PHP Forms Generator Permission

[jtunis]

I know you don't support this, but it seems to be a permissions/ownership problem.
The forms are generated , in this case. in www/PFG/use/guestbook. It's the design of the product that the user should be able to modify a file named form1.html within guestbook. I can't delete or replace form1.html. Permissions on form1.html are 777, on guestbook are 755 and seemingly cannot be changed. Product is really easy to use, tho! Just need this issue resolved.

Thanks,
http://www.northernindianagrotto.org

[Brandon]

Hi Jtunis,

1) login cPanel (let me know if you need instructions)
2) on right you will see alot of buttons. in the second row, click "file manager"
3) see the folder "public_html"? those are your website files. click the FOLDER on left of it...see if you can find Guestbook somewhere in your public_html...when you do change permissions.

Brandon

[jtunis]

Looking at a different guestbook, I think. I'm looking at a folder /public_html / PFG / use /guestbook/form1.html. PFG was specified by me at fantastico install, guestbook was specified by me from within PHP Forms Generator; the rest were named by PFG. I tried both cpanel and my FTP tool and could not get the 777 to 'take'. I'm not at all certain that changing permissions on guestbook will allow me to modify form1.html. It was the only thing I could think of.

Thanks,
Jim

[Brandon]

I'm looking through their forum now.

http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=149299

[Brandon]

Still reading. I searched the forum for posts with 777 in it. There's alot!

As I'm reading, please check to see if /use/(formname)/admin/index.php is permissions 644?
(has to do with form administration permissions)

Brandon

[Brandon]

Jim,
Can you login the PHPG "Admin portal"?
Apparently some people couldn't at 777, as if they were set too high. They switched files to 755 which worked.
Let me know if you've tried the admin portal yet.

Don't give up. The beginning is troubleshooting is the hardest part and we're hopefully almost there.

Brandon

[jtunis]

Admin is at 777 and I have no trouble logging into admin portal. Record deletes work fine from there. If I move form1.html to another folder along with the images and modify the post action, it works. Kind of a hassle, tho.

Thanks,
Jim

[Brandon]

Jim,

Per what I wrote before, below is example of a guy whose fantastico install didn't take, he changed many files to 755 which worked so maybe try it. Sure there will be some file differences, reference only, use common sense.

a) Set /phpform/ directory permisions to 755.

b) Set permissions to 755 on phpform/process.php . Do the same to process2.php, fields.php and del_form.php (I need to do this only once)

c) On phpform/use/name-of-my-form/, set permision to 755 to process.php

d) On phpform/use/name-of-my-form/admin, set permision to 755 to index.php, index.php, delete_file.php and printer_friendly.php

Brandon

[jtunis]

I did all that and I still cannot write to the 'form-name' directory.
I'm real weak on permissions and 'ownership'. Could it be that I am not the 'User' of the directory 'form-name'? That might explain things.

[Brandon]

You're not weak on permissions/ownership if you're thinking on that level. It may be an ownership issue, it may not, let's keep trying to figure it out.

No more general stuff, we've already knocked out about 80% of possible causes other than ownership, let's finish here we go...

1) What are you using for ftp?
2) In the form you created, are all html and graphics files permissions of 644?

Brandon

[Brandon]

Also in cPanel's File Manager, off the root directory, look for a .forms directory. (dot meaning hidden)
See it? If so confirm it's 755

Brandon

[jtunis]

Using CoffeeCup for FTP. All graphics and HTML are 777. How do I determine who the owner of 'form-name' is?

[Brandon]

Only Anne can change the owner like that. So let's turn to

Anne,

Hi, Have others using Fantastico (to automatically install PHPG) had similar problems like Jim's? I wonder if for PHPG maybe a quick manual install is the way to go?

Brandon

[Brandon]

Jim, Spoke with Anne.

Short Version:
Anne fixed problem caused by Fantastico mis-assigning ownership of 2 guestbook directories. Jim or Brandon didn't have permissions to fix it ourselves.

Other Words:
Fantastico assigned ownership of two guestbook directories to the php install script, not your user account, causing your write permission problem in those two directories.

Word to Wise
Forms need to be secure or they get disabled. Resecure permissions for stuff you made 777. Email Anne if you need help with that.

Remember you can always use this forum for fast answers. Now you can even check out the FAQ http://www.12wonderwebservices.com/frequently_asked_questions.php from the forum. We put a link on top left of this forum called "1-2-wonder web hosting faq."

Good job troubleshooting!

Glad your PHP Forms Generator permissions are working again.

Brandon

[jtunis]

Well, we're not quite there yet. It appears that whenever PFG generates a form, and thus a form-name directory, we are back to the same problem for that new directory. I say 'appears' because none of my 3 FTP tools show owner.

I'm glad to do the legwork on this stuff, 'long as you guys got my back

I also understand the security issues. It really is a nice tool, though. A real swiss army knife.

Many thanks,
Jim T.

[12Wonder]

Unfortunately nothing we can do about that. When a php script creates a directory or file, if php (root) owns that directory or file, then only php or root can change permissions on it, or delete or modify it in any way.

Only way to change this would be to modify the script that creates the directory and/or file/s. Unfortunately this is not something we can do since the phpFormGenerator is not our script, it is just provided to us via Fantastico.

You might try a manual installation of the script. Or just drop a support ticket (http://www.12wonderwebservices.com/helpdesk.php) with the path to the directory or file you need chown on. Chown (change ownership) of files/directories can only be done via SSH by root; it's not something you can do yourself.

Anne

[Brandon]

Maybe
1) Jim can create 5 forms all at once (tonight). He will have same write permission issues...
2) Anne can help once more by fixing the perms on each.
3) Jim would have up to 5 forms now, all with write permission.
4) Jim could set 000 permissions on forms he's not using. Say he only needs 2 of 5. He can use 2 and put 000 permissions on other 3. Point is if Jim can have his pool of 5 forms to maintain, he just needs Anne to fix them all at once. Could this work for you both?

Brandon

[12Wonder]

Yes that could work if it's more convenient for Jim.

Anne

[jtunis]

I'd have to experiment with that. I think the easier method is for me to set up directories OUTSIDE form-name, move the form1.html to that directory, and modify the post action to point to the relative path of form-name. That's what I'm doing in a sloppy way right now and it works. In many cases the form1 html gets moved out to the web page HTML anyhow, so the change has to be made. Will a bug report be sent to Fantastico?

I consider this closed, if you do.

Thanks Brandon, Anne!

Jim T.

[Brandon]

Sounds good Jim. You and other 12W customers can always post in the forum. You'll get a fast answer plus you're helping others learn. Some people will read this post and it will help them. But yes the real reason is speedy help to effectively resolve questions about your 12W hosted domain.

You mentioned bug reports...I'm not positive but I think the guy who wrote PHPFG actually recommends a manual install instead of an automatic scripted fantastico install. Other stuff too happens apparently? Can't say for sure, it's a good question. So I checked out Fantastico's website. There was no bug about PHPFG on their current list. So who knows. I can say two things though. One, Fantastico is really a good program, can we call it a swiss army knife of installers? That may be a lame analogy actually. Yeah, I agree with myself and that last sentence. Two, alot of people seem to like PHPFG.

So you're all set now. Best of luck with your website,

Brandon