HowTo

Guide to 404 Pages

2011-09-02T15:34:09+00:00

Are you looking for more information on EE’s 404 pages? See: Guide to 404 Pages.

HowTo Set Textareas to be a Certain Size in SafeCracker

2011-08-11T03:26:08+00:00

Question: How can I set my textareas in SafeCracker to be a certain size?

Answer: Add the following code to your SafeCracker form:


add rows="10" cols="100"

Testing referrer

2011-07-21T20:58:35+00:00

http://test-ee.com

http://shetestsonline.com

HowTo Set the Default Status for a SafeCracker Entry

2011-03-29T11:58:23+00:00

Question: How can I set the default status value for a SafeCracker entry? I want all entries to be placed into the database with a particular status.

Answer: You can set the default status of each channel by simply editing the values of the extension. Click on SafeCracker in your list of Modules, and choose which channel to have a default status.

HowTo Create a Top Twenty List of Popular Items

2011-03-22T15:31:57+00:00

Question: How can I create a list of the most popular items on my site?

Answer: You’ll need to first set up a single entry template (such as a comments or a permalink page) with a track_views=“one” parameter added to your exp:channel:entries loop.

See: EEDocs: Entry Tracking

Then you’ll create a template or an embed with the following code:

{exp:query limit="20" 
sql="select entry_id, view_count_one as cnt, url_title, title 
from exp_channel_titles 
where view_count_one > 0 
order by view_count_one desc"}
{cnt} - <a href="{path=howto/articles/{url_title}}">{title}a><br />
{paginate}
<p>Page {current_page} of {total_pages} pages {pagination_links}p>
{/paginate}
{/exp:query} 

Change the path to your single entry page as needed.

HowTo Determine if Import Password is MD5

2011-03-21T14:52:55+00:00

Question: I have a listing of members to import into EE 2.x, and I’m not sure if the password scheme is using MD5 or SHA1. How can I tell?

Answer: One way is to create a member with the password of password. If the password is using MD5 encryption, the password that is there will be:


5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99

If you’re using SHA1, the password will be:


5baa61e4c9b93f3f0682250b6cf8331b7ee68fd8

Or you can use this handy form to generate an MD5 hash: md5 Hash Generator

HowTo Allow Admins to Post to Wiki

2011-03-16T17:35:00+00:00

Question: How can I set my wiki up to allow for my admins to post to the wiki?

Answer: During the install of your wiki, the only two member groups that are set to be able to post are the SuperAdmin and Members group. You’ll need to go into your wiki configuration and change that. See the screen shots for a before and after.

NOTE: You have to highlight the names of the member groups you want to have access to the wiki (either as admin or user) and click Submit at the bottom.

HowTo Turn off XSS Filtering

2011-02-10T12:49:07+00:00

Question: How can I turn off XSS sanitizing? My users are having trouble with certain kinds of files.

Answer: See the screen shots below. NOTE: Only do this if you trust the persons doing the file uploads.

HowTo Set the Current Year in a Copyright Area

2011-02-07T13:45:40+00:00

Question: It there an easy way to set the current year in a copyright area on my site?

Answer: Sure. Use the following text snippet:


{current_time format="%Y"}

HowTo Prevent Bogus User Registrations

2011-01-18T21:45:42+00:00

Question: I’m designing a site, and a number of bogus users appear to have found the site. How can I keep this from continuing to happen?

Answer: This problem can be common with users of EE2.x versions before 2.1.3. The install preferences allow new member registrations, don’t turn on CAPTCHAs and use a profile triggering word of member.

The easiest thing to do is to turn off registrations completely. You’d need to add new members by hand.

Or you can take the following precautions:

1. Change your trigger word. Use something other than member. This means you may need to change some templates if you are calling membership routines some other way.

2. Set Require Member Account Activation? to Manual Activation by administrator. That way, you can purge out the bogus requests. More work for the admins.

3. Set Enable Membership CAPTCHA to Yes. It’ll make it a bit harder to get an account.

4. Make sure you set Notify administrators of new registrations? to Yes and put in a valid email address. Otherwise, you may end up with people who make it on to your site if you don’t take other precautions.

After you make the changes suggested here, make sure you aren’t displaying member bios anywhere. Often times spammers will put content into the bio field with spammy links.

Set aside a regular time to check for bogus registrations, and ban the users and or IP addresses they are using.

