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You can set up an address specifically for simsi, but you can also use your regular address without any interference. And to make sure nobody who is not supposed to can post to your moblog, you can restrict access to specific addresses or domains.
Because using the MMS/SMS/eMail-gateway of any cellphone-provider adds some chaff to the message, you need to make sure that simsi knows which part of the eMail to display. This is simply done by enclosing the relevant portion in shebangs (#) - which also guarantees that other messages that arrive at the address (be it spam, or the latest from your mom) don't show up on the web!
The posts of your weblog are stored in an "rss.xml"-file (RSS 2.0) on the webserver. Thus not only creating an archive of your posts, but also making it possible to watch a simsi-weblog in any aggregator or feed-reader of choice. And there's permalinks for all you compulsive linkers...
To personalize your weblog, you can edit the "template.html"-file to your heart's delight, using every bit of HTML and CSS you know. Besides, you may define how many posts are displayed on the page.
The complete program consists of just one small script of PHP. This does of course mean that for simsi to work, your webhoster has to support PHP (with the --imap- and GD-extensions compiled in) - which he most probably does. Installation is usually as easy as modifying a few configuration variables and then copying three files to your webserver. You can begin to add posts via SMS, MMS or eMail immediately.
tar -xzvf simsi_2_06.tgz, or just double-click) the file. The resulting folder will contain the script "index.php" itself, "popup.php" which handles the thumbnails, and the "template.html"-file.
Open "index.php" in your favorite editor, and modify the configuration in lines 10-19 to the values you need:
$BLOG_TITLE and $BLOG_SUBTITLE are of course completely up to you. If they contain special characters (ä, &,...) make sure to encode them correctly (ä, &,...).
$MAIL_-variables are used to connect to the POP3-server that receives your mails. If you don't know them, you can find the values in your eMail-client.
$POSTS_PER_PAGE determines how many posts show up on every page of the weblog.
$NEXT_CAPTION and $PREVIOUS_CAPTION let you choose the text displayed on the navigation buttons.
$SHARED_EMAIL should be TRUE, if simsi shares your personal eMail-address. This makes sure that all the messages that are not meant for your weblog will remain on the server, to be fetched by your usual eMail-client. If you use a separate address only for simsi, change this to FALSE - and all messages simsi did not recognize (probably spam, anyway) are deleted.
$ALLOWED_SENDERS determines who can post to your blog. The sender's eMail-address is checked against this string. Examples: The default @ means that everybody with a @ in his address can post. Changing it to @aol.com would ensure that only people sending email from the aol.com-domain can add posts. And marc@rowlff.de would guarantee that nobody but marc@rowlff.de can add to the blog. To specify several addresses or domains, list them separated by the pipe-symbol (|).
If you decide to give your weblog a more personal look, you can edit the "template.html", too. Design like you would any other webpage, and put the variables in {curly brackets} in the desired positions where you want e.g. the title or the permalinks to be. Just make sure that the 'repeating' part of the weblog, the posts, is contained between the indicated markers. simsi uses these to determine where to split the template.
Once you're done, all that's left to do is putting "index.php", "template.html" and "popup.php" onto your webserver. As soon as you visit the site for the first time, the script generates a file "rss.xml" which will contain the posts you make to your blog.
Mails that do not contain a pair of # are left untouched - so no need to worry about losing important stuff or spam appearing in your weblog. (^_^)
Example: If you send this SMS through the SMS/eMail-gateway to the eMail-address you use for simsi
post@mysimsi.com #Dear Diary, you don't know how easy the last few minutes have been...#
then the eMail once it reaches your server reads something like
This message was sent via the SMS-gateway of your greedy provider
Message follows:
--
From: 0179-1234567@ubergreedy.com #Dear Diary, you don't know how easy the last few minutes have been...#
--
Message ends.
and it will show up on the weblog-page as the post
Dear Diary, you don't know how easy the last few minutes have been...
with a correct timestamp plus information about the author (eMail and/or realname, depending on your "template.html") - and the mail will be deleted. Depending on $SHARED_EMAIL, messages that made no sense to simsi will either remain on the server (to be fetched by your usual eMail-client) or will be purged.
If you attach pictures to your message, they are saved on the server, and will be shown together with the post. And if your message contains a hyperlink (from the likes of http://www.blogdujour.fr), it is automatically displayed as a clickable link.
A: Make sure that the $MAIL_-variables in lines 13-15 of the script are correct. If so, perhaps your mailserver is temporarily down.
Besides, if you are running the script locally, check whether you are connected to the internet! (^_^)
Q: When looking at my weblog, it complains about a "permission problem with 'rss.xml'. quitting..."?
A: Either the script could not generate the necessary file "rss.xml" on the server, or the file could not be written to. Most probably because the directory your blog lives in does not have the correct permissions. As a remedy, ftp into the server and change them via chmod a+w [directory]!
Q: When I attach a picture to my message, simsi prints nothing but "no permission to write image. quitting..."?
A: To be able to write a picture, simsi must have the correct permissions to the directory it lives in. To fix the problem, ftp into the server and use chmod a+w [directory] to change them!
Q: My mails don't show up in simsi?
A: A few possible problems: Either the data for your mail-server in lines 13-15 is incorrect, or you have set $ALLOWED_SENDERS to a value that doesn't let your own messages through!
And you are enclosing your message in #, aren't you?
Q: The picture I send is ignored. All I see is the text of my entry?
A: Depending on your eMail-client, attachments are encoded in many different ways. If I have overlooked yours, please contact me, so I can tweak simsi for you (and others)!
Q: The thumbnails do not work, but I am sure that the GD-library is installed?
A: Perhaps you are using an older version of the GD-library - simsi employs some functions of GD 2.0.1. Replace imagecreatetruecolor() in line 28 with imagecreate(), and imagecopyresampled() with imagecopyresized() in line 29 of "index.php". That should work, only with lesser quality thumbnails!
Q: simsi does not display anything but "could not open 'template.html'. quitting..."?
A: The "template.html"-file that determines the layout of your blog could not be found. Perhaps you forgot to put it on the server, right next to the script!
Q: The script dies with the error message "undefined function 'imap_open' in line 79"?
A: In this case, the PHP-installation on your (or more probably your hoster's) server does not have the necessary --imap-extension compiled in. Time to talk to your administrator!
Copyright 2003, 2004, Marc Rohlfing
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