Webliographer FAQ

What is Webliographer?

Webliographer is a server-based web application that allows people to build mini-search engines similar to Yahoo!. Webliographer is similar to Yahoo! in that every link is added by a human (rather than a computer program that searches the web itself). Because all links are added by hand, presumably by someone who knows what kinds of things you're looking for, it's likely that the links they add will be useful to you. The downside is that because links must be added by someone, you might not be able to find what you're looking for.

How can I get Webliographer?

Though all of Webliographer's files are freely available, right now I (Jay Pfaffman) am the only one who has installed it. If you're interested in giving it a try, go over to http://webliographer.com/downloads/ and get it.

What are the system requirements for Webliographer?

Webliographer requires PHP3 and mySQL. Webliographer has been installed only on UNIX (or Linux) servers, but changes have been made which should allow it to work under Windows (if you have PHP3, Perl, and MySQL). PHP3 is free and MySQL is sort of free (but not on Microsoft OS's).

How easy is it to install?

Perhaps. At least one other person has done it. I've written directions that I was able to follow. Your mileage may vary.

I don't want a unix server and I don't want to learn about MySQL, is there another way?

Yes. You can use Webliographer.com's server for free. Start at http://webliographer.com/webliographer/ and sign up for an account (how to participate). If you already have an account on that server, then you can go straight to the Create Your Own page.

Why do you have this FAQ listed as the home page?

Because I haven't made a decent Webliographer home page yet.

Can I change the colors of the text and links?

There aren't currently fields in the database for those values, but you can add them to the bodytags field with entries like text="#DDDDDD" (DDDDDD is an ugly color). Strangely, those values don't get read into the form in future edit_view sessions. That would be a bug.

Jay Pfaffman <pfaffman@relaxpc.com>