We present for your edification and general enjoyment, our Eve Online Killboard installation tutorial. This tutorial is available as a YouTube video in two parts

This is an Intermediate level tutorial and assumes you have, or can quickly learn, some basic computer skills such as using FTP to upload files. However we will spell out every step required in getting you a basic installation of your own Killboard and if you have questions you can contact us for assistance.

I wouldn't imagine you will get stuck and the worst you can end up with is an installation that doesn't work - so you start again and repeat all the stages carefully until you get an operating Killboard.

I estimate you can install and configure your Killboard in around 30 minutes. This is assuming you have a web hosting service and all the pre-requisite facilities in place. Do not be scared off trying this by some of the Tech' Speak because to be honest it is not rocket science and with a bit of patience and careful reading you can accomplish this.

There are certain requirements that may involve you downloading and installing other applications before you even get to installing the Killboard but it is likely you will use these applications again in the future and your time won't be wasted

So what is a Killboard?

A Killboard is a website where a pilot, Corporation, or Alliance list their kills and losses. They are generally publicly viewable, although sometimes full information on current operations or ship fittings is restricted. Many Killboard’s display a fitting screen of the killed ship's setup and other stats, such as kills in the last day/week/etc, "top gun" and "top loser", and kills/losses in a campaign, are also generally available.

Killmail’s can be posted manually from the Character Sheet/Combat Log, or automatically pulled using the Eve-API by Corporate/Alliance officers. Many Killboard’s also offer a Sync feature which pulls mails from many other Killboard’s.

Many alliances and corporations set up their own Killboard and utilize the free open source Killboard called EDK. It is written in PHP and uses a MySql database. It is produced and maintained by the Eve-Dev team but anyone can contribute changes, mods and themes for everyone else to use. This guide will feature the EDK Killboard.

Installation Requirements

The basic requirements to install the Killboard are as follows:

1. A Web hosting service where the EVE Killboard files will reside
2. Apache Web Server
3. PHP => version 5.0+ (5.2 recommended)
4. MySQL Database => 5.0+
5. The EVE Killboard files - Latest version is EDK3.1.5
6. A suitable FTP program
7. Eve Online Director's API key (optional)

1. A Web Hosting service where the EVE killboard files will reside

Web servers are no different from the services provided by your own PC in that they need disk space to locate the files any particular service requires. What the web servers do with files may be different from your PC but the files still have to be located somewhere and read and in some cases modified such as when a new Kill arrives into your Killboard. Even the database that holds the new Kill data is still held within a file on a PC (a Server) somewhere.

There are many web host services around the world and you should use one that can accommodate your needs not only to host this Killboard, but for other services that you may wish to install in the future. Once you have a 'taste' for the processes involved in this installation procedure you will understand how simple it can be to install other services so don't limit yourself by choosing a web host that restricts your future ambitions by limiting the web space or bandwidth you have at your disposal. Go for a decent amount of web space (read disk space) and the biggest bandwidth you can. Most hosting services will provide an upgrade path if you decide to expand in the future so if you are simply installing a Killboard then pick a level of service that gives you the minimum for the Killboard with provision for more at a later date.

We won't make any recommendations on web hosting services outwith the UK as this is where we are based. The service we use ourselves is provided by Eve-Corporation.co.uk with whom we have experience and who we highly recommend - they are providing hosting for EVE Online specific websites and understand what the Eve Community are looking for and will take payment in ISK.

The web is shrinking the world every day and your location is becoming much less of a priority however it may suit your needs (and your pocket) to use a service that is 'local' to you in Canada, India or the USA or wherever in the world you happen to be.

2. Apache Web Server

This will be provided by your web hosting service and is not something you will generally need to concern yourself with. It is possible to host a service yourself on your own server in your home or office and you would need to install the Apache Web Server and all the other files necessary yourself. This is not discussed in this tutorial.

3. PHP => version 5.0+ (5.2 recommended)

This is the minimum requirement however this version is no longer supported and all responsible hosting services will have upgraded to PHP 5.xx so it is unlikely you will be offered a PHP version below the minimum required.

Within your PHP installation you will need:

-- GD2 (or higher) Library installed

This library is a set of functions to manipulate graphics through PHP and other scripting languages. For example, superimposing text on a graphic and many other functions. Again you will not be required to install this and it will be pre-configured and made available to your installation of PHP by your web host. Simply ensure it is available before purchasing a web host service.

-- PHP Safe Mode - option setting to OFF

This is a configuration setting within the PHP installation and again you will not be required to do this as it will be pre-configured and made available to your installation of PHP by your web host. If it requires changing then usually you can access the php.ini file to modify the setting. Contact your web host to confirm or use the phpInfo.php procedure (below) to check.

-- allow_url_fopen - option setting to ON

This is a configuration setting within the PHP installation and again you will not be required to do this as it will be pre-configured and made available to your installation of PHP by your web host. If it requires changing then usually you can access the php.ini file to modify the setting. Contact your web host to confirm or use the phpInfo.php procedure (below) to check.

4. MySQL Database => 5.0+

Again this is a function your web host will usually provide and in the 'control panel' of your website will be details of your MySQL database with password and login. At the very least you would have the option to use a MySQL database and it may be a simple installation process within the control panel your web host provides, to activate it and you would supply your login/password details at this point - generally (but not always) using a different login name and password from your access to the web host control panel for added security.

This may only provide the database functionality and there may be no actual named database file or tables configured within the database. See below for details on the creation (the naming) of your actual database file. When you install the Killboard it will be an automated process - all you will need is the name of the database file, the login name and the password for access to the database

You will also need MySQLi which again will be installed by your web hosting service and is not something you need to do other than ensure it is available.

Contact your web host to confirm or use the phpInfo.php procedure (below) to check.

The MySQLi Extension is a relational database driver used in the PHP programming language to provide an interface with MySQL databases. MySQLi is an improved version of the older PHP MySQL driver, offering various benefits.

The developers of the PHP programming language recommend using MySQLi when dealing with MySQL server versions 4.1.3 (and newer) as it takes advantage of new functionality.

5. The latest EVE killboard

Can be retrieved from : http://code.google.com/p/evedev-kb/downloads/list
Look for whatever is recommended as the latest version. Check the latest posts in the forums and see what the latest version available is. The download should be shown in the first post. This guide will implement EDK3.1.5 which is the current latest release at time of writing.

Also available will be the latest development releases from: http://eve-id.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=503&t=15570

You can also use a SVN client and keep up with the latest versions from http://code.google.com/p/evedev-kb/source/checkout

Many SVN clients are available and one we can recommend is Tortoise. Tortoise SVN is open source software and is available from http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/

6. A suitable FTP program

To install the files required you need a method of transferring the files to your web space. A File Transfer Protocol package will do this for you and you need to select and install a suitable package. There are many, many FTP packages available but we can recommend FileZilla and it is free to download and use and very easy and q uick to install. This will provide you with a graphical interface to your web space and you can upload/download files to and from your PC and web space, change permissions on files etc, and it is necessary for the requirements of this Killboard installation. FileZilla is open source software.

Your web hosting service should provide you with all the details required to connect to your FTP service - server name, login and password. Any problems encountered are generally down to incorrect login details so ensure you configure your FTP connection as your web host proscribes.

7. Eve Online Director's API key

If you are going to setup an Alliance or Corporation killboard from: http://www.eveonline.com/api/ , or you can use your own API key for a personal EVE killboard.

If You Have Existing Hosting.

Perhaps you have previously purchased a web hosting service (or are using a free one), and now you are wondering whether it provides the requirements for an EVE Killboard installation. In that case you have two choices; either contact your hosting provider and ask them or you can check it by yourself using a ‘phpInfo.php’ file which you would load into your webspace and run from your web browser. This file will then display all the functionality of your PHP installation and from this you can see if all the requirements are in place.

It is a very simple file and consists of one PHP command.

To do this create a text file and name it phpInfo.php

Into the file paste this text:

<? php
phpinfo()
; ?>

Save the file (not as phpInfo.php.txt as Notepad will tend to do - select All File Types and save as phpInfo.php) and then upload it to your web space and into the root directory. Generally your root directory will be named such as var/www/html/ and you will see this in your FTP program.

Once you have uploaded the phpInfo.php file then call it up in your web browser. If your website is called http://www.example.com then you would call up http://www.example.com/phpInfo.php

A file will now be displayed in the browser listing all the functionality your PHP installation has plus loads of other information such as locations of files and more that is of little concern right now. All you need to look for are details on the minimum requirements shown above - the Apache Web Server (this has to be installed otherwise you would not see any browser pages from your site), the PHP version, the MySQL version and the GD2 Library availability - scroll down the page and see if GD is listed then it will show a version such as 2.0.34 and is enabled.

IMPORTANT: Once you have checked your PHP configuration then remove the phpInfo.php file from your web server for security. If a 'bot' happens across it the details exposed by the file will make your site vulnerable. If you need to check something again then upload the file, do your check and delete again.

If any of the above requirements (except the API key) are not available then you will have problems and your first step is to contact your web host for a solution. Otherwise find a better host who does supply all the above by default or at least makes the options easy for you to access.

Once you are sure that your web server supports the EVE Killboard, you will need to create the database file as this information will be requested during the installation. The Killboard installation package will create and configure the necessary tables within a database but there has to be a database already created for it to access and configure.

In your control panel the web host provides you will have access to the MySql database functions and in here you will create a new database file. The name you choose is entirely up to yourself but you need to note what you use for later use.

Sometimes there may be some text already defined by your database creation routine such as:
example_com_(your new database name will be added on here)

Your web host may define the example_com_ section and you fill in the final name section to end up with example_com_mykillboard for example. If pre-defined like this it is typically associated with the name of your website. Whatever is required you only need select and define a name for your database file and it is within this that the Killboard tables will reside.

Be aware you may have only one database available and you could use this to hold multiple tables for many different facilities that your site may eventually use and not just the Killboard tables. Thus using mykillboard as the database name may not be advisable as you could end up using the database for many applications. Pick a name more suitable for general use.

Having a single database can lead to problems if sloppy developers don't take care in the naming of their tables. If you install two different packages into one database and one table has the same name in both packages but is configured differently then one of the packages is going to fall down.

For example two applications may use a table called Users but one package holds many user details and the other only has name and address. The second installation of this table has probably overwritten the first installation and now only contains the users name and address and when the first application tries to retrieve all the other data it expects the table to hold it will fail.

Having multiple databases available is better and many web host services will offer 5, 10 or even unlimited databases. Advertising 'unlimited databases' is a bit naughty actually as the overall database size will normally be subtracted from the amount of web space you have available and you would find the 'unlimited' allowance runs out rather quickly.

Imagine you install a Killboard and Joomla applications then it is safer to have all the tables for the Killboard in one database file and all the Joomla tables in a totally separate database file to ensure there is no danger of them interfering with each other. In this case you could contemplate naming one database file as example_com_mykillboard and the other database file as example_com_joomla as they will not be holding tables that can be associated with any other applications.

So let us recap at this point.

• You have checked your web host package can provide the necessary minimum requirements
• You have installed an FTP package and configured it to connect to your web space
• You have downloaded the latest version of the Killboard
• You have created your database to hold the Killboard data
• You have noted the database name, user name and password
• You have your API details ready

If you answer yes to all of these then you are ready to install the Killboard.

Killboard Installation Tutorial Part 2 follows here

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