Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I install phplist?
- Please refer to the installation instructions in the online documentation wiki, which are also available in the '/INSTALL' file in the distribution.
- Fatal Error: Cannot connect to database, access denied. Please contact the administrator
- That error indicates there is something wrong with your database connection details.
- A database connection requires four things, and they are very sensitive to errors (just one little typo and it won't work)
- database host; the name of the server, usually it's 'localhost')
- database user; the name of the user on the database host
- database password; the password for that user
- database name; the name of the database to use
If any of these four are incorrect, you will get this error message. It's a good idea to double check your settings, and confirm with your ISP (web host) or system administrator what the database connection details are. Also, the database user must have full permissions on the database in 'database name'.
- Why does my website redirect to phplist.com after I install phplist?
- The file '/public_html/index.html' in the phplist distribution, says 'You will probably want to replace this document with your own website' and then redirects to phplist.com. In place of this file, you probably want to put your websites index file. In typical installations, you only need to upload the contents of the directory '/public_html/lists/' to your web server.
- Why do I get a 500 Server Error?
- If you get a '500 Server Error' when installing, your server probably runs php as a cgi, not as an apache module (also known as phpsuexec). You need to edit the file '/lists/.htaccess' delete or comment out (with a
#
) the line about 'php_flag magic_quotes_gpc'. e.g. # php_flag magic_quotes_gpc on
- What does 'magic_quotes_gpc = on' mean?
- Magic quotes is a PHP setting. If the server runs php as a cgi, you can turn magic quotes on by creating the file '/lists/php.ini' with this directive:
magic_quotes_gpc = 1
more information about php settings in phpsuexec mode.
- Why do I get messages twice?
- Since version 2.9 the 'send test message' button will send you two messages, one in html and one in text format. This feature lets you check that the messages display correctly in both formats. When you send a message to a list, the subscribers only receive one email message -- either text or html, depending on their preferences.
- How do I make my own subscribe pages?
- In the spage (subscribe pages) area of phplist, you can create and edit subscribe pages. There you can edit the html of the header and footer, where you can insert html from your website's template. If you do not have any subscribe pages, you can edit the header and footer html from the phplist configuration area.
- Where is file 'config.php'?
- You need access to the files on your server (via FTP or SSH for example) to modify the config.php file. Typically it's found at '/public_html/lists/config/config.php'. You cannot access it with your web browser.
- How do I get rid of the 'powered by' image?
- In the config.php file there is an option under the Feedback to developers section that allows you to remove the phplist images in the html emails and public web pages (including subscribe pages). You'll end up with just a text link credit to phplist and tincan instead of the images.
- What does 'Safe Mode On' mean?
- 'Safe mode' is a feature in PHP versions prior to PHP 6. phplist works safe mode, with the exception of some features, that rely on features in PHP that are not available in safe mode. phplist features that are not available in safe mode are bounces, setting the timeout of a page. You can turn of all php warnings in phplist by setting the following configuration in config.php:
define ('WARN_ABOUT_PHP_SETTINGS',0);
- Why do I lose all characters over 255 when I enter a long text in a textarea attribute?
- The data entered into the textarea is stored in the database. To prevent the database from becoming big and slow this is done using a 'varchar', which has a 255 characters limit. If you do want to use a bigger textarea attribute look for the solution in the forums. It has been done before: here is one solution and this has some more explanation. The code support it.
