, Pro and Supreme versions only)
23. In Admin/Main - Empty Cache
24. In Admin/Main - Backup Database
25. We also recommend that you now backup your Website's files through and FTP program

Upgrading your Web Directory

1. Backup your Website files through an FTP connection and backup your MySQL database in your Admin (Admin - Top Menu), before upgrading.
   Especially, your tpl.php files in /templates/YourTemplate directory
2. If you have made changes to the originally installed style.css, ".tpl.php" or ".php files", you may paste your custom code later from the backup
3. Unzip the downloaded upgrade file
4. Open an FTP connection to your server
5. Upload all files except for: db_params.php (your MySQL config data)
6. On your Server:
   Assign 777 permissions to backup directory (chmod 777 backup/)
   Assign 777 permissions to cache directory (chmod 777 cache/)
   Pro Version Only: Assign 777 permissions to logos directory (chmod 777 logos/)
   Assign 777 permissions to logs directory (chmod 777 logs/)
   Assign 666 permissions to sitemap.xml.gz (chmod 666 sitemap.xml.gz)
   Pro Version Only: Assign 666 permissions to users_online.txt (chmod 666 users_online.txt)
7. In your browser type in http://www.YourDomain.com/install.php OR http://www.YourDomain.com/SubFolder/install.php
8. Follow the instructions on the screen
9. Enter your existing Admin Username, E-mail and Password
10. On your Server: Immediately delete install.php and your old .htaccess file (unless you customized it)
11. Customize the htaccess.txt file (instructions are inside the file) and upload it back to your server
12. The .htaccess file (htaccess.txt) will make the Main Menu Items - Search Engine Friendly - even if your Mod Rewrite is off
13. On your Server: rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess (allows Search Engine friendly URLs for your Categories, Links and the Main Menu Links)
14. If needed, upload your customized ".tpl.php" template files to your template from the backup you created before the upgrade
15. Log in to Admin: http://www.YourDirectory.com/admin OR http://www.YourSite.com/YourDirectory/admin OR http://YourDirectory.YourSite.com/admin
16. If .htaccess file was needed (for your Categories' Search Engine friendly URLs) and installed, turn Mod Rewrite on in Admin: Config/Site Settings
17. In Admin: Config/Site Settings enter your Site Name (if upgrading from an old version which did not have this feature)
18. In Admin: Config/Site Settings enter the number of Subcategories to display (if upgrading from an old version which did not have this feature)
19. Review and adjust the remaining settings under Config/Site Settings
20. Review and adjust the remaining settings under Config/User Settings
21. Review and adjust the remaining settings under Config/Listing Types & Payments
22. In Admin/Templates - Choose your Template and Activate it
23. In Admin/Site/Sitemap - Generate Sitemap
24. In Admin/Main - Clear PageRank (Deluxe, Premium, Pro and Supreme versions only)
25. In Admin/Main - Empty Cache
26. In Admin/Main - Backup Database
27. We also recommend that you now backup your Website's files through and FTP program

Customizing your Web Directory

• To change the background color of your Directory open: templates/YourTemplate/style.css and look for "background-color:" or "background-image:"
• If .htaccess file was installed, turn Mod Rewrite on in Admin - Config/Site Settings
• In order for your Directory to function, you MUST fill out and save all necessary fields in Config/Site Settings
• Go to Admin/Templates Menu, choose your desired Template and Activate it
• How to properly set up your entire admin: Start with the Top Menu Choice - Config, then go through all Left Menu Items.
  Continue with the next Top Menu Item and again go through all Left Menu Items.
  Set up your Admin functions: Description, Categories, Sub-categories, Payments, Ads, Banner Rotator, Link Types, etc.
• Customize files/pages in your Template: (enter YOUR data into the following files or remove if not needed)
  submit_guidelines.tpl.php
  how_to_submit.tpl.php
  privacy_policy.tpl.php
  link_to_us.tpl.php
  about_us.tpl.php
  advertise.tpl.php
• Customize (or remove) from index.tpl.php - /templates/YourTemplate/index.tpl.php) the following links:
  Corresponding Links (to the above files) in index.tpl.php: (update/rename or remove if not needed)
  <li><a href="submit_guidelines.htm">Guidelines & TOS</a></li>
  <li><a href="how_to_submit.htm">How to Submit</a></li>
  <li><a href="privacy_policy.htm">Privacy Policy</a></li>
  <li><a href="link_to_us.htm">Link to Us</a></li>
  <li><a href="about_us.htm">About Us</a></li>
  <li><a href="advertise.htm">Advertise</a></li>
  
• How to add additional pages to your Directory Website:
  Name your additional page. For example: new_page.tpl.php and upload it to your template. In your template's index.tpl.php file, enter a new line where all your Main Menu Items are listed:
  <li><a href="new_page.htm">Name Your New Page Here</a></li>
• After creating your Categories and Sub-categories - generate your sitemap in Site/Sitemap and clear cache in Admin/Main
• To finish your installation do the following:
  In Admin/Site/Sitemap - click on Generate Sitemap (once you created all your categories or whenever you add new categories)
  In Admin/Main - Clear PageRank (Deluxe, Premium, Pro and Supreme versions only)
  In Admin/Main - click on Empty Cache
  In Admin/Main - click on Backup Database (remember to backup your databse periodically and don't forget to backup your files through an FTP program
  We also recommend that you now backup your Website's files through and FTP program
  Log out and enjoy your new qlWebDS Web Directory

Creating New Templates

• To start, just duplicate one of the existing templates on your server and rename it to whatever name you choose
• The files you will need to edit are:
  style.css - you can change the color codes and add new code
  index.tpl.php - add new Menu Items, rearrange the layout of the template or do whatever your heart desires
  main_menu.tpl.php - customize if needed
  site_info.tpl.php - customize if needed
  subcategory.tpl.php - customize if needed
  images folder - add whatever graphic files you desire or change the existing files using any graphic application program
  readme.txt - rename the template inside this file
  screenshot.png - just for visual effect in admin - use a Thumbnail application such as: Website Screenshots