HowTo Set In Authorlist to Default to Yes

2011-01-12T14:08:38+00:00

Question: How can I set up my site so that new members are automagically added to the In Author List drop down?

Answer: You’ll need to make a database change in order for this to work.

First things first, make a backup of exp_members table!

Then using something like PHPMyAdmin, change the default value of in_authorlist from n to y.

You’ll need to write an update query to change the value of current members to be in the authorlist.

HowTo Use PHPMyAdmin to Repair a Table

2010-12-14T02:39:53+00:00

Question: I’m receiving an error from my site that the exp_online_users table has crashed, and needs to be repaired. How do I fix the problem?

Answer: To fix this problem, you’ll need to have access to a tool such as PHPMyAdmin. If you don’t have access to PHPMyAdmin, you may need to contact your web host and have them repair the table.

If you do have access to PHPMyAdmin, do the following to fix the exp_online_users table:

1. Login to PHPMyAdmin. If you’re having trouble logging in, contact your web host for assistance.

2. Locate the database where your ExpressionEngine tables are stored. You may have more than one database, make sure you pick the right database.

Choose Table to Repair

3. Find the table you need to repair. On the left side of the table name, click on the check box.

4. Scroll down to find the last of the tables, and below find the drop down menu. Choose Repair Table.

When you choose Repair Table, you’ll see a results screen similar to the one below.
View Results

Now you’ll be able to go back into ExpressionEngine and the error should be gone.

NOTE: This information applies to both ExpressionEngine 1.x and ExpressionEngine 2.x

Server Wizard

2010-11-24T14:23:55+00:00

Question: Where can I find the server wizard for EE?

Answer: You can find the server wizard for EE2.x at: Link

For EE1.x: Link

How Can I Tell Which EE2.x Bugs Have Been Fixed?

2010-11-21T11:47:00+00:00

Question: I’ve reported a bug, and how can I tell if that particular bug has been fixed? Or will be fixed in the next release?

Answer: If you visit the following Link you’ll be able to see the list of items fixed for the next release.

Health Check - A Support Accessory

2010-11-19T14:02:41+00:00

Have you ever needed to post over on the ExpressionEngine forums for support? You might want to consider using Health Check which will put most of what you need in a single accessory.

HowTo Set Simple Search to Look for an Exact Match

2010-11-19T13:18:25+00:00

Question: I have a simple search form that I want to allow searches with, but I only want to allow whole words to be searched. How can I do this?

Answer: In your exp:search:simple tag, add where=“word”.

This information is valid for both EE1.x and EE2.x.

HowTo Find Older EE Forum Threads

2010-11-18T15:22:10+00:00

Question: How can I find some of the older forum threads?

Answer: Visit the following link, and add a bookmark to your browser: Archived Forums

Scaffolding Forum Theme for EE2.x

2010-11-18T15:12:48+00:00

Question: Where can I find a simple forum theme for EE2.x?

Answer: One available theme is Scaffold written by Iain Urguhart.

Dynamic Parameters

2010-11-11T12:28:35+00:00

Question: How can I build a method of searching for channel entries on the fly?

Answer: One method to do this is to use Dynamic Parameters.

HowTo Change Between Sites in EE2.x

2010-10-22T11:54:23+00:00

Question: How can I change between sites in EE2.x? I don’t see a Sites menu like there was in EE1.x.

Answer: In the upper right hand corner of your control panel, hover over your site’s name. You’ll then be able to see where to change sites.

HowTo Create a Formatted List of Entries into Columns

2010-10-05T20:10:07+00:00

Question: How can I create a list of entry titles spaced out evenly between two, three, or more columns?

Answer: The Splitter plugin will do this. You can find this third party add-on at: Devot-ee.com: Splitter

NOTE: This add-on is available for both EE1.x and EE2.x.

Default Atom Template for EE2.x

2010-10-02T12:40:24+00:00

Question: Is there an example for an Atom feed for EE 2.x?

Answer: Here’s an example that should work for you:

Don’t forget to set the template type to RSS.

