Presto comes as a set of cold fusion templates, along with a database file.  Two of the templates, (application.cfm and presto/custom/presto_settings.cfm) files must be edited with a text file editor.

Presto's configuration can vary from test to live server, but the configuration steps are about the same in both cases.  Differences in settings occur in your entries in step 4 below.

Installation Steps

1) Copy template files.  Copy all of the Presto template files and subfolders into your website's home directory.  Before you do this, ensure that any existing files in the root directory do not conflict with Presto files of the same name.  More common files that Presto uses are: application.cfm, index.cfm, styles.css, and print.css.

2) Adjust application.cfm.  In application.cfm, give your application a unique cold fusion application name.  Let this be an alphanumeric name only (underscores are ok, but no dashes) that represents your website or client in some way, e.g. "presto_acme".  The application name mustn't conflict with any other cf applications on the server, or you will get confusing results (like suddenly being shifted to another website when accessing the new site's index.cfm file).

3) Get ODBC Connection. Decide which type of database Presto should use (MS Access, MS SQL Server, or MySQL), and rename the corresponding Presto database in the /data/ folder.  Then set up (or have your ISP set up) a new ODBC connection pointing to that database.  Usually ISP's control the naming of this connection, but if you have the opportunity, call the ODBC connection by the same name as the cold fusion application name above.

4) Edit Presto settings file.  Edit the /presto/custom/presto_settings.cfm file.  Add the ODBC connection name, user ID and password, and your or the webmaster's email address (for receiving Presto generated error reports).  There are two sections for entering these settings, one for a test environment, which by default is assumed to be at http://test.[your domain], and one for your live webserver.  To detect your test site at another domain or file path will require custom editing of this script.

Multilingual sites: This file also has a parameter at the bottom for the way the path to a language variation of a website is handled.  The list items of this "application.language_folders" variable correspond to file suffixes that are added to the website's main folder (as defined in a website home page "folder" field in Presto backend, more on this later.)  By default the root folder is called "cms" and "_en" is added for the english variation of the site, making "cms_en"; "_fr" is added for french language users, making "cms_fr", and these must correspond to folder names in the root webserver folder.  If your website only has one language, you can clear this list, and the root "cms" folder alone will be used as the folder the CMS content appears in.

5) At this point /presto.cfm should return a login page for the presto backend.

6) Rename the /presto/default_website/ path.   Coordinate this with editing of your home_page Properties tab.

7) In a browser, index.cfm should return a website.

8) adjust the default verity search engine for the website.

9) If desired, adjust the presto/default_website/html/banner_frame.html to incorporate the logo of a client.  The login page, at presto/default_website/login/login_form_html.cfm can also accomodate a logo or other HTML changes.

10) Run the presto_checklist.cfm template to get feedback on how successful the install is. 

Mail server issues may arise in some situations; usually this is a function of Cold Fusion and the ISP setup the Presto installation exists on.  For example, from & to fields of an email template usually can't be the same address; sometimes at least one of these addresses must be from or to a website (domain) that the ISP hosts.

Presto Checklist Report

First, note that to verify the correct settings for a Presto installation without having to login to Presto, a configuration checklist can be viewed that indicates all of Presto's essential settings.  The script file is called presto_checklist.cfm, and it is best to run this in the root directory of the website - in the same folder as the application.cfm, presto.cfm, and index.cfm templates.  This file can also be used to debug any installation issues that arise (for example, testing new security measures.)  However it is best not to leave it to exist in public web space - i.e. once you are done with it, move it into a secure directory, say, the /presto.cfm folder.

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