Devil Works

As per my previous post I’ve decided to set up a Short URL service.

I went to my usual script hunting haunt, Hotscripts. After looking at a few different options I decided on Phurl.

As per usual I picked a script that runs on PHP and MySQL. I’m not a programmer by any means but I’ve developed a reasonable understanding of the language so I find it easier to fix and change things. It’s probably one of the most basic scripts on offer, but it’s exactly what I wanted. I find it easier to add features in later, than remove ones that I don’t want.

It says it features:

• May handle billion of records (seperated SQL table structure, it depends on your server configuration)
• CAPTCHA (image) verification (configurable)
• Can run with or without mod_rewrite module (configurable)
• Can handle urls with or without http:// prefix
• Duplicate URL record handling
• URL prunning/cleaning via cron-job (configurable)
• Very easy installation
• Simple administration for record deletion
• Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and valid CSS coded
• Free - Licensed under GPL

At the moment I’ve turned the CATCHPA off, and I’m using the mod_rewrite feature for the shortest possible URL.

The one point I would argue is that it’s a very easy installation. It might be if it had any instructions. I’ve probably been spoiled having mostly done Wordpress installs lately where everything is very easy and much of it is automated. But Phurl had zero info on how to install the script.

So I will present my own Phurl installation instructions. These still probably aren’t as detailed as they need to be for a complete novice, but it’s what I had to do.
Installation

1. Upload the contents of the zip file to where you plan to use it on your server.

2. Create a MySQL database

3. Download the MySQL tables from here.

4 Import the tables into your database (I used PHPmyadmin, you might be clever enough to do it from the command line)

5. Go to install.php in whichever directory you chose to upload the files

6. Fill out the details on this page, select “don’t install database” and deselect “create database” then click the install button.

7. You should be taken to a page that has a couple of configuration files for you. I’d assumed that these would be saved to the server for me but they weren’t. Copy and paste the config.php and .htaccess files into two seperate files with those names and upload them to your server.

8. Now if all’s gone well you should be able to go to your index page and see the form to shorten url’s. Give it a test and off you go.

Overall
Now that it’s working, It’s working just as I expected, but the install was nothing but minor headaches. I’ve still got lots to do to get it how I want it, but it’s functioning and I can build on it when time permits.