{preload_replace:master_channel_name="default_site"}
{preload_replace:atom_feed_location="site/atom"}

{exp:rss:feed channel="{master_channel_name}"}

="1.0" encoding="{encoding}"?>
<feed >

    <title type="text">{exp:xml_encode}{channel_name}{/exp:xml_encode}title>
    <subtitle type="text">{exp:xml_encode}{channel_name}:{channel_description}{/exp:xml_encode}subtitle>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="{channel_url}" />
    <link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="{path={atom_feed_location}}" />
    <updated>{gmt_edit_date format='%Y-%m-%dT%H:%i:%sZ'}updated>
    <rights>Copyright (c) {gmt_date format="%Y"}, {author}rights>
    <generator uri="http://expressionengine.com/" version="{version}">ExpressionEnginegenerator>
    <id>tag:{trimmed_url},{gmt_date format="%Y:%m:%d"}id>

{exp:channel:entries channel="{master_channel_name}" limit="15" rdf="off" dynamic_start="on" disable="member_data|trackbacks"}
    <entry>
      <title>{exp:xml_encode}{title}{/exp:xml_encode}title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="{url_title_path=site/index}" />
      <id>tag:{trimmed_url},{gmt_entry_date format="%Y"}:{relative_url}/{channel_id}.{entry_id}id>
      <published>{gmt_entry_date format="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%i:%sZ"}published>
      <updated>{gmt_edit_date format='%Y-%m-%dT%H:%i:%sZ'}updated>
      <author>
            <name>{author}name>
            <email>{email}email>
            {if url}<uri>{url}uri>{/if}
      author>
{categories}
      <category term="{exp:xml_encode}{category_name}{/exp:xml_encode}"
        scheme="{path=site/index}"
        label="{exp:xml_encode}{category_name}{/exp:xml_encode}" />{/categories}
      <content type="html">[CDATA[
        {body} {extended}
      ]]>content>
    entry>
{/exp:channel:entries}

feed>
{/exp:rss:feed} 

Where to Find Search Time Outs in EE2.x

2010-08-31T22:59:46+00:00

Question: Where can I find the number of seconds between searches in EE2,x?

Answer: You’d set this for each member group. Choose Membership Preferences for the group you wish to modify.

NOTE: This setting is MSM aware, You can make these changes on a per site basis.

Where Am I?

2010-08-25T16:31:24+00:00

Question: I need to get a server path for my new file directory. I know what my regular directory is, but not the system path. How can I find this setting?

Answer: The easiest way to do this is to create a whereami.php file with the following content:


echo realpath(dirname(__FILE__)) . '/'; ?>

FTP the file up to your new images folder, and navigate to that folder using your browser. You’ll now see your server path.

NOTE: This code snippet will work with both EE1.x and EE2.x.

If you’re on a Windows box, use a trailing \ instead of a / to get the right direction for your slashes.

Creating Custom Status Groups

2010-08-24T02:13:39+00:00

HowTo Create a Masked Login to MSM Site (EE1.x)

2010-05-24T18:44:01+00:00

Question: How can I set up masked access to my MSM additional sites?

Answer: In the /system/utilities/ folder you’ll find a file called admin.php. Copy that file to your MSM folder, and instruct your users to log into the control panel from that URL.

HowTo Turn on Error Checking in EE2.x

2010-05-07T13:22:16+00:00

Question: How can I turn on error checking in EE2.x?

Answer: You’ll need to edit the index.php file found in your /system directory, and change the value of


$debug = 0;


$debug = 1;

NOTE: Remember to change this value back when you are done troubleshooting.

Add-on Conversion Guidelines

2010-05-03T10:15:44+00:00

Question: Where can I find conversion guidelines to convert my EE1.6x add-ons to EE2.x?

Answer: You can find this information at: EEDocs: Conversion Information

Location of Language Downloads for EE2

2010-05-01T12:23:03+00:00

Question: Where can I find language packs for EE2?

Answer: You can find language packs for EE2 here.

Hidden Configuration Variables

2010-04-27T11:53:12+00:00

Question: Where can I find the list of hidden configuration variables for EE1.6.x?

Answer: You can find these in the EEWiki: Hidden Configuration Variables

Don’t Allow Non-Logged in Members to See Memberlist

2010-03-28T23:52:30+00:00

Question: How can I keep Guests (non-logged in users) from seeing the member list in the forum?

Answer: You’ll need to make a slight change in your forum code to switch out a line in the logged_out code to reside in the logged_in code:

From the

{if logged_out}
    {lang:welcome}
    {include:top_bar_spacer}
    <a href="{path:login}">{lang:login}a>    
    {include:top_bar_spacer}
    <a href="{path:register}">{lang:register}a>    
    {include:top_bar_spacer}
    <a href="{path:memberlist}">{lang:memberlist}a>
{/if} 

Remove the last line in this part of the template, and move it to the next grouping.

