Questions & Answers

Inevitably, with the release of Fast Apps came usage questions from users. So, here's a list of questions I've been asked along with their useful responses, which I'm sure will help others too. More questions and answers will be added, as they are asked in the future.

Just click on a question to view its answer.

If you have a question that isn't answered here, please do not hesitate to contact me and I'll add it below along with a suitable answer.

Fast Cal questions

• Q: Why can't I login to Fast Cal? I enter the correct username and password but I never see the admin screen.
  
  
  A: If the login appears to stall and not get you anywhere, I would guess that there's a problem with the session_save_path() on your server.
  
  You can check to see if your session_save_path() is writable by pasting this code towards the top of the "fast_cal/fast_cal_login.php" file, after the copyright notice;

  if (!is_writable(session_save_path())) {
        echo 'Session path "'.session_save_path().'" is not writable for PHP!';
        }

  If when you view Fast Cal in a web browser, there is a message at the very top of the screen saying something like;

  Session path "/var/lib/php/session" is not writable for PHP!

  Take this information to your web host and ask if they can change the server settings for you to make the reported path writable. This may not be possible on some shared hosting servers, but they might be able to set an alternative location where sessions can be stored instead.
   
• Q: Why won't Fast Cal save my changes or create new entries?
  
  
  A: Make sure you've CHMOD'd the "fast_cal/", "fast_cal/_entry/" and "fast_cal/_status/" folders to 755. This gives the Fast Cal scripts permission to write (save) your edits in the appropriate files and create new ones on the server.
  You can also try CHMOD'ing to 777 if 755 doesn't work for you.
  
  For more information on how to CHMOD, please read this very helpful article by PHPJunkyard.
   
• Q: Why can't I edit/delete the entries I uploaded from the demo pack? I can only edit/delete newly created ones.
  
  
  A: Check file ownerships. For example, if your server is running in libphp5 mode (rather than FastCGI), files uploaded via FTP will have different ownerships than files created programmatically via scripts on the server (libphp5 runs as user httpd.httpd), so you might need to reset (chown/chgrp) the files in the "fast_cal/", "fast_cal/_entry/" and "fast_cal/_status/" folders after upload.
  
  FastCGI doesn't have the ownership problem because it runs as your own user.group, so check in your web hosting control panel to see if you can switch PHP mode over to this. If you can't do it yourself, check with your web host.
   
• Q: How can I restrict what HTML tags and inline-style attributes are used in Fast Cal?
  
  
  A: There is an optional setting in the main config file that allows or disallows the use of the style attribute inside Fast Cal entries. Also in the main config file you will find a custom array function to strip only the HTML tags that you define (e.g. - keep <ul> and <li> but remove <table>, <tr> and <td>).
  
  This could be useful for correcting content that has been copied and pasted from another source, that would otherwise introduce 3rd party inline-styles that conflict with the look of your design.
   

Fast Logs questions

• Q: Why can't I login to Fast Logs? I enter the correct username and password but I never see the admin screen.
  
  
  A: If the login appears to stall and not get you anywhere, I would guess that there's a problem with the session_save_path() on your server.
  
  You can check to see if your session_save_path() is writable by pasting this code towards the top of the "fast_logs/fast_logs_login.php" file, after the copyright notice;

  if (!is_writable(session_save_path())) {
        echo 'Session path "'.session_save_path().'" is not writable for PHP!';
        }

  If when you view Fast Logs in a web browser, there is a message at the very top of the screen saying something like;

  Session path "/var/lib/php/session" is not writable for PHP!

  Take this information to your web host and ask if they can change the server settings for you to make the reported path writable. This may not be possible on some shared hosting servers, but they might be able to set an alternative location where sessions can be stored instead.
   
• Q: Why won't Fast Logs save my changes or create new entries?
  
  
  A: Make sure you've CHMOD'd the "fast_logs/_entries/" and "fast_logs/_status/" folders to 755. This gives the Fast Logs scripts permission to write (save) your edits in the appropriate files and create new ones on the server.
  You can also try CHMOD'ing to 777 if 755 doesn't work for you.
  
  For more information on how to CHMOD, please read this very helpful article by PHPJunkyard.
   
• Q: Why can't I edit/delete the logs I uploaded from the demo pack? I can only edit/delete newly created ones.
  
  
  A: Check file ownerships. For example, if your server is running in libphp5 mode (rather than FastCGI), files uploaded via FTP will have different ownerships than files created programmatically via scripts on the server (libphp5 runs as user httpd.httpd), so you might need to reset (chown/chgrp) the files in the "fast_logs/_entries/" and "fast_logs/_status/" folders after upload.
  
  FastCGI doesn't have the ownership problem because it runs as your own user.group, so check in your web hosting control panel to see if you can switch PHP mode over to this. If you can't do it yourself, check with your web host.
   
• Q: How can I restrict what HTML tags and inline-style attributes are used in Fast Logs?
  
  
  A: There is an optional setting in the main config file that allows or disallows the use of the style attribute inside Fast Logs entries. Also in the main config file you will find a custom array function to strip only the HTML tags that you define (e.g. - keep <ul> and <li> but remove <table>, <tr> and <td>).
  
  This could be useful for correcting content that has been copied and pasted from another source, that would otherwise introduce 3rd party inline-styles that conflict with the look of your design.
   

Fast Feed questions

• Q: Why can't I login to Fast Feed? I enter the correct username and password but I never see the admin screen.
  
  
  A: If the login appears to stall and not get you anywhere, I would guess that there's a problem with the session_save_path() on your server.
  
