CMSMS Config Variables

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TITLE: CMSMS Config Variables

AUTHOR:

Copyright and License:

Copyright

2011-12 by the CMS Made Simple Development Team. All Rights Are Reserved.

This document is free. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
any later version.
However, as a special restriction to the GPL, when modifying and redistributing this document this notice in
its entirety, along with a list of further copyright entitlements must be provided.
This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite
330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA. Or read it online

2011 CMS Made Simple

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CMSMS Config Variables

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Table of Contents
CMSMS Config Variables......................................... 1
Copyright and License:............................................. 1
Introduction:.............................................................. 3
Scope:....................................................................... 3
Organization:............................................................ 3
Variable Reference:.................................................. 3
dbms.................................................................... 3
db_hostname....................................................... 3
db_name.............................................................. 3
db_username...................................................... 4
db_password....................................................... 4
db_prefix.............................................................. 4
db_port................................................................ 4
timezone.............................................................. 4
root_path............................................................. 5
root_url................................................................ 5
ssl_url.................................................................. 5
admin_url............................................................. 5
uploads_path....................................................... 5
uploads_url.......................................................... 6
ssl_uploads_url...................................................6
image_uploads_path........................................... 6
image_uploads_url.............................................. 6
ssl_image_uploads_url........................................ 6
css_path.............................................................. 7
css_url................................................................. 7
ssl_css_url........................................................... 7

2011 CMS Made Simple

debug................................................................... 7
admin_dir............................................................. 7
persist_db_conn.................................................. 8
previews_path (deprecated)................................ 8
auto_alias_content.............................................. 8
url_rewriting......................................................... 8
page_extension................................................... 8
query_var............................................................ 9
image_manipulation_prog (deprecated).............9
image_transform_lib_path................................... 9
locale................................................................... 9
admin_encoding (deprecated)........................... 10
default_encoding (deprecated).......................... 10
set_names......................................................... 10
set_db_timezone............................................... 10
wiki_url (removed in CMSMS 1.11.3 and later). .10
show_performance_info....................................11
debug_to_log..................................................... 11
php_memory_limit (deprecated)........................ 11
showbase........................................................... 11
Revision History:..................................................... 12
August 2011 Robert Campbell........................ 12
October 2011 Robert Campbell......................12
April 2012 Robert Campbell............................ 12
July 2012 Robert Campbell............................ 12
May 2013 Robert Campbell............................12

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CMSMS Config Variables

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Introduction:
This document is intended to provide a reference to the various config variables available in CMS Made
Simple, and how to use them. It is intended as a reference for those people familiar with such concepts as
database connectivity, file paths, permissions, and url rewriting. This document is not a tutorial or how-to
guide.

Scope:
This document describes the variables as available in CMS Made Simple version 1.11 it does not include
descriptions of variables used by third party addon modules, or for previous versions of CMSMS.
Additionally, this document cannot be considered a complete reference. Third party modules and plugins
may ignore some of these values or add their own.

Organization:
This document is organized roughly by the priority of the variables, from the top down. Most commonly used
configuration variables will be described first.

Variable Reference:
dbms
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Note:

Specifies the database management system and libraries that

CMSMS should use.
Required
String
mysql, mysqli
Postgres support was removed in CMSMS 1.11

db_hostname
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:

Specifies the hostname of the system that hosts the database.. This
should be provided by your host.
Required
String
Any hostname, or IP address. 'localhost' is the proper value on most
hosts.

db_name
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:

2011 CMS Made Simple

Specifies the name of the database that CMSMS should use

Required
String
A valid database name. If you are unsure of this value, contact your
hosting provider.

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db_username
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:

The username of the database user that has sufficient privilege to the
database name specified above. This is used to allow CMSMS to
connect to the database.
Required
String
The username of your account, or the database username created in
the admin console. Contact your host for the proper value for this field
if you are uncertain.

db_password
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:

Specify the password associated to the database user. This is used to

allow CMSMS to connect to the database.
Required
String
The password (plain text) that is associated with the database
username specified above.

db_prefix
Description:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

Specify a prefix to use infront of all table names. This variable can be
used to allow multiple applications to coexist inside the dame
database.
Required
String
cms_

db_port
Description:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

Specify an alternate port number to use when connecting to the

database. This is useful when your database is available on a port
that is not the standard. The information provided from your host
should indicate this.
Optional
integer
3306 for mysql, may be different for postgres or other systems.

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timezone
Description:
Note:

Status:
Type:
Example:
Accepted Values:
See Also:

The timezone for date calculations. All times entered into and
displayed by CMSMS will be in this timezone.
Note: Behaviour has changed regarding timezones between PHP
versions, when running PHP 5.2 this variable may not need to be set.
However in PHP 5.3 it needs to be set to a valid value for your server.
Note: The behavior of this variable has changed since previous
versions of CMSMS. In previous versions of CMSMS the timezone
value needed to be set to match the servers timezone. This is not
necessarily the case any more.
Required
String
$config['timezone'] = 'America/Denver';
See this link: http://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php
http://php.net/manual/en/function.date-default-timezone-set.php
See also the set_db_timezone config variable.

root_path
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

Specify the full and complete filesystem path to this CMSMS

installation
Optional
String
A valid path specification
Determined automatically from the script location.

root_url
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value

Specify the normal (insecure) URL to the top of your website.

