If you are installing SlideShowPro Director on your own web server, these are the instructions you need to follow. If however you are a subscriber to our SlideShowPro Director Hosting service, you can skip this chapter for everything is installed for you automatically.
SlideShowPro Director requires a web server running Linux, Unix, or Windows with Apache 1.3 or higher. A Windows server running IIS 5.0+ is also acceptable. Additionally, PHP (4.3.7+ with safe mode disabled) and MySQL (3.23.23+) are also required. Server requirements may be tested with the Director Server Compatibility Script, available for download here:
http://slideshowpro.net/downloads/director_test/director_test.zip
Open your FTP application, make sure its transfer mode is set to “Auto,” then upload the folder named ssp_director to your web server. For the rest of this chapter we’ll assume you uploaded it to the root of your domain .
Director requires a new or existing MySQL database. Director cannot create the database for you. It must be created through your hosting provider. If you’re not sure how to create one, contact your web host for instructions.
Once your database is ready, collect these four pieces of information:
1. MySQL Host Name (e.g. mysql.myserver.com or localhost)
2. MySQL Database The name of the database Director should use.
3. MySQL User name The user name to login to your MySQL host.
4. MySQL Password The password for this user name.
Open http://www.myserver.com/ssp_director/ in your web browser. The “Installation and setup” screen will load (see left), and begin the six step process of installing Director.
Read the EULA for SlideShowPro Director. If acceptable, click “I Agree.”
Step two displays the results of a basic server compatibility test. If everything is okay, click “Continue Installation.”
Enter the SlideShowPro Director activation key issued to you. If you don’t have a key, go to your Account Center profile and look for the "Director Activation Key." Copy the key, return to SlideShowPro Director, and paste into the form field. Then continue on.
Enter the information you gathered in “Step Two: Setup the Database” into the appropriate fields. The fifth field, “Database Table Prefix,” should only be modified by advanced users. Everyone else can leave it alone. When complete click the “Setup database” button.
Enter the username, e-mail, and password for the administrative contact. This user will have full access to all of Director’s functionality. When complete, click the “Install Director” button.
Step six displays the results of your installation. If all went well, you should see nothing but green check marks. Click the “Login now” button to complete the installation process and login to Director.
In order for your SWF to load content from Director when used online, the Flash Player requires a “cross domain policy file.” It’s a security precaution that prevents SWFs from accessing data at a remote domain. Even if you plan on hosting your SWFs at the same domain as your Director installation, it’s a good idea to create this file to be on the safe side.
First, open an ASCII/HTML text editor like Notepad or Dreamweaver and enter the following:
<cross-domain-policy>
<allow-access-from domain="www.mydomain.com" />
<allow-access-from domain="mydomain.com" />
</cross-domain-policy>
Second, replace mydomain.com above with the domain where your SWFs will be viewed. Notice that the domain is listed twice -- once with www and once without. This is in case the SWF is loaded from a URL that doesn’t include www. When complete, save the file anywhere locally and name it “crossdomain.xml” (it must be named this).
Third, upload “crossdomain.xml” to the root of the domain where Director is installed. For example, http://www.myotherdomain.com/crossdomain.xml.
Installation is now complete! Go ahead and login to Director with the username and password entered in “Installation Step Five” above.
