Before You Install: Boast Machine

BoastMachine is a blog application. It is written in PHP and backed by a MySQL database. BoastMachine Official Website Use it because:

1. lightweight, simple and easy-to-use
2. multiple blogs and user registration
3. built-in Shoutbox
4. built-in backup/restore
5. you do not need subcategories, plugins or other fancy stuff

Installing the script:

1. Download the BoastMachine script download
2. Install the script. Important: Pay attention to the file permissions in steps 4 and 6!

Customizing the blog: BoastMachine has several ready-to-go themes available for download. download After you have downloaded the theme files,

1. Unzip and upload the files to the templates folder in the BoastMachine directory on your FTP account
2. Login to your BoastMachine admin area and activate the theme via Admin > Themes

Customizing the theme: Customizations are done by tweaking the theme's CSS and PHP files, using the "Template Editor" function in the admin area. More information on the template files: http://boastology.com/docs/templates For example, to add the built-in Shoutbox to the blog sidebar:

1. Open the side_menu.php file
2. Add the following lins to where you want the shoutbox to appear:

<div> <?php bmc_ShoutBox(); ?> </div>

And if you want to change the appearance of the shoutbox, you will need to do so via the shoutbox.css file. Language Packs BoastMachine offers over 12 different language packs. download Once you have downloaded and unzipped the file(s), upload them to the /bmc/inc/lang folder in the BoastMachine directory on your FTP server. Spice it up with Mods! There are many mods to choose from, from social networking to image gallery. more info Once you have downloaded and unzipped the file(s), upload them to the BoastMachine directory on your FTP server as per the instructions in the ReadMe.txt file that comes with the mod. Demo: Coppermine Photo Gallery mod http://doteasydemo.com/bmachine/mygallery/ Before you begin, you will need to install Coppermine Photo Gallery on to your account on your account. Then, after you have installed Coppermine:

1. Download the BoastMachine Coppermine mod. download
2. Open the /bmachine/mygallery/index.php file using a text editor and change the "$path_to_coppermine" and "$gallery_title".

• Change "/gallery" to the directory where you have installed your Coppermine Photo Gallery (the actual application, not the mod files)
• Change the title of the gallery to anything you want

Additional resources:

• BoastMachine's How-To's
• CSS Tutorial from W3Schools