  You can check to see if your session_save_path() is writable by pasting this code towards the top of the "fast_feed/fast_feed_login.php" file, after the copyright notice;

  if (!is_writable(session_save_path())) {
        echo 'Session path "'.session_save_path().'" is not writable for PHP!';
        }

  If when you view Fast Feed in a web browser, there is a message at the very top of the screen saying something like;

  Session path "/var/lib/php/session" is not writable for PHP!

  Take this information to your web host and ask if they can change the server settings for you to make the reported path writable. This may not be possible on some shared hosting servers, but they might be able to set an alternative location where sessions can be stored instead.
   
• Q: Why won't Fast Feed save my changes or create new entries?
  
  
  A: Make sure you've CHMOD'd the "fast_feed/_entry/" and "fast_feed/_status/" folders to 755. This gives the Fast Feed scripts permission to write (save) your edits in the appropriate files and create new ones on the server.
  You can also try CHMOD'ing to 777 if 755 doesn't work for you.
  
  Also make sure that Fast Feed is installed at the root of your website, that is, in the main folder.
  
  For more information on how to CHMOD, please read this very helpful article by PHPJunkyard.
   
• Q: Why can't I edit/delete the entries I uploaded from the demo pack? I can only edit/delete newly created ones.
  
  
  A: Check file ownerships. For example, if your server is running in libphp5 mode (rather than FastCGI), files uploaded via FTP will have different ownerships than files created programmatically via scripts on the server (libphp5 runs as user httpd.httpd), so you might need to reset (chown/chgrp) the files in the "fast_feed/_entry/" and "fast_feed/_status/" folders after upload.
  
  FastCGI doesn't have the ownership problem because it runs as your own user.group, so check in your web hosting control panel to see if you can switch PHP mode over to this. If you can't do it yourself, check with your web host.
   
• Q: Will you help me install a news scroller/content slider for Fast Feed?
  
  
  A: If the back-end admin panel is working, and the rss.xml file is being written/updated every time a change is made, then Fast Feed is setup as it should be and my work is done.
  
  Fast Feed is a back-end tool only and any scroller script samples that come with the download pack are simply included as a starting point for you to get display ideas for your website. The news scroller is not Fast Feed - only the admin panel and generated .xml file are Fast Feed. I'm sorry, but I am unable to offer support for any front-facing scripts - I just don't have the time. Please seek help instead from the actual developers of any news scroller or content slider scripts that you'd like to use.
  
  If you want help in configuring the sample scroller that comes with the download pack, which is the Pausing RSS Scroller from Dynamic Drive, you should head over to the Dynamic Drive forums and ask for help there.
   
• Q: How can I restrict what HTML tags and inline-style attributes are used in Fast Feed?
  
  
  A: There is an optional setting in the main config file that allows or disallows the use of the style attribute inside Fast Feed entries. Also in the main config file you will find a custom array function to strip only the HTML tags that you define (e.g. - keep <ul> and <li> but remove <table>, <tr> and <td>).
  
  This could be useful for correcting content that has been copied and pasted from another source, that would otherwise introduce 3rd party inline-styles that conflict with the look of your design.
   

Fast Warn questions

• Q: Why can't I login to Fast Warn? I enter the correct username and password but I never see the admin screen.
  
  
  A: If the login appears to stall and not get you anywhere, I would guess that there's a problem with the session_save_path() on your server.
  
  You can check to see if your session_save_path() is writable by pasting this code towards the top of the "fast_warn/fast_warn_login.php" file, after the copyright notice;

  if (!is_writable(session_save_path())) {
        echo 'Session path "'.session_save_path().'" is not writable for PHP!';
        }

  If when you view Fast Warn in a web browser, there is a message at the very top of the screen saying something like;

  Session path "/var/lib/php/session" is not writable for PHP!

  Take this information to your web host and ask if they can change the server settings for you to make the reported path writable. This may not be possible on some shared hosting servers, but they might be able to set an alternative location where sessions can be stored instead.
   
• Q: Why won't Fast Warn save my changes?
  
  
  A: Make sure you've CHMOD'd the "fast_warn/_content/" folder to 755. This gives the Fast Warn scripts permission to write (save) your edits in the appropriate file.
  You can also try CHMOD'ing to 777 if 755 doesn't work for you.
  
  For more information on how to CHMOD, please read this very helpful article by PHPJunkyard.
   
• Q: Why can't I edit the entry I uploaded from the Fast Warn demo pack?
  
  
  A: Check file ownerships. For example, if your server is running in libphp5 mode (rather than FastCGI), files uploaded via FTP will have different ownerships than files created programmatically via scripts on the server (libphp5 runs as user httpd.httpd), so you might need to reset (chown/chgrp) the "fast_warn/_content/index.txt" file after upload.
  
  FastCGI doesn't have the ownership problem because it runs as your own user.group, so check in your web hosting control panel to see if you can switch PHP mode over to this. If you can't do it yourself, check with your web host.
   
• Q: How can I restrict what HTML tags and inline-style attributes are used in Fast Warn?
  
  
  A: There is an optional setting in the main config file that allows or disallows the use of the style attribute inside Fast Warn. Also in the main config file you will find a custom array function to strip only the HTML tags that you define (e.g. - keep <ul> and <li> but remove <table>, <tr> and <td>).
  
  This could be useful for correcting content that has been copied and pasted from another source, that would otherwise introduce 3rd party inline-styles that conflict with the look of your design.