Some folks seem to having issues getting their head around this subject, so I thought I would do a quick post to explain it further.

Data Source Names

A DSN (Data Source Name) is required to connect your application to your database.

In HELM there was an option to setup a ColdFusion DSN, this doesn't exist in WebsitePanel, so you need to request Data Sources to be setup manually. NOTE: ODBC DSN's do not work with Coldfusion.
This is not required for RAILO, if you are using Railo then simply login to your Railo web admin to setup Data Sources.

RDS Access

RDS allows you to connect to your databases and use debugging tools directly from dreamweaver or CFbuilder. Again there is no way to do this automatically, you need to request RDS access to be setup for you. You only need to do this once though. Please refer to the ColdFusion documentation for mor einfo on RDS.
This also involves setitng up a security sandbox so that you cannot RDS into other users sites and databases, so once you start using RDS then you will also need to get any news sites or DSN's you setup added to your sandbox before you will be able to use RDS with them.

This applies only to Coldfusion, Railo does not have RDS.

To simplify this process I have created a new DSN/RDS Support form when you can submit your requests.

Go Here: http://www.cfmldeveloper.com/page.cfm/support/rds-dsn-support

This is only a temporary requirement as I am currently working on an application to allow users to manage their own DSN's, RDS users  and Sandboxes.

Since the switch to WebsitePanel I have been busy updating a lot of the support docs and related pages.

If you look on the manu menu at the top of the site you will see there is now a "Support" menu and everything is now under here. the main support page now contains links to all the user guides and documentation you will need.
The FAQ's have been updated with more WebsitePanel specific info and common answers, and there is now a whole new support ticketing system. I was planning to use getSatisfaction as the sole support solution, which would be fine aside from the fact that all posts are public, so it is not ideal for requests that require the sharing of login details such as DSN and RDS setup. So I started searching around for an alternative FREE solution and came across Assistly.com in the google Apps marketplace, which is FREE for the first support agent (an agent is a person who logs into the ticket system).  If you only need a single support agent then the free version off Assistly is pretty good, it integrates automatically with gmail for your email support mailbox and has a fair amount of customisability if you know HTML, CSS and Jquery in the email templates. Unfortunately you can only use these customisations in the  widgets that you place on your own site and not directly on the support portal unless you pay $20 per month for the advanced editor.

So the current support options are :-

• for general questions, feedback, suggestions, praise please use getSatisfaction FEEDBACK button at the side of the site, but please do check the support pages and FAQ first.
• for account specific questions, login issues, RDS or DSN  requests please use the new "contact support" page in the support menu.

I thought this would make a handy addition to the developer hosting so I asked the nice folks at Helicon if they would donate a copy and they said yes.
Note that this is only available on the new servers running WebsitePanel, it is not available on the old HELM system.

Helicon Ape provides support for Apache .htacces and .htpasswd configuration files in Microsoft IIS. It literally implements Apache configuration model and nearly all Apache modules in a single IIS add-on, not only making IIS compatible with Apache, but also extending it’s functionality by a number of highly essential features.
What this means is that if you have an .htaccess file from Apache then it should work here, or if you have some Apache mod_rewrite rules, you can use them on your site without any modification.

Includes following modules: mod_rewrite, mod_proxy, mod_auth, mod_gzip, mod_headers, mod_cache, mod_expires, mod_replace and others. You can check all currently available modules in the compatibility chart (the list is growing with new builds).

If you have an area of your website that you need to password protect, then .htaccess is the way to do it. Using ColdFusion will only secure .cfm files, so for a basic admin system it works fine, but if you have other resources/documents you need to secure such as pdf/images/word docs etc, then using a ColdFusion login system will not stop anyone accessing those files unless you deliver them via CFcontent.
.htaccess files can also be managed directly via CF, so you can still create and manage your users and groups within your CFML app and pass the authentication details to CF after login for more granular control within your application, such as controlling roles based permissions.

To enable APE simply login to WebsitePanel, select your website, click the ".htaccess" tab on the web site properties page, then click the enable button.

For more details on using APE please see the documentation. There are lots of good example son the site showing you how to do the common stuff. Remember that you will not have direct access to the server or the APE interface, so you will need to create and edit the .htaccess and other files by hand, or you can download the FREE edition APE locally in order to generate the files and then upload to your site.

In case you missed September's newsletter, HELM and the old developer hosting servers will be taken offline at the end of March 2012. After this date anything still on the old servers will be gone forever. So if you want to keep any of the data in your account please be sure to back it up and migrate it to the new systems ASAP. On the new control panel you have automated backup tools that will make this a lot easier.

If you have no idea what i'm talking about, then you probably did not get the newsletter for some reason or it ende dup in your junk email folder, in which case please rmemeber to add cfmldeveloepr.com to your whitelist/filters so that you receive future emails.

You can view the aforementioned newsletter HERE which explains how to migrate your data to the new systems.

Read more...

Mura CMS at the UK CFUG  in London - October 20th

Blue River's Grant Shepert will be presenting an overview of Mura CMS at the UK CFUG in London on October 20th. Grant will show how you can quickly create a full-featured website in Mura CMS while covering an overview of Mura CMS features, plugins & plugin development, creating & deploying site bundles, and more.

The doors open at 7:00 PM for a 7:30 start - don't miss this opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in Mura CMS. Also, attendees of this event will get a 25% discount on the upcoming UK Mura CMS training courses. Click here for more information. 

London Mura CMS training courses - November 14-18

Blue River will be offering London-based Mura CMS training November 14-18, 2011. These full-day training courses will provide you with in-depth understanding of how to get the most out of Mura CMS, from simple content updates all the way to creating new Mura CMS plug-ins.

We have 3 courses available, each tailored to the unique needs of your different team members.

Admin/User Training Course: In this one-day course, you will learn how to use Mura CMS's administration screens to build, configure and maintain your site. This course will include an overview of Mura CMS's functionality, with a focus on the tools and processes used during site creation and content updates.

Front-End Developer Training Course: In this two-day course, we will cover a wide range of front-end development. You'll get an in-depth understanding of how to create and modify Mura CMS templates and CSS to create your site's layouts and design, and how to use JavaScript to manipulate page elements dynamically. We will also show you how to rapidly build-out a site with common functionality by leveraging the built-in features of Mura.

Back-End Developer Training Course: In this two-day course, you will get a hands-on "deep dive" into Mura CMS. You'll learn the fundamental principles at work in Mura CMS, and how to programatically manipulate, extend and customize Mura CMS. We'll cover topics ranging from the accessing the Mura API to creating plugins, performance tuning and much, much more. This course will enable you to take full advantage of all that Mura CMS offers.

We'll be presenting this training at Adobe's London offices at 12 Regent Park. Many thanks to Adobe for their assistance and support of Mura CMS.