SiteGround Tutorials

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CMS Made Simple Tutorial

 

CMS Made Simple Installation

In this tutorial we will show you how to install CMS Made Simple.

In order to run CMS Made Simple properly, your hosting account has to support the following:

• PHP 4.3+;
• MySQL 3.23+;
• Apache 1.3+;
• PHP Tokenizer support

SiteGround servers are optimized to meet all CMS Made Simple requirements and to provide the best hosting environment for it.

To install CMS Made Simple, follow the steps below: 

Step 1. Create a MySQL database and add a new user to it. This can easily be done with cPanel by following the MySQL database tutorial. For the purpose of this tutorial we'll assume that you have a MySQL username and database called user_cmsms.

In case you are not using cPanel, you can refer to the MySQL manual on creating databases and adding users to it.

Step 2. Visit the CMS Made Simple download page and download the .tar.gz file with the latest version. You can download the base or the full installation package. The difference is that the base package contains only the English language files, while the full package contains all language packs. In this tutorial we will install the full package.

Step 3. Extract the file locally on your computer.

Step 4. Upload the application's files to your hosting account. If you wish your CMSMS website to be accessible directly through http://yourdomainname.com, you should upload the files in your piblic_html folder (or whatever your document root is, e.g. www, httpdocs).

If you wish the application to be accessible in a subfolder, e.g. http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms, you should create a cmsms folder inside your public_html directory and upload the application files there.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we'll assume that you will install CMSMS in public_html/cmsms so that your CMSMS will be accessible through http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms. 

Step 5. Create an empty file called config.php. The file should be created in the CMSMS main folder (in our case this is public_html/cmsms).

Step 6. Open your favorite browser and go to http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms. The CMSMS installation consists of the following steps: 

• Language selection
• Step 1. Checksum test
• Step 2. System requirements checks
• Step 3. File Creation Mask check
• Step 4. Admin account information
• Step 5. Database information
• Step 6. Additional configuration settings
• Step 7. Installation end - you will be able to visit your CMS Made Simple site and admin area 

To install CMS Made Simple, you can follow the instructions from the video below:

CMS Made Simple Administration

In this tutorial we will take a tour through the admin area of CMS Made Simple.

Logging in the admin area.

The CMSMS admin panel can be accessed through yourdomainname.com/cmsms/admin:

Fill in the admin username and password you set during the installation and click Submit to log in.

Once you log in, you will see a message notifying you that "You have 2 unhandled notifications". When you click the + button next to the message, you will see the notifications:

The first notification warns you that your install directory still exists, and the second notification tells you that you have not yet configured your mail settings.

You can easily delete the install folder using cPanel's File Manager or using your favorite FTP client.

More information on how to configure CMSMailer can be found in the CMSMS mail configuration section of our tutorial.

Admin menus

The horizontal menu in the CMS Made Simple admin panel is the main navigation tool for the admin area. This menu provides access to all administration functions:

CMS - from this menu you can access the admin Home and Dashboard sections. You can also view your site and log out from the admin panel.
Content - from here you can manage your content (pages, content blocks) and access the Image Manager and File Manager.
Layout - from here you can manage your menus and templates.
Users & Groups - as the name suggests, from this menu you can manage your users and groups and their permissions.
Extensions - from this menu you can manage the different CMSMS extensions - tags, modules, events, CMSMailer, etc.
Site Admin - here you can manage your global settings, page defaults. You can also view the system information and admin logs.
My Preferences - from this menu you can manage your admin user.

On the right of the main menu there are two additional functions:

- A View Site link - clicking it will open your site in a new window
- A Logout link

Global Settings

The global settings for your CMSMS application can be managed from the admin area > Site Admin > Global Settings.

From here you can clear the CMSMS cache, change the name of your site, choose a default frontend language.

You can also set a custom 404 error and site down messages:

CMSMS Extensions

• Modules

Most of CMS Made Simple's features are actually built-in modules. For example, the File Manager is a module which can be easily disabled and even uninstalled from the CMSMS admin area > Extensions > Modules.

From here you can also install new modules from XML files. All you need to do to install a new module is click the Browse button, locate the module's XML file and then click Submit to upload it. To complete the installation, click the Install button next to the module. 

