Zenphoto
The simpler media website CMS
ZenphotoThe simpler media website CMS
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I have a custom one (set up so I can run in a subdirectory as a subdomain with image protection) and naturally my .htaccess file is there in my /gallery folder. When I go to upgrade it tells me I HAVE an .htaccess file and it should be in /zp-core/htaccess instead. Okay, fine, I move the file over, great, the upgrader is happy, and then ... it never copies it back. I have to go back and copy it manually.
At first I thought that it was because I have fairly strict security going on, and nothing can create files in my /gallery folder, so I made a blank .htaccess and gave it 777 permissions. Same drama. I really don't want to unlock all my folders, as I get some real morons hitting up my site and I'm pretty 'detail oriented' about folder security
Can't the upgrade say 'You have an .htaccess file. Do you want to use this? y/n?' with a 'Please note, if your permalinks break after upgrade, you will need to manually merge the default htaccess with your own.'
If I am not mistaken the htaccess message is actually just a warning. If you have already one you of course do not have to delete that. It is just that you have to compare it with the template one. I guess we think to do this is just expected, especially if you did customizations...;-)
I thought, as you say, that it was a warning. It used to be the last times I upgraded. It acted like an error instead since I moved to the 1.2.7 nightly build to fix my static cache error.
1) On a brand new setup, no .htaccess was created.
2) On a standard, no customization, upgrade from 1.2.7, I had to delete my .htaccess in order to run the upgrade, because it refused to let me past until I did so. AND it didn't make a new .htaccess.
3) On a customized 'I have a fancy .htaccess' upgrade from 1.2.7-nightly, I again had to delete my .htaccess in order to run the upgrade, because it refused to let me past until I did so. AND it didn't make a new .htaccess EVEN THOUGH I copied my .htaccess to zp-core/htaccess
Now one of those three scenarios should have worked, but none did. It's not a big deal for me to manually rename and un-rename my .htaccess for upgrade, but if you are, as you say, aiming this for the "casual user that does not heavily modify the htaccess file" then something's a little wrong here.
None of this is to say I don't like ZenPhoto. It's still by far the best gallery out there, which is, actually, why I felt I should bring these up instead of grumbling and walking off
For a fresh install you get the following
`
If you have the mod_rewrite module enabled an .htaccess
file is required the root zenphoto folder to create cruft-free URLs.
You can ignore this warning if you do not intend to set the
mod_rewrite option. Click to have setup
create the file.
`
If you have an old version .htaccess file you get:
`
The .htaccess file in your root folder is not the same version
as the one distributed with this version of Zenphoto. If you have
made changes to .htaccess, merge those changs with the
zp-core/htaccess file to produce a new .htaccess file.
Click here> to have setup replace your .htaccess
file with the current version.
`
In both cases Setup will create the file if you tell it to. In the case of a fresh install if you do not elect to create the .htaccess file the mod_rewrite option will not be set. Of course on an upgrade if you had the option set it will stay set. You do not, of course, get the option of replacing the .htaccess file if you are not logged in. That would be a breach of security. In that case you will have to delete the file our update it based on the template found in zp-core. [BTW, I do not see where you found instructions to place the .htaccess file in the zp-core folder.]
We have changed .htaccess because of changes to the Search feature. So old .htaccess files are not correct and need to be dealt with. Thus the error. About the only improvement I can think of is to compare the existing wrong versin .htaccess file to the standard one from the previous release and automatically replace it if there have been no changes. Not something that would have helped you.
But ... there isn't a default HTACCESS (or .htaccess) in my zp-core folder. Not for the brand new (as of 4 days ago) install, not for the upgraded one from a year ago. Nothing. You can't run the upgrade without being logged in anyway, can you? Every time I tried, it said to login as an admin.
Either way, having to manually go in and rename my .htaccess just to get the upgrade to run is annoying. Unless you guys are planning on totally revamping the default htaccess, one should be able to assume on an upgrade that the install works as is, and leave it alone, or have it scan to make sure that the cruft-free is there. IIRC WordPress does this by looking for the `# BEGIN WORDPRESS` line in your .htaccess, and that would be a good example to follow. Painless for both novice and advanced upgraders
People can modify zenphoto parts of the .htaccess file (for instance the 'spelling" of `pages` and `news`. So looking for the zenphoto part is not adequate. We do not change this file very often, so I really do not think this is a major issue assuming we detect that the old version was an un-modified one. In my humble opinion this is a recipe for disaster. The whole reason for the version check in the first place is due to the problems of people using outdated files and having problems that WE have to deal with.
What I said was this (bold added): In other words, one should be able to assume that, on an upgrade, the .HTACCESS file is already working as desired.
Just that one file (well ... and your personal themes, and your config file). That's bog standard things for an automated system to SKIP on an upgrade, in my experience (WordPress, bbPress, SMF, MediaWiki, even Gallery got that one right ... my list goes onward, but I think you get my point).
Ask me about just about any other file and I'm with you, please do upgrade them. But anything that is, by intent customizable, should be left out of an upgrade check. If someone goes in and hacks the core, well that was stupid and they're on their own. But a file that we're supposed to edit, like your config file or htaccess, ought to be something upgrade doesn't touch.
Here's what I said: IF you're planning on changing the default .htaccess, then I agree with you. On a re-read, I think my 'totally revamping' bit is an overstatement/assumption, and could have been confusing. Apologies.