NOTE: This article is for EE 1.6.8 only.

Simple Search Finding Content

2010-03-26T13:45:15+00:00

Question: I’ve added some custom fields for my site, but when I search on words that should be searched, I get no matches. Why is that?

Answer: The default Simple Search form defaults to only searching titles, unless you specify differently.

Add the following code snippet to your Simple Search Form:


search_in="everywhere"

HowTo Turn off Honoring DST Settings on Entries

2010-03-18T12:25:51+00:00

Question: How can I turn off DST settings being applied to my entries?

Answer: From the EE 2.x control panel, choose Admin > Localization Settings and set the value of Honor the Daylight Saving Time setting associated with each channel entry? to No.

HowTo Get Rid of my Publish Page Layout

2010-03-14T16:36:23+00:00

Question: How can I get rid of the formatting I have set for EE2.x?

Answer: You’ll need to manually truncate the exp_layout_publish table.

Use the following snippet in either EE or using PHPMyAdmin:


TRUNCATE  `exp_layout_publish`

Where can I find Snippets in the EE2 Control Panel?

2010-02-16T08:42:22+00:00

Question: Where can I find Snippets in the EE2 Control Panel?

Answer: Snippets can be found at:

# CP Home # Design # Template Manager # Snippets

HowTo Set Accessories to not be used

2010-02-01T16:57:05+00:00

Question: How can I get accessories to not be active if I have errors when accessing the Accessories page?

Answer: You can delete rows from the exp_accessories table. This query will remove all the rows in the table, but not delete any files on the server.


delete from exp_accessories

HowTo Replace Underscores with Dashes in url_title

2010-01-20T17:53:17+00:00

Question: How can I change the url_title to use dashes (-) instead of underscores (_)

Answer: You can perform the following sql query to do this.

UPDATE `exp_weblog_titles` SET `url_title` = REPLACE(`url_title`, '_', '-'); 

For EE2.x:

UPDATE `exp_channel_titles` SET `url_title` = REPLACE(`url_title`, '_', '-'); 

NOTE: As with any direct sql manipulation, make sure you’ve backed up the table before attempting this.

Link to Docs on security in PHP templates

2010-01-20T08:13:43+00:00

Question: Where can I find out more information about security risks with PHP in templates?

Answer: You can find more info from the following page in the EE 1.x docs: EEDocs: PHP in Templates

HowTo Set the Time Out Limit in EE2.x

2010-01-07T09:54:02+00:00

Question: Is there a way of setting the time interval for the EE backend when using Sessions or Cookies and Sessions?

Answer: You can change this via Time Interval for Lockout in your Security and Session Preferences

CP Home -> Administration -> Security and Session Preferences

Forum Thread

Creating a New Entry in EE 1.6.8

2010-01-01T12:45:45+00:00

Just a quick video.

HowTo Create a Sticky Post

2010-01-01T12:34:51+00:00

Question: How can I make my forum topic sticky?

Answer: Take a look at this short video:

HowTo Determine Memory Limits

2010-01-01T12:30:10+00:00

Question: How can I determine how much memory is allocated to PHP?

Answer: If you are able to login to your EE backend, navigate to Admin > Utilities > PHP Info (EE 1.6.8)

-or-

Tools > Utilities > PHP Info (EE 2.x) and search for:

memory_limit

The value(s) displayed there are what is allocated to PHP.

With EE2.x I recommend setting the memory limit to at least 64M.

HowTo Modify My Password Using PHPMyAdmin

2010-01-01T09:02:34+00:00

Question: I’m unable to remember my password, and I’m not getting my Forgot Password email to get a new one. How can I figure out what my password is?

Answer: Passwords are encrypted using SHA1, so you’ll need to replace your password with a known SHA1’d password.

In this case, I use the password of password, which is set to:


5baa61e4c9b93f3f0682250b6cf8331b7ee68fd8

Using a MySQL tool such as PHPMyAdmin (or something similar) replace the value of password with the text string listed above.

NOTE: Once you log into the EE backend, make sure to change your password to something else.

HowTo Change Membership Preferences to use Default instead of Agile

2009-12-31T13:25:52+00:00

Question: How can I change the Membership preferences to use Default instead of Agile?

Answer: Log into your control panel backend and browse to CP Home > Members > Membership Preferences > General Configuration

and set Default Member Profile Theme to Default.

HowTo Add an Edit This Link in EE2

2009-12-31T11:57:17+00:00

Question: How can I add an Edit This Link in EE2?