• CMSMS mail configuration - CMSMailer

The module which controls the mail settings in CMSMS is called CMSMailer. You can access it from your CMSMS admin area > Extensions > CMSMailer.

Let's configure your CMS Made Simple to work with SMTP authentication. Follow the instructions from the video below to complete the SMTP configuration.

CMS Made Simple Content Management

In this tutorial we will show you how to manage your content in CMS Made Simple.

Adding new content in CMS Made Simple is really easy. All you need to do is go to your CMSMS admin area > Content > Pages. Click Add New Content and fill in the necessary details.

We'll demonstrate how to create a new page in the video below.

How to reorder existing pages

When you have a lot of pages, organizing them properly is essential for maintaining easy-to-follow content structure.

Fortunately, CMS Made Simple gives you an intuitive interface through which you can reorder your pages.

For more information on how to reorder your pages, you can check the video below:

CMSMS Image Manager

CMS Made Simple has a built-in Image Manager through which you can easily upload and edit images directly through the CMSMS admin area. You can then insert the uploaded and edited image directly into your pages.

For more information on how to upload an image, edit it and then insert it into a page, check the video below.

News module

One of the great features of CMS Made Simple is the News module. Through it you can display different news articles on your website.

For more information on how to create a news article and show it on your front page, check the video below.

 

CMS Made Simple Templates

In this tutorial we will show you how to install a new template in CMS Made Simple.

Installing a new template in CMSMS is really easy.

First and foremost, you have to choose a theme you like. You can find many free CMSMS themes at the official website.

Themes are provided either as .xml files or as .zip archives.

If you choose a zipped theme, you should take all theme images and put them in uploads/images/ inside your CMSMS installation folder.  Some themes may have different installation instructions, so it is recommended to check the readme file that comes with most theme packages.

In the video tutorial below we'll show you how to install a theme from an .xml file. In our example we'll install the BBM Business theme.

CMS Made Simple Modules

In this tutorial we will show you how to install/uninstall modules in CMS Made Simple.

How to install additional modules

Installing additional modules to your CMSMS is very easy. You don't have to download files to your computer, you don't have to upload anything on your hosting account. All you have to do is log in to the CMSMS admin area, go to Extensions > Module Manager and click Download & Install next to the module you want to add.

In our video below we'll show you how to install the Album module.

How to uninstall existing modules

Uninstalling modules is also an easy task. Go to Extensions > Modules and click Uninstall next to the module you want to uninstall. Note that this will not remove the module from the list. In order to remove it completely, click the Remove button.

 

CMS Made Simple Backups

In this tutorial we will show you how to back up your CMS Made Simple and how to restore it from an existing backup.

1. CMSMS backup creation

Creating a backup of your CMSMS installation includes 2 steps. Backing up the CMSMS installation database and the website files for it.

• Database backup

There are 2 possible ways to back up the database. First of all you need to know which is the database used by your installation. This information can be acquired by checking the CMSMS configuration file. The configuration file is called config.php and can be found inside the main installation directory of your CMSMS.

You should look for the db_name option. Here is a sample line that shows the needed information:

$config['db_name'] = 'user_cmsms';

In our case the database is user_cmsms. Note that user will be your cPanel username (all databases for your account will have this prefix) and cmsms is the actual name you specified for the database. So, we need to create a backup for the user_cmsms database. As mentioned above, there are 2 ways to create the backup:

1. Use the cPanel backup functionality. To do so, log in to your cPanel and go to Backups. Under Download a MySQL Database Backup all databases for your hosting account will be listed. Click on the CMSMS database name and a download window will pop up. Use it to download and save the backup locally to your computer.

2. You can also use cPanel -> phpMyAdmin in order to create a backup of the database.

• Website Files Backup

You can back up your CMSMS files by simply downloading them locally to your computer.

Prior to downloading the website files backup, it is recommended to create an archive of the files. It is not a mandatory step but it helps for easier upload/download. Downloading a single archive file is faster than downloading all files one by one.

To create an archive of your CMSMS installation files, follow these steps:

Step 1. Log in to your cPanel.

Step 2. Choose File Manager.

Step 3. Navigate to the CMSMS installation directory.

