phpWebFileManager/txt/PN-MODULE-HOWTO

Howto get phpWebFileManager work as a Postnuke module
-----------------------------------------------------

It's not that difficult as it might look like. At first extract the files to an
directory and then start editing the configuration part of the "index.php". It
is vital that you take care of choosing the right name of your future
directory, at any case there are many hints that should help you managing that
task without any trouble.

Ok now rename your directory to the one you chose for the configuration file.
In order to avoid you trouble and sleepless nights double check that you chose
a valid name starting with "NS-" (without quotation marks). Better take a look
that the same name does exist in the string u will pass to the "modules.php"
later on.  Next go to the directory where your postnuke installation is
situated and copy your directory into the "modules" directory. You don't need
to chmod it to anything as long as the files have 644 and the directories 755
:).

Great, now Postnuke will add automatically the new module into its list, which
you can see when logging in as admin and browse to "administration -> modules".
Now it would be quite useful to make it accessible in the "Main Menu". Go to
"administration" -> "blocks" and click the "Main Menu" link. On bottom you will
notice some empty fields where u can add the link to the File Manager. For
"Title" just enter the name how you would like to see it in the menu bar. for
"Url" you enter your directory name and put it into square brackets. so using
the default name would look like this:

[NS-phpWebFileManager]

Postnuke will now know that it's an module and should be called through the
modules.php. The "Description" Field will show an hint when the mouse will move
over the link. Note that this does not work with Mozilla. However I still would
include it because other browser like Internet Explorer, Netscape 4.x or Opera
support this feature. Fine, now we have the manager included and it is already
operational. But as we are good admins with security concerns we want to make
use of the advanced security features of postnuke. So we choose only to make
the "Filemanager" entry visible to users with admin rights. So we browse to
"Administration" -> "Permissions" and hit the "View Permissions" button. Now
look for an entry which looks like this:

| All Realms | All Groups | Menublock:: | Main Menu:Administration: | none |

This means that for all but administrators the menu item "Administration" won't
be shown in the menu block and calling it by typing the url would end up in a
refusal to run. Since the filemanager is a potential risk we only allow access
to people we trust. Thats why we will add the item as follows:

| All Realms | All Groups | Menublock:: |         Main Menu:          | none |
|            |            |             |(Administration|Filemanager):|      |

I do NOT recommend setting any other restriction because one could upload ANY
file, and that could also be a malicious script file, since unlike CGI PHP can
be executed anywhere on the server root. So let this be a warning to you.

Now comes the final check: Log out and watch the change of the menu block. If
the entry s gone you succeeded :) Hope this has been a useful description to
you.

Have a nice day
Ken Kizaki <ken_kizaki@yahoo.co.jp>