Installation of 2.0.4 pl2 : Some issues and problems

I just installed version 2.0.4 pl2. It’s my first Revolution installation after a lot of Evolution installations.
I have some issues and questions about the Revolution installation:

ht.access file vs .htaccess file
Why are all htaccess files named "ht.access" instead of ".htaccess".
In Evolution there was only one you had to rename that by hand. Now there are 3.
It is unclear what to do with them. Should they all be renamed?

core.transport.zip
Why is the Core directory also in a zip in the packages directory? It is 4.4 Mb and that takes extra upload-time to the Shared Server.

ext js
It seems like the ext Javascript library is included. But is that only for the modx manager?
If so, why also include the debug and debug-with-comments files? They take up another 4 Mb’s of uploading files.

Safe mode
The installation gives a blank screen when PHP is running in Safe Mode. This should be documented in the installation. Or, better, should be checked in the installation program at the start of the installation.

root writable
The installation says:


But it is not possible to make "/[root]" writable on shared hosts. The hosting provider won’t allow it. So, I did not change that.


Extra directories not included
During installation, at the "Thank You for installing" notice, there is a messagebox saying that three directories are not created, and should be there and should be writable.
- /assets/
- /assets/components/
- /code/components/
Why not include them in the installation package and instruct the used to make them writable before starting the installation?

Delete setup
That same screen says "Click this to DELETE the setup directory from the filesystem.".
I did click it, and expected to get an error message since my root folder is not writable.
I did not get an error message and the setup directory was NOT deleted. This is confusing.
The old way was better: Just instruct the user to delete the setup folder and check it upon login in the manager.


Hope I did not mention anything already covered in other posts. I did look, but could not find anything.
Thanks in advance for you help.

Regards,

Bert

Hi Bert and Thanks. As usual, please post this in the bugtracker so it doesn’t get lost in the forums: http://bugs.modx.com/projects/revo

Quote from: rthrash at Nov 12, 2010, 09:18 PM

Hi Bert and Thanks. As usual, please post this in the bugtracker so it doesn’t get lost in the forums: http://bugs.modx.com/projects/revo

Preferably as separate items so they can be tracked properly.

Wait, let’s have discussion before we just throw things we think are bugs in the bug tracker.

Quote from: bertcatsburg at Nov 12, 2010, 11:34 AM

ht.access file vs .htaccess file
Why are all htaccess files named "ht.access" instead of ".htaccess".
In Evolution there was only one you had to rename that by hand. Now there are 3.
It is unclear what to do with them. Should they all be renamed?

If they are relevant to your environment, by all means, rename them all so they are used by Apache, though obviously whether or not you are using Apache and/or Friendly URLs also makes a difference. The ones in the core/ and manager/ directories are there to prevent direct access to core/ files (if you install them in the webroot) and turn off the rewrite engine for the manager/ directory (which is rename-able in Revolution). The root one, which you are familiar with (and there were two in Evolution BTW; also one in the manager/ directory), is covered at http://rtfm.modx.com/display/revolution20/Using+Friendly+URLs. The others need to be added to the appropriate documentation areas. Duly noted.

Quote from: bertcatsburg at Nov 12, 2010, 11:34 AM

core.transport.zip
Why is the Core directory also in a zip in the packages directory? It is 4.4 Mb and that takes extra upload-time to the Shared Server.

This does need a solution for a super light package, but it’s not the core directory. It’s the rest of the directories other than core/ and setup/. If you get the advanced package, the zip is the source for extracting all of the files into configurable locations. The traditional package though, with some refactoring could probably be distributed without it eventually. An improvement ticket would be wonderful for this.

Quote from: bertcatsburg at Nov 12, 2010, 11:34 AM

ext js
It seems like the ext Javascript library is included. But is that only for the modx manager?
If so, why also include the debug and debug-with-comments files? They take up another 4 Mb’s of uploading files.

This could possibly be removed except from an upcoming SDK package we will be adding to the traditional and advanced selections currently. This is useful for those debugging CMPs and other components that might make use of ExtJS. Ticket would be great.

Quote from: bertcatsburg at Nov 12, 2010, 11:34 AM

Safe mode
The installation gives a blank screen when PHP is running in Safe Mode. This should be documented in the installation. Or, better, should be checked in the installation program at the start of the installation.

Definitely could use a ticket for this one; keeps slipping through the cracks.

Quote from: bertcatsburg at Nov 12, 2010, 11:34 AM

root writable
The installation says:

Make sure the directories "/[root]", "/core/packages","/core/cache", and "/core/export" are writable. (root will be the actual directory you are installing to.)

But it is not possible to make "/[root]" writable on shared hosts. The hosting provider won’t allow it. So, I did not change that.

/[root] should only need to be writable in advanced installations, not traditional. This just needs some nomenclature change. A ticket would be great so this gets clarified.

Quote from: bertcatsburg at Nov 12, 2010, 11:34 AM

Extra directories not included
During installation, at the "Thank You for installing" notice, there is a messagebox saying that three directories are not created, and should be there and should be writable.
- /assets/
- /assets/components/
- /code/components/
Why not include them in the installation package and instruct the used to make them writable before starting the installation?

From experience with Evolution, this complicates things when trying to use version control with deployments, or when developing on systems where upgrades may replace entire directory structures (rather than just overwrite). I think this is a minimal inconvenience for first installation.

Yes, maybe discuss first.

htaccess
Ok, I can live with that. But it would be convenient if the optional handling of the htaccess files is mentioned in the post-installation somewhere on the screen.
Thinking about the htaccess files:
- Suppose you’re on another webserver. Then the .htaccess file has no meaning. So, you can always distribute the .htaccess file in the core/ and manager/ under the right name.
- What if you always have the root one switched on. And the user does not select User Friendly URLs in the Manager. Then nothing strange will happen since the url index.php?p=10&q=11 will be handled as expected by the .htaccess file. Also, being an Online Marketeer, I cannot imagine that anybody does NOT want SEF-URL’s these days.

core.transport.zip
Ticket #2798

ext.js
Ticket #2799

Safe mode
Already placed a ticket couple of days ago: #2789

Root writable
Ticket #2800

Extra directories not included
Yes, it’s a minor inconvenience. But a lot of minor inconveniences make the installation into one with a lot of manual post-installation tasks

- Suppose you’re on another webserver. Then the .htaccess file has no meaning. So, you can always distribute the .htaccess file in the core/ and manager/ under the right name.

That will be useless if the user’s client doesn’t display or move . files.