Step 4. You can use the 'Select all' button to select all files in the directory.

Step 5. Click the 'Compress' button. You will be asked for the directory where you would like the archive saved.

To download the backup of your CMSMS files locally to your computer, you can use either an FTP client or cPanel -> File Manager.

2. CMSMS backup restore

• CMSMS Database Restore
  •  The Database Restore can be completed using the same tools you have used for exporting it.
    • Again the preferred option is the cPanel -> Backup tool. You will see the 'Restore a MySQL Database' option. All you need to do is browse to the database backup you have downloaded and once you have selected it, click the Upload button.
    • The other option is to use phpMyAdmin. More information on how to restore the database from phpMyAdmin can be found in our MySQL tutorial.
• CMSMS Website Files Restore
  • Restoring the website files is a relatively simple task. You should upload the website files you have downloaded to their initial location, overwriting any existing files if needed. Again, this can be accomplished via an FTP client or cPanel -> File Manager.

 

CMS Made Simple Upgrade

In this tutorial we will show you how to upgrade your CMS Made Simple.

To upgrade your CMS Made Simple to the latest version, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Back up your CMSMS database and all CMSMS files.

Step 2. Download the latest CMS Made Simple package from the official CMS Made Simple download section.

Step 3. Read the UPGRADE.txt file located in the doc directory of the new installation.

Step 4. If you have made any modifications to the old CMSMS installation, you should check if you have to make them again to the new installation.

Step 5. Upload the new files, overwriting all existing CMSMS files.

Step 6. Go to http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/install/upgrade.php. Don't forget to replace yourdomainname.com with your actual domain name and cmsms with the actual CMSMS folder (if CMSMS is installed in a subfolder).

Step 7. Delete the install folder after a successful upgrade.

In the video tutorial below we'll show you how to upgrade CMS Made Simple to the latest version (in our case we'll be upgrading from 1.5.2 to 1.5.4). We'll assume that you have already downloaded the latest version to your computer, uploaded it to your hosting account and logged into your cPanel > File Manager. 

 

CMS Made Simple Security

In this tutorial we will show you how to secure your CMS Made Simple installation.

For some general tips on how to secure your account and website, we would advise you to check our basic security guidelines.

After you have checked our security guidelines (and, hopefully, applied at least some of them), you can additionally secure your CMS Made Simple site. By inserting a few lines into your .htaccess file you can stop many hacking attempts.

These rules reject HTTP requests containing characters commonly used by exploits, but will not affect the normal functionality of your application.

Here are the rules you should add to your .htaccess file:
 

# BEGIN Optional settings

# Turns off directory browsing
# not absolutely essential, but keeps people from snooping around without 
# needing empty index.html files everywhere
Options -Indexes

# Deny access to config.php
# This can be useful if php ever breaks or dies
# Use with caution, this may break other functions of CMSms that use a config.php
# file. This may also break other programs you have running under your CMSms
# install that use config.php. You may need to add another .htaccess file to those
# directories to specifically allow config.php.
<Files "config.php">
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files>

# Sets your 403 error document
# not absolutely essential to have, 
# or you may already have error pages defined elsewhere
ErrorDocument 403 /forbidden403.shtml

# No sense advertising what we are running
ServerSignature Off

# END Optional Settings

# BEGIN CMSMS and Rewrite Rules
# Make sure you have Options FollowSymLinks
# and Allow on

RewriteEngine On

# Might be needed in a subdirectory
#RewriteBase /

# URL Filtering helps stop some hack attempts
#IF the URI contains a "http:"
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} http: [OR]
#OR if the URI contains a "["
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [ [OR]
#OR if the URI contains a "]"
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ] [OR]
#OR if the URI contains a "<script>"
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C).*script.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
#OR script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
#OR any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) 
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [F,L] 
# END Filtering

# CMSMS Rewriting
# Set assume mod_rewrite to true in config.php and clear CMSMS cache
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ index.php?page=$1 [QSA]
# END CMSMS

# END Rewrite rules

SEF URLs in CMS Made Simple

In this tutorial we will show you how to enable SEF in CMS Made Simple.

CMSMS provides two ways to use SEF URLs - an internal mechanism (through PHP) and through rewrite rules (using mod_rewrite).