If you are NOT planning on changing that, then I feel my assertion is correct. Leave it the heck alone
The principle remains: If you (Zenphoto) aren't changing the default .htaccess between versions, then you (Zenphoto again) should leave my (the user) .htaccess alone. I have no idea if the .htaccess changed between 1.2.6 and 1.2.7 and 1.2.8. Why? Because when I upgraded, it never got copied over. When I installed anew, it wasn't there. If I download it now, I see the zp-core/htaccess file, though the download of RC1 from a couple days ago, which is still on my box, didn't have it. That's clearly something specific to me, though, and doesn't matter.
The point, and I have one, is that if you're telling people to modify a file to suit their custom install, then you shouldn't turn around and overwrite it with a subsequent upgrade unless there are changes.
i.e. the htaccess file, which states
`
#### !!! Change this to the web path (eg: http://www.yourwebsite.com/photos --> /photos) !!!
RewriteBase /zenphoto
####
`
FWIW, I can spot two differences between my 1.2.0 generated htaccess and the default one.
1) Mine has this and yours doesn't
`
#### Rewrite rule for sitemaps
RewriteRule sitemap.xml$ index.php?sitemap [L,QSA]
####
`
2) The search for tags is slightly different:
Mine `&searchfields=4`
Yours `&searchfields=tags`
That's it. #2 is possibly worth changing over, but #1 ... I turned off sitemaps recently anyway so I'm going to remove that. But that's it. The rest of my .htaccess has my stuff for subdomains, 302 redirects and image protection. There's no reason why I should have been prompted to delete and re-create my .htaccess file.
Since this is text and you can't see my face, I should point out that I'm not arguing to be pedantic or anything. I've been doing software installs as a part of my real job for yonks, on servers and desktops, you name it. One of the things I've always argued for is that upgrades of the 'main app' should never bugger the customized portions, so that the end user never has to thing about it. The whole point of having a customizable config file is so that one never has to worry about touching core, and thus screwing themselves over for an upgrade. You can rest easy knowing YOUR changes are sacrosanct.
None of this impacts the fact that I will continue to advocate ZenPhoto's use
We just have a difference of technical opinion on what files should and should not be updated by the upgrader
Text sucks for that sometimes
At it's most simple I feel there are two types of files for an install:
Application files (the meat and potatoes)
User customized files (configs, preferences, etc - the sauce)
The app files are what should get upgraded. The user files are what should be left alone by any auto-process. Once you've set your user config files, you shouldn't move them or rename them or need to edit them. Doing so gives the appearance of an immature product.
And of course, you also conviently ignore parts of posts, such as the part where I said that setup probably could check to see if the existing file were just an unmodifid earlier version. Also, it should have been apparent by the behavior you quoted for 1.2.6 and 1.2.7 that we do not force you to change unless we have changed the base file as has happened with 1.2.8.
If you had been following the instructions for installing Zenphoto you would have definately noticed if there had been changes. Those instructions say to delete all Zenphoto distributed files and upload the new build. Prior to release 1.2.8 that would entail deleting the .htaccess file and replacing it with the one from the distribution.
If you upgraded and the file did not get copied over, presumabley you are running a MAC which hides this kind of files so they won't confuse the poor user. .htaccess has been part of the root files of zenphoto forever and any proper FTP would have copied it with the rest of the files.
And I do think that .htaccess, when you're telling people to edit it, becomes a user file. Okay, this I agree with and I never intended to imply otherwise.
But.
Is the .htaccess file a part of core is clearly where we differ. It's not included in the bog-standard zip file I just downloaded, so one could argue for my interperatation. That said, I can see now where you're coming from, feeling that since it's created by the install script, it is a part of the core.
I can agree to disagree there.
Clearly this is getting heated and I've been trying to ensure you guys understand that I'm not trying to diss you, or your product, or insult it. I'm trying to explain, very poorly today, why I feel there is one spot here that I feel could be improved to make a product I love even better.
And I do. You guys are a total god-send to the self-hosted gallery people, and never ever forget that, no matter how pissed you are at my terrible communication skills today.
I like ZenPhoto. A lot. Okay then. I feel this would be, in the long run, time well spent, but I understand you have bigger fish to fry.
The change in 1.2.8 to have setup deal with the file was so that an upgrade would NOT override custom versions like yours. So, then, why the complaint?
As to being philosophically part of the core: it contains "code" needed for the Zenphoto mod_rewrite option to work and is version dependent. To me that qualifies as part of the core.
If you care to contribute the code to make the intelligent updater, we would welcome it. This file has changed three times since I have been associated with Zenphoto. Once for when Search was implemented, once when Zenpage was implemented, and just now when we extended the scope of search. This spans from the 1.0.8.2 release until now. People with the skills to modify this file in the first place will generally have no problem migrating their changes to a newer version so long as they know that is needed. (Thus the error you got on upgrading.)
Bah. This would all be easier if you could 'chain' htaccess files!
I'll look into the code you use for the upgrader and see if I can sort something out.
Thank you for listening.
Look at the `zenphoto.package` file that is in the root of the distribution. That lists all the core files. (And setup checks against this list for "issues".)
@sbillard/ipstenu: Sadly "chaining" like with several CSS files loading one after another is of course not possible with htaccess files. (if I did get it right).