VersaCounter ------------ * For the most recent information and documentation see the URL: http://www.aquilo.net * Requires: Perl 5.004 or higher GD.pm module (for all graphic digit styles) The most recent version of the GD Perl module can be found at http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/modules/by-module/GD/ (You do not need root privileges to install it.) * Installation: 1. Unpack the gzipped tar file: gzip -d vcounter.tar.gz tar -xvf vcounter.tar (or in one step with GNU tar: tar -xvzf vcounter.tar.gz ) This will produce the following files/directories: README = this file vcntrdoc.html = the documentation in HTML form vcounter = the CGI script digits/ = directory containing the GIF digit styles logs/ = an (empty) directory for VersaCounters log files [The "digits" directory contains a subdirectory for each of the supplied digit styles. Each subdirectory is named after the style option used when calling VersaCounter (see vcntrdoc.html). It contains the GIF images of each digit "0.gif", ..., "9.gif", and a file named "size", containing the dimensions of that style (in pixels) in the form x. Many more digit styles are available at the "Digit Mania" archive: http://www.digitmania.holowww.com/ You can add more styles at any time. Simply create a new subdirectory and put them in it (renamed "0.gif", ...,"9.gif"). Then create the appropriate size file. (If you open a single GIF in Netscape or MSIE they will tell you the pixel size of the image.) File permissions should be 744.] 2. Move the vcounter script and the logs and digits directories to wherever is appropriate for your site. You can rename these as desired. Some servers require CGI scripts to have a .cgi extension. [If you use Server Side Includes be aware that, by default, VersaCounter saves the graphical images of the counters to the logs directory. Therefore, if you have a separate cgi-bin directory in which your server expects to find only CGI scripts, the logs directory should be placed above it. Otherwise, the server will not recognize the counter images correctly as ordinary GIF files. Alternatively, you can tell VersaCounter to save the counter images to a different directory by setting the $image_dir parameter (see step 3).] 3. Adjust the filenames and directory path parameters within the Perl script to reflect the usage on your site. The only crucial parameters to set are: $site_URI = 'http://www.wherever.com'; # URI of this web site $wd = '/usr/local/www/'; # full directory path to the root of web site $digits_dir = 'digits/'; # dir of GIF digits (relative to $wd) $log_dir = 'logs/'; # dir for log files (relative to $wd) $image_dir = 'logs/'; # dir for counter images (relative to $wd) The trailing slashes on the directories are important! Other parameters you might want to adjust for various purposes include: $auto_init = 1; # allow automatic creation of counters for new pages $hr_adjust = 0; # add this to local hour for starting date %valid_servers = ('www.other.server.com'=> 1, # valid *remote* servers 'www.big.school.edu'=> 1 # for counters (1=yes 0=no) ); $text_string = 'hits since'; # text displayed between # counter and date for show=all 4. Read the documentation and Enjoy! * Comments/Bugs: Send any comments or bug reports to chavel@aquilo.net. If you use this counter on your web site email me the URL, so I can keep you informed of any changes. * Copyright/Disclaimer: VersaCounter is Copyright (c) 1998 Michael Chavel (chavel@aquilo.net) You are allowed to use or distribute the VersaCounter program for PERSONAL AND NON-PROFIT PURPOSES ONLY. The program must always be distributed with this copyright notice. Licenses for commercial use or reselling of this program may be arranged by contacting the author. THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.