Topic: Saratoga Installation Questions

[jelliott]

I have been working on upgrading my existing site fossil from a modified VWS template to a  more robust, flexible site.  I currently am still working with VWS, and attempting to marry it with the Canadian Saratoga template.   I am new to php, but all is fairly straightforward - if slow - as I work thru and understand  the installation and setup.  My challenge is to set up the appropriate file structure on the Godaddy server. 

On a local dedicated PC, I have my VWS installation, which updates the server at intervals to a directory "WeatherSite" on the server.  This is done to separate it from my personal site (WordPress-based). Given this, I'm not clear where to unzip the BaseTemplate and WX SW plugin.  Not sure what the "document root of your website" refers to. Is this the "root" directory of the local PC vws installation??  And, if I then upload to a server directory, what must I be aware of?  Regardless, I'm successfully uploading the VWStags.php and Weatherflash,so I'm slowly moving forward.

I intend to transition to Weather-Display SW, but wanted to get the hang of Saratoga installation before tackling a new SW install.  Maybe that was a bad decision!

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Maumelle Weather]

Hi,

The root directory that you are referring to is the root directory on the server where you want the template to go, not the PC.

John

[jay_hoehn]

You should place all the files in the WeatherSite directory.  They don't need to go in the root directory, but you need to keep the directory structure of the template set in whatever directory you use.

Jay

[jelliott]

Thanks for the replies.  Just to be clear:

1.  The Local PC has VWS installed in directory "vws" with a subdirectory "root".  I assume the base template should be installed in the "vws" directory, not "root"?   The Base template directory structure will be maintained.  (Or does it even matter, since it appears the base Saratoga files are to be uploaded only once the the server)

2'  The Weather site and logged weather data are uploaded to directory "WeatherSite" located on the server.  I understand  I'll need to make a change to the ajax/VWS/wx.js file in the Settings-weather.php file.  But I must separate it from my primary site located in the root directory on the server.

Sorry for the clarification. Let me know if I've misunderstood.  Thanks.

[saratogaWX]

The 'document root' refers to the directory used for a web server as the 'home' directory.  To use the templates on a local system, you'll need to install a webserver with PHP (such as the all-in-one XAMPP Apache/PHP/mySQL server).  If that is installed in c:\xampp, then the document root will be c:\xampp\htdocs\ and that is where the template set and plugin need to be installed.  It can then be viewed in a browser at http://localhost/ or http://127.0.0.1/ on your local system.

VWS can simply process and copy the VWStags.htx file to c:\xampp\htdocs\VWStags.php to make the template set work.

Hope this helps...

Best regards,
Ken

[jelliott]

Thank, Ken.  I've been definitely overthinking this. Sorry for being a bit unclear.  I'm not setting up a local fileserver; my local PC takes data from my Davis weatherstation 24/7, and uploads data (and updated html files) to my hosted account at Godaddy.  All works fine (altho clunky) with VWS.  Was a bit confused about nomenclature, compounded by inexperience with php.  Each time I thrash around and then re-read the instructions, I pick up more insights.

This weekend I did a deep dive into the setup, and now have installed all files and configured VWS to upload files to a “WeatherSite” directory. The VWStags base template displays fine, and all vws jpegs are being uploaded via schedule.

Two issues remain:

1.  Graph files on wxgraphs.php are not displayed.  The wxgraphs page indicates the /public_html/WeatherSite/vws(xxx).jpg files cannot be found.  I assume this is tied to modifying directory links in “Settings.php”, “Settings-weather.php”, and “ajaxVWSwx.js”.  I have carefully followed the syntax in each php file, but so far, nada.

2.  I’m still having problems with WeatherFlash, which is poorly documented in VWS.  Cannot seem to configure to update wflash data.  I will ask the VWS forum.  Don’t know if this impacts #1.

If I can’t get past these given the time invested, I may reset with a clean installation of Weather-Display, rather than continue to beat a dead horse…

Julian