WebComicsDB version 0.1 by Matt Fuerst (matt@nerdstuff.net)
Document Version 1.1 (09/03/2002)

Welcome and thanks for checking out my little project. It's simple, it's
small and it does a decent job for my needs. Please don't hesitate to contact
me if you have any questions. Intended as a replacement to my home-brewed
FileMaker Pro database that plain out sucked (but still probably looks a
little better now than this one does, but soon...).

There are some projects out there to archive mass numbers of books, of which
you can pick and choose and add from their collection into your collection
(ComicsDB.com amongst others) and if those suit your needs then that is great.
However, the speed of such services always is an issue for me (what can compete to
running the database/web pages on a local machine?), availability and longevity.
Is that data still going to be there 6 months or 2 years down the road? I prefer
the "Keep everything local" approach for my books.

There are lots of traditional applications to archive books too. For Linux
desktops there is MangaDB, GCO, etc... and a plethora of apps for the Win32
environment (mostly written in VB, ugh). None suited my needs, so here is the
my answer.

Requirements:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Apache Web Server (Tested with 1.3.26)
MySQL Database (Tested with 3.23.XX)
PHP (Tested with PHP 4.2.2)

Installation:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Fire up mysql and create a database named comicsdb.
1(alt). 'mysql -e 'create database comicsdb' from command line.

2. From the comicsdb folder, do the following command:
'mysql < ./comicsdb.create' which will create the tables for you.
Depending on your settings you may have to pass mysql a -u and -p switch to login to
mysql as a specific user. (man mysql for information)

3. Move the folder comicsdb to the root of your Apache root folder.
This will result in you being able to access your Comics at http://localhost/comicsdb/

4. Edit file consts.php. Change the $myhost, $myuser and $mypassword values accordingly.
Additionally in this file there is a php define() command that is defining the title
that is used on the main page. Feel free to edit this to your liking and put your
specific information in it.

5. (Optional) If you want security for the admin type functions (adding new books,
etc...) then we have to tweak the Apache http.conf file. Edit the file and add
something like the following:

<Directory /dir/to/your/webcomicsdb_install/admin>
	Options None
	Order	Deny,Allow
	Allow from all
	AuthName "WebComicsDB Administrator Access"
	AuthType Basic
	AuthUserFile /dir/to/apache/webcomicsdb.users
	require valid-user
</Directory>

After you add this, then you need to run the htpasswd prorgam that is in the Apache bin
directory. For example:

./htpasswd -c /dir/to/apache/webcomicsdb.users loginname

Things to note: AuthUserFile doesn't neccessarily have to be in the root
apache folder, just make sure the file is in a location where the executable
that runs your apache/httpd service can read it. The -c switch on the htpasswd
prorgam creates a new file, so if you are updating an existing password or adding
a new user to your Administrator access then omit the -c switch.

You should be up and running now.

WebComicsDB -- A Web System for monitoring your comic books.
Copyright (C) 2002 Matt Fuerst (matt@nerdstuff.net). All rights reserved. 
Original source available at http://nerdstuff.net/webcomicsdb/