Note that you can use only one method for your CMS (i.e. you cannot have both the internal mechanism and mod_rewrite enabled).

Both methods work flawlessly on all SiteGround servers, so which method you'll use depends solely on your preference.

No matter which method you choose, you'll have to edit the config.php file to enable Search Engine Friendly URLs.

The exact section in the config.php file you'll need to modify to enable SEF is:

#------------
#URL Settings
#------------

#Show mod_rewrite URLs in the menu? You must enable 'use_hierarchy' for this to work for modules
$config['assume_mod_rewrite'] = false;

#Extension to use if you're using mod_rewrite for pretty URLs.
$config['page_extension'] = '';

#If you don't use mod_rewrite, then would you like to use the built-in
#pretty url mechanism?  This will not work with IIS and the {metadata} tag
#should be in all of your templates before enabling.
$config['internal_pretty_urls'] = false;

#If you're using the internal pretty url mechanism or mod_rewrite, would you like to
#show urls in their hierarchy?  (ex. http://www.mysite.com/parent/parent/childpage)
$config['use_hierarchy'] = false;

#If using none of the above options, what should we be using for the query string
#variable?  (ex. http://www.mysite.com/index.php?page=somecontent)
$config['query_var'] = 'page';


The comments (the lines that start with #) above each setting say pretty much all about it.

Now let's take a closer look at each of the two methods to use SEF URLs in CMS Made Simple.

• Using the internal pretty URLs

A SEF URL processed with the internal mechanism will look like:

http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/index.php/parent_item/child_item

In order to enable the internal pretty URLs option, you should open the config.php file inside your CMSMS installation directory and change this line:

$config['internal_pretty_urls'] = false;

to

$config['internal_pretty_urls'] = true;

• Using mod_rewrite

A SEF URL processed with mod_rewrite will look like:

http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/parent_item/child_item

In order to use SEF URLs with mod_rewrite, you should open the config.php file inside your CMSMS installation directory and change this line:

$config['assume_mod_rewrite'] = false;

to

$config['assume_mod_rewrite'] = true;

Then you should add the following lines to your .htaccess file (if you don't have an .htaccess file, you can easily create one through cPanel > File Manager):

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ index.php?page=$1 [QSA]

(If you have already added the additional security rules to your .htaccess files, you won't have to add the above lines)

Two settings that can be used with both SEF methods are:

$config['page_extension'] = '';

and

$config['use_hierarchy'] = false;

Any string you add as a page extension will be added to the SEF URLs. For example, if you want your URLs to look like:

http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/index.php/parent_item/child_item.htm

or

http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/parent_item/child_item.htm  

(depending on which SEF method you are using)

you should modify the page_extension setting as follows:

$config['page_extension'] = '.htm';

With the use_hierarchy setting you can make your URLs reflect their location in the content hierarchy. If use_hierarchy is disabled, a page URL would look like:

 http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/index.php/child_item / http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/child_item (the parent item will not be shown in the URL)

If use_hierarchy is enabled, a page URL would look like:

http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/parent_item/child_item / http://yourdomainname.com/cmsms/index.php/parent_item/child_item

To enable SEF hierarchy, change this line:

$config['use_hierarchy'] = false;

to

$config['use_hierarchy'] = true;

CMS Made Simple Admin Shortcuts

CMSMS allows you to add shortcuts to different parts of your admin panel, as well as shortcuts for external resources.

Let's say that you want to add a shortcut to the Templates section of your admin panel.

To do this, go to Layout > Templates and click the + button on the right of the screen. Then click Add Shortcut.

That's it! Now you can see the new shortcut by going to CMS > Home or by clicking the + button and then clicking the Templates shortcut.

The above steps are shown in detail in the video below:

 

CMS Made Simple gives you the option to add an external shortcut to your admin panel.

In our example we'll set up an external shortcut to SiteGround.com. Go to My Preferences > Manage Shortcuts and click Add Shortcut.

Type a title for your shortcut and enter its URL. Click Submit to save the shortcut. That's it! Now you can see the new shortcut by going to CMS > Home or by clicking the + button and then clicking the shortcut's name.

The above steps are shown in detail in the video below: