Technical Setup

What You Will Need

• Web Server/Hosting (That meets the Server Requirements)
• Web Browser (Browser Compatibility)
• Zip Utility
• FTP Client
• Text Editor/IDE of your choice.

A Note Regarding FTP Clients

It is not uncommon for “built-in” FTP clients part of “all-in-one” applications (particularly older versions of: DreamWeaver, FrontPage/Expression Web, etc) to corrupt PHP files when transferring them. If you experience parse errors (for files other then your config.php file) or see PHP code output as HTML/plain-text you should delete your Helios files from your server and re-upload them using FileZilla, or a some other reasonable quality FTP client.

Security Note: While the shorthand “FTP” is used within the setup documentation to denote file transfer to your web server We strongly recommend the use of secure FTP connections for all file transfers. Additionally, users should never save/store their FTP passwords locally within their FTP client (not even for SFTP connections) as doing so can pose significant security risks.

A Note Regarding IDEs

To setup Helios any text editor will work, even something as simple as Notepad is sufficient to make the changes required for the setup procedure. To customize Helios a more substantial editor is recommended.

When using WYSIWYG, lightweight, non-commercial, or “universal” (multiple programming/scripting language support) editors you should ensure that HTML tags are not inserted incorrectly, PHP tags are not corrupted or converted and that the integrity of the original files is maintained after saving them with the editor. Not all editors provide professional support for PHP. One of the most common problems experienced by new Helios users is their editor incorrectly saving their config.php file, causing roadblocks to the setup process.

Create MySQL Database & User Account

Use your site admin console (PLESK, cPanel, or whatever your host provides) to create a database, and if needed, a user account with access to the database. Be sure to include CREATE & ALTER privileges in addition to the standard Select/Insert/Update/Delete permissions for the user on the database.

Make note of your hostname, username, password, and database name for use in editing your config.php file.

NOTE: Because the process of managing MySQL databases & users vary by host and server environment Refresh is unable to provide step by step instructions for this step. If you have questions regarding this part of the setup process you should consult your host's knowledge base, documentation or support.

Create Your config.php File

Once your MySQL database and user account are ready you can edit and rename the /inc/config_dist file. This file will contain information referenced globally by Helios unique to your install.

Open the config_dist file in a text editor of your choice and edit it to provide the following information specific to your installation. When editing the config file contents edit the value only within the second group of quotes. For example:

define("DATABASE_HOST", "");

should be changed to:

define("DATABASE_HOST", "localhost");

NOTE: Incorrectly editing this file will return a parse/syntax error when viewing Helios Calendar in your browser. If you see a parse/syntax error please check your config file formatting first.

Database

• DB_HOST - Database Hostname, IP Address or Domain. Typically, localhost
• DB_NAME - The name of your MySQL database.
• DB_USER - Username for your MySQL server.
• DB_PASS - Password for your MySQL server user.

You can also edit your MySQL table prefix, however, this is optional. By default the prefix is set to hc_. If you prefer a different prefix you can edit this setting prior to setup. If you change this setting after completing setup your Helios install will not work properly unless you rename each table in the database manually.

• HC_TblPrefix - MySQL datatable prefix.

Helios URLs

• CalRoot - The full URL path to the directory (folder) where you will upload Helios Calendar.
• AdminRoot - The full URL path to your Helios Calendar admin console (/admin)

The CalRoot & AdminRoot values should contain the full URL without a trailing slash (Ex: http://your_url.com/helios NOT http://your_url.com/helios/.

Calendar Name, Cookie & Secret Key

• CalName - The name of your calendar. Used in page titles.
• HC_Rando - A random string used to create cookies named uniquely for your calendar.
• HC_Install - A secret code you will enter prior to performing setup and upgrades. Helps secure the setup wizard from unauthorized access.

Note: Do NOT use your license code or an account password for your HC_Install value. The HC_Install is only used during setup & upgrades and should be a unique alphanumeric string used only for this purpose.

Once you have completed your changes save the file and rename it config.php and save it within the /inc directory. Do not upload the config_dist file, only upload your completed /inc/config.php file.

Optional Settings

• HC_Named - Enables named setting variable support for custom hacks. See Creating Hacks for additional details.
• date.timezone - Required only for servers without proper timezone configuration. See Server Requirements for additional details.
• session_save_path - Required for some shared hosting. See Server Requirements for additional details.

Update Directory Permissions

Helios Calendar requires write access to two directories.

/cache
/uploads

If you have questions about the proper approach for securely configuring PHP application write access for your unique computing environment please contact your hosting support or system administrator for assistance.

Run the Helios Calendar Web Setup Wizard

Once you've completed your config.php file updates and uploaded Helios Calendar to your server you are ready to run the web setup wizard (to create the default database). In your web browser of choice type the url (plus subdirectory if applicable) that identifies the location where you uploaded your Helios install.

If your config.php file is configured correctly the following notice will be displayed:

Please verify your config file settings are correct. If you have not yet done so, please run the Helios Calendar Setup.

Click the “Helios Calendar Setup” link to begin the setup wizard.

Note: If you see any other message browse to /setup within your Helios install.

Step 1) Helios Calendar Software License Agreement

Note: If you are unable to proceed beyond Step 1 this indicates that sessions are not working for your PHP install. To enable sessions you may need to configure a Session Save Path within your config.php file.

Step 2) Configuration Review

Helios Calendar will check your PHP & MySQL versions, config.php file, directory write access & MySQL server access configuration to confirm everything is ready for setup. If any of the required configurations are incorrect you will be prompted to update them before continuing.

Step 3) Database Setup

To complete the setup you will need to provide account information for your first admin user account. After you've entered the account info click “Setup Database” and Helios will create your administrator account as well as the default Helios Calendar database.

NOTE: The email address you enter here will be the username of your admin account, you'll need it and your password to login to your admin console when setup is complete.

Step 4) Start Using Helios Calendar!

Now that you're a Helios expert you may like to register for the Refresh Community Forum and don't forget to review our list of update channels so you can keep up-to-date on Helios Calendar upgrades, announcements and more.

Clean Up, Settings & Localization

After completing the Web Setup Wizard delete the /setup directory from your server. After deleting it you will be able to log in to your Helios Calendar admin console with the account you created in Step 4 above.

Note: Links to your public calendar and admin console are provided at the conclusion of the Web Setup Wizard.

Calendar Settings

Before beginning to use your Helios Calendar you will want to configure some of your Preferences.

• Email Settings - Required
• SEO Settings - Recommended
• API Settings - Optional

Public Calendar Theme

Seamlessly integrate Helios Calendar into your site design by creating a custom theme for your calendar.

Localization

Depending on where you are in the world you may want to Translate Helios Calendar or customize your Localization Settings & Weather/Map Links.

Text Files

Helios Calendar includes both robots.txt (recommended) and humans.txt (optional) files. To ensure existing versions of these files on your server are not overwritten when uploading Helios Calendar the versions included with Helios have no file extension (_txt not .txt by default). The contents of these files can be added to existing versions on your site or renamed before uploading for use.

robots.txt & humans.txt files should be located in the site's root directory.

Note: robots.txt file contents (directory paths) may need to be updated to reflect your Helios Calendar install point. Default values assume root installation.