[idea] Don't require folders to be writeable at point of installation

I’ve been keeping a low profile for a bit, so apologies if this has been covered and I’ve missed it. From what I can gather, the 0.9.7 installer is in progress, so this might be worth considering for it if it’s not already part of the plan.

I recently installed WordPress 2.2. Wow. There’s a simple install. Bung the db data in a config file, tell WP your email and site name, job done. No requirement to make any file or folder writeable.

However, throughout the app there are references to "If this was writeable we could save it for you" etc. Fantastic.

It strikes me that many of the folders that MODx 0.9.6 RC3 demands are made writeable may never be used by a given user. There’s effort involved that is not directly connected to an activity. I appreciate it’s easier to set things up right at first, but it’s another barrier to getting people into the manager.

Export - could easily check whether the folder is writeable when it needs to be.
Cache - could be switched off if this folder and/or the indexes aren’t writeable.
Images - user could just not be able to upload images until this is made writeable.

Even the config file might not need to be writeable if it already exists and contains the right information.

(I vaguely recall that the permissions were changed automatically when I tried installing MODx on MediaTemple, but I don’t use that host now and all other hosts have required permissions to be set manually.)

Further, I might want to have images in a different directory. I should be able to configure this within the manager, and thus it is daft to insist on a particular folder being writeable at the get-go.

Is this doable or are things so wildly different with 0.9.7 that none of this is an issue?

Paul, you and I share the same feelings on this subject for sure.

I absolute agree that this minimalist approach (provide simple easy steps or offer to do it for them) is the best, and I plan on incorporating that idea in MODx to include config file setup, htaccess generation, cache directory setup, etc. In fact, via a bootstrap process and a built-in package installation system, the entire MODx core (as well as add-on packages) will have both simple, minimal manual installation and advanced automated installation capabilities when it’s all said and done.