Answer: You can use the following snippet:

{if author_id == logged_in_member_id OR logged_in_group_id == "1"}&bull;
 <a href="{cp_url}?S=0&D=cp&C=content_publish&M=entry_form&channel_id={channel_id}&entry_id={entry_id}">Edit Thisa>{/if} 

NOTE: Make sure you have your Control Panel Session Type is set to Cookies Only. You may also want to make sure you set a Cookie Domain.

Increase PHP Memory Limit on MAMP Pro

2009-12-30T15:05:23+00:00

By default PHP has either 8MB (for PHP4) or 16MB (for PHP5) of memory on MAMP PRO (version 1.8.2). 16MB is certainly enough to run a basic install of ExpressionEngine but advanced image manipulation or use of the IP to Nation module will require more.

In MAMP PRO go to the File > Edit Template menu and then select the version of PHP you are working with. This will open the php.ini file in an editor window. Scroll down to find or search for ‘memory_limit’. This will be under the ‘Resource Limits’ heading on about line 230. It will look something like this (for PHP5):


memory_limit = 16M; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume

To change the limit to 32MB we can edit it like this:


memory_limit = 32M; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume

Select File > Save. Now you will have to restart the server for the change to take place.

EE2 Video: Cookies Only

2009-12-22T11:09:41+00:00

Setting your control panel to use Cookies Only.

Code to Display Wiki Entry

2009-12-14T10:49:12+00:00

Question: What code do I use to display a wiki?

Answer: Use the following code in a template.


{exp:wiki base_path="wiki/index" wiki="default_wiki" theme="default"}

Replace the value of wiki= to your actual wiki name. The default name of the wiki is default_wiki.

Using Deeploy Helper to Modify System Paths

2009-12-13T12:10:41+00:00

One way of updating those pesky paths is by using the third party addon Deeploy Helper from HopStudios.

NOTE: This add-on is for EE 1.6.x only. There is no anticipated date for upgrade to 2.0.

Snippets Documentation

2009-12-08T13:02:54+00:00

One of the new features of EE 2.x are Snippets.

EEDocs: Snippets

HowTo Disable Extensions with EE 2.0

2009-12-06T09:32:36+00:00

Question: How can I disable my extensions globally in EE 2.0?

Answer: View the movie displayed below.

Where can I find the Change Log for EE2?

2009-12-06T09:14:09+00:00

You can find the change log for EE2.02 PB EEDocs: Change Log

Troubleshooting CP Login Issues with EE 1.6.x

2009-12-05T10:43:17+00:00

Question: I’m having problems logging into my EE 1.6.x control panel. Are there any config.php settings I can change to help troubleshoot the problem?

Try adding/modifying the following:

$conf['secure_forms'] = "n";
$conf['cookie_domain'] = ".example.com";
$conf['cookie_path'] = "";
$conf['cookie_prefix'] = "";
$conf['admin_session_type'] = "c";
$conf['require_ip_for_login'] = "n";
$conf['require_ip_for_posting'] = "n"; 

You may also need to set admin_session_type to s instead of c. (Sessions only instead of Cookies Only.)
Replace .example.com with the real name of your domain.

HowTo Disable Extensions Within Config.php

2009-12-05T10:29:05+00:00

Question: I can't get into my ExpressionEngine control panel. How can I disable extensions if I can't login?

Answer: You can edit your config.php file, and set the following to n.


$conf['allow_extensions'] = "n"

Location of the Server Wizard (EE 1.6.x)

2009-12-05T06:57:37+00:00

Question: Where can I find the server wizard for EE1.x to tell if I can run EE correctly?

Answer: Look for: EEDocs: Server Wizard to find the server wizard.

HowTo Filter Out Entries in CP Based on Author

2009-12-05T04:34:57+00:00

Question: Is there a way I can set the control panel back end of EE 1.6.x to filter entries based on author?

Answer: Yes, there is a first party extension which you can find here: Filter by Author.

Current Version

2009-12-05T03:19:38+00:00

The most current build/version of ExpressionEngine is 2.13 with a build date of 20101220.

The most current build/version of ExpressionEngine 1.70 is 20101018.

Reverting to 1.6.8 Install after Installing 2.0

2009-12-04T07:44:32+00:00

Question: Can I go back to EE 1.6.8 if I don't like EE 2.0?

Answer: Not easily. ExpressionEngine makes significant changes to the MySQL database.