Help & User Documentation for 301tool 1.1.3

Last edited: July 30, 2010

  1. Requirements
  2. New Installation
  3. Upgrading From a Previous Version
  4. Configure Internal URL Path Values
  5. Configure 301tool for a Different Directory
  6. Configure General Settings
  7. Change the Organization Name
  8. Notes on Use
  9. General Support, Feature Requests, and Bug Reporting

 

 

  1. Minimum Requirements

    • Apache 1.x/2.x
    • MySQL 5.0.3
    • PHP 5.1.3
    • IonCube Loader (Free Download)
    • A mail transfer agent (usually included on linux platforms by default), such as qmail or Mercury
    • Runs on both Windows and Linux platforms

  2. New Installation

    1. In your database administration tool, create a database named 301tool_MYDOMAIN, and a corresponding username and password. If asked, the user will need at least SELECT, INSERT UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, ALTER, and DROP permissions.
      • Note: MYDOMAIN would be the domain name where you place the 301tool files (this is a suggested naming practice so you can easily keep track of multiple instances of the application on the same server...in other words, an installation for each domain. Otherwise, you can name it whatever you wish.)
      • Note: some hosting providers (especially if you're using shared hosting) don't like databases or usernames with underscores in them.
    2. Upload the 301tool zipped file to the root of your web directory and unzip it. (If you don't have access to the unzip function, simply unzip it to your local workstation and upload the unzipped 301tool folder to your server with an FTP client in binary mode)
    3. Go to your equivalent of http://mydomain.com/301tool/tools/install.php and follow the installation procedure. You will be shown the license agreement, asked for the database info, and asked to manually upload the _config.inc.php file if it can't be automatically written. The database will then be prepped automatically.
    4. This next step is extremely important as this is what allows the whole application to function properly. You will need to add the 301tool's generated htaccess code to the .htaccess file in the 301tool directory's parent directory. For quick setup, Click Here to generate the .htaccess code. For more details, see "Configure Internal URL Path Values".
    5. Make your equivalent of the http://mydomain.com/301tool/tools directory password-protected. If you don't, anyone will have free access to it. Some web hosts have administration tools for this, often referred to as "protected directories" or "password protect directories". Add 301tool/tools as a protected directory, and add a user/password combination.
      • Note: If this feature is not available, just google for: htaccess password protect directory. While this it a bit more time consuming, it's just the manual way of passwording protecting a directory.
    6. You are ready to start using the 301tool. Go to your equivalent of http://mydomain.com/301tool/tools, enter your protected directory username and password, and you can begin using the web application.

  3. Upgrading From a Previous Version

    1. Backup your database. Version 1.1.2 or newer attempts to do this automatically.
    2. Upgrading from Version 1.0.0 to 1.1.x
      1. Delete the contents of the 301tool directory
      2. Follow the installation procedure. If the database is up and running and can be accessed, it will automatically perform the upgrade without losing any of the existing redirect records.
    3. Upgrading from a Version 1.1.0 Beta to 1.1.x Final
      1. Same procedure as upgrading from version 1.0.0. The .htaccess file won't need to be changed, so that step can be skipped.
    4. Upgrading from Version 1.1.x to 1.1.3
      1. Replace the existing files in the 301tool directory with the files from the new version you downloaded.
      2. Go to your equivalent of http://mydomain.com/301tool/tools/install.php and follow the upgrade procedure.

  4. Configure Internal URL Path Values

    1. To add/remove Friendly URL Path values (the part of the link right before the friendly URL), go to the "Configuration" section. (If you aren't making any changes, Click Here to generate the .htaccess code)
    2. Follow the on-screen instructions. New paths can contain alphanumeric characters, -, and _ ONLY!
    3. When done, open the .htaccess file in the parent directory of the 301tools directory and paste the generated code in the appropriate place. If you're using a CMS or blogging platform, this code should come before it.
      • NOTE: Make sure the path value you want to add is not already in use elsewhere as a directory name or part of a URL. Since the 301tool htaccess rules will take precidence when put first, you wouldn't be able to access a friendly/SEO URL starting with an Internal URL Path value. If you add an Internal URL Path that already exists as a directory, the directory will take precidence and the Internal URL Path will not be processed by the 301tool application
    4. If you added a path value, proceed to test it to verify that it works properly. Go to the New/Edit Record section, create a new record, select the path value you just added. Test the redirect. If you did everything properly, it will be redirected to the external URL. If it was not set up correctly, you may see an apache 404 error.

  5. Configure 301tool for a Different Directory

    1. Instead of using the default "301tool" directory, you can name it anything. Just note, the path to access the application will change. Instead of MYDOMAIN.COM/301tool/tools, it would be MYDOMAIN.COM/CUSTOMNAME/tools
    2. Generate the htaccess code
    3. Open the .htaccess file in the parent directory of the 301tool directory and paste the generated code in the appropriate place. If you're using a CMS or blogging platform, this code should come before it. NOTE: make sure the path value you want to add is not already in use elsewhere as a URL or directory name. Since the 301tool htaccess rules will take precidence, you won't be able to access those CMS/blogging/directory paths.
    4. Proceed to test this. Go to the New/Edit Record section, create few new records, select some of the path values, and test the redirect. If you did everything properly, it will be redirected to the external URL. If it was not set up correctly, you may see an apache 404 error.

  6. Change the Organization Name

    1. To change the organization name that 301tool is licensed to, visit the install page. When you come to the registration page, click the "Change" button next to the organization name. Click "Next" and continue through the rest of the install process. This will not overwrite or change any other settings.

  7. Configure General Settings

    1. Go to the Settings section. The items listed there should be fairly self explainatory. You can set your local timezone, the number of records to display per page, the default internal URL path which is selected for a new redirect record, and the 404 error page/message. There is also a feature to reset all the hit counters for the redirect records.

  8. Notes On Use

    1. URL Redirect List

      • All the saved URL redirect records are listed on the URL Redirect List page
      • Records can be enabled/disabled by clicking on the icon showing their Enabled status
      • Clicking on the "Internal URL" link will open the editing page for the URL redirect record
      • Clicking on the "External URL" will open the external URL in a new window
      • The list is sorted by the most recently saved record. Clicking the up/down arrows next to the column label will sort the list of records according to that particular column.
        • Note: the Internal URL column is sorted by the name value (the part following the slash), not the path value (the part before the slash).

    2. New/Edit URL Redirect

      • Only valid external URLs are accepted (which include the protocols: http, https, and ftp)
      • The Internal URL Path is what preceeds the unique part of the Internal URL
      • The Internal URL can only contain alphanumeric, -, and _ characters
      • The Internal URL is case-sensitive by default
      • Disabling a URL redirect record will display a 404 "page not found" error page if someone attemps to visit it. The 404 error page will also display if a record has been deleted, or one does not exist. 404 errors are logged in the 404 Log section.
      • If an Internal URL Path is not correctly configured and someone tries to visit it, apache's 404 error page will be displayed.

    3. 404 Access Log

      • Redirects that display the 301tool 404 "page not found" page will be added to the 404 Log
      • A count of the 404 redirects will appear on the "404 Log" tab
      • Redirects can be created by clicking on these 404 records
      • If an existing redirect that is disabled is listed in the 404 log, enabling it will remove the 404 record
      • The list is sorted by the most recently accessed record. Clicking the up/down arrows next to the column label will sort the list of records according to that particular column

  9. General Support, Feature Requests, and Bug Reporting

    • If you have questions about installing/using 301tool, have feature ideas, or if you found a bug, please visit the AJD Productions Forums