top sites php help

[jester]

top sites... i want to add a top sites to my page... but i am at a blank when it comes to php... this is what it told me to do...
Installation:
Step 1: Upload all files and folders to your desired autorank directory on your server.
Step 2: Chmod a+rwx (chmod 777) all folders that were uploaded.
Step 3: Chmod a+rwx (chmod 777) index.php, in.php, and out.php. This will be necessary for
the script to function properly so do not skip it.
Step 4: Create a mysql database to be used by AutoRank PHP. This can be done thru shell by
accessing the mysql prompt and typing 'CREATE DATABASE desired-db-name;' Or you can
use any mysql admin program such as phpmyadmin (http://phpmyadmin.sourceforge.net).
Step 5: Point your web-browser to http://www.yoursite.com/arpdir/init.php
Step 6: Fill in the mysql database details pertaining to the user who has permissions to
access the db you created in step 4.
Step 7: If you followed the above directions, no errors should have occured and you are
ready to log in to admin/setup.php using username admin and password admin.
Step 8: Complete the config form you are taken to.
Step 9: Configure your templates and you are ready to go.

for step 2 & 3 it tells me to change it to 777 but i read on a post somethwere thats thats bad... what do i do?
for step 4 i have a mysql section but i don't know what i need to do to add one... and what name i should give it...

well if anybody could help that would be nice...

k thnxs

[sde]

well it does say only chmod the files that were uploaded .. not you root directory or anything.

when u say 'a mysql section' , do you mean you have a section in your web control panel where your site is hosted?

i'm not familiar with that script, but if it wants you to chmod 777 it, then it needs write access to those directories and files.

1. do you have mysql on your web server?
2. does a mysql database which you have a username/password to already exist?

if so, then just use that database. you don't need to name it anything in peticular, .. just go to step 5 and fill in the datbase/username/password and it should work.

if this isn't clear ( which i don't think it is ), try asking again in different words heh, .. i might understand better.

[Epsilon]

for step 2 & 3 it tells me to change it to 777 but i read on a post somethwere thats thats bad... what do i do?

777 makes the script both world writable and executable. That's a really bad idea for CGI scripts, but not such a big deal with PHP. However, since most servers don't require PHP file permissions to have the execute bit set, I would use 666 instead of 777. This will still give you write permission.

Better yet, you might even try setting the files to 664. That makes them writable by the owner and the group, but not the public. Depending on how your server is configured, this may or may not work. If your web server is able to write to the files with group permissions, 664 is the best permission setting. Otherwise go with 666. Although it's slightly less secure, it should work fine.

777 is not necessary unless your web server requires PHP scripts to be set as executable (rare) AND the particular files being written to have executable PHP code. They probably don't. My guess is these files just contain configuration variables.

One last note: Any files that don't need to be written to by the server, set them to 644. No sense in giving extra write permissions that aren't needed.