Optional
String
The valid fully qualified URL to the home page of the website.
Determined Automatically from server variables.

ssl_url
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

Specify the secure URL to the top of your website

Optional
String
A valid fully qualified HTTPS url to the home page of the website
The root url with http:// replaced with https://

admin_url
Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

A url to specify a web accessible url to the CMSMS admin console

Optional
String
$config['root_url'].'/'.$config['admin_dir']

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uploads_path
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:

Default Value:
Note:

This variable contains the absolute filesystem path to the location

where files should be uploaded.
Optional
String
A valid filesystem path that exists under the CMSMS root directory
Please ensure permissions are set correctly to allow the web server to
write files to this directory.
$config['root_path'].'/uploads';
If you change this path to another directory you may also need to
specify the uploads_url, image_uploads_path, and
image_uploads_url values. Additionally, the ssl_uploads_url and
ssl_image_uploads_url values may need to be adjusted if using
HTTPS.

uploads_url
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:
Note:

The web accessible URL that corresponds to the uploads path

Optional
String
A valid web acceptable URL. Please ensure that it corresponds to the
uploads_path variable specified above.
$config['root_url'].'/uploads';
Specifying this path may be required if the uploads_path has been
changed from its default value.

ssl_uploads_url
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

Specify the secure version of the URL corresponding to your

uploads_url above. This is only necessary when using SSL for some
or all pages.
Optional
String
A valid, web accessible URL. Please ensure that it corresponds to the
uploads_path variable specified above.
$config['ssl_url'].'/uploads';

image_uploads_path
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Values:

2011 CMS Made Simple

The path used by the image manager and other functionality to upload
and manages images for your website.
Optional
String
A fully qualified filesystem path where images should be stored.
$config['uploads_path'].'/images';

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image_uploads_url
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Values:

Specify the web accessible URL where images will be available. This
must correspond to the image_uploads_path above.
Optional.
String
A web accessible URL
$config['uploads_url'].'/images'

ssl_image_uploads_url
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Values:

Specify the secure version of the web accessible URL where images
will be available. This must correspond to the image_uploads_path
above.
Optional.
String
A web accessible URL
$config['uploads_url'].'/images'

css_path
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Values:

The path in which cms_stylesheet should generate css files.

Optional.
String
A fully qualified filesystem path where generated stylesheet files
should be stored.
$config['root_path'].'/tmp/cache';

css_url
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Values:

The web location where css files generated by cms_stylesheet can be

found.
Optional.
String
A web accessable URL where generated stylesheet files can be
found.
$config['root_url'].'/tmp/cache';

ssl_css_url
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Values:

2011 CMS Made Simple

The secure web location where css files generated by cms_stylesheet

can be found. This value is used when generating web requests from
secure pages.
Optional.
String
A secure web accessable URL where generated stylesheet files can
be found.
$config['ssl_url'].'/tmp/cache';

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debug
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

Indicates whether debug mode is enabled. When debug mode is

enabled automatic redirection is disabled and query and trace
information is appended to the output. This mode should also be
enabled to assist in diagnosing errors when error messages are
hidden by default.
Optional
boolean
true or false
FALSE

admin_dir
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

Specify the name of the admin directory. This option can be used by
advanced users to specify an alternate admin directory name.
Although this may cause difficulty with the upgrade process.
Optional
String
A valid directory name (relative to the root_path above).
admin

persist_db_conn
Description:

Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

A flag that indicates whether persistent database connections should

be used. This variable may be of use on high load servers. Contact
your host if encountering problems and wondering whether this setting
should be used.
Optional
boolean
true or false
FALSE

previews_path (deprecated)
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Default Value:

Specifiy a location where the temporary information used for

generating previews should be stored.
Optional
string
A complete path specification that has write permissions by the web
server process.
Internal value.

auto_alias_content
Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

Specify whether page aliases should automatically be created for new

pages.
Optional
Boolean
FALSE

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url_rewriting
Description:
Status:
Type:
Accepted Values:
Example::
Default Value:
See Also:

What type of URL rewriting should we be using for pretty URLs. The
possible values for this variable are system dependant.
Optional
String
none, internal, mod_rewrite
$config['url_rewriting'] = 'internal';
none
http://wiki.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/FAQ/Installation/Pretty_URL
s#Pretty_URLs

page_extension
Description:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:
Example:

Used when the url_rewriting is a value other than 'none' this variable
specifies the extension that should be appended to all URLS that the
system generates.
Optional
String
n/a
$config['page_extension'] = '.html';

query_var
Description:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

Specifies the name of the URL variable that will indicate the page
alias. You should not need to override this value unless the default
value interferes with another software package.
Optional
String
page

image_manipulation_prog (deprecated)
Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:
Accepted Values
See Also:

Specify the program (or library) that should be used for image
manipulation.
Optional
String
gd
gd or imagemagick
http://wiki.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/User_Handbook/Admin_Pan
el/Content/Image_Manager

image_transform_lib_path
Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

When using imagemagick as a manipulation program specify the

library path to that program.
Optional
String
/usr/bin/ImageMagick

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locale
Description:

Note:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:
See Also:
Note:

Locale to use for various default date handling functions, etc. Leaving
this blank will use the value associated with the currently selected
'language' for frontend or admin actions. Specifying this value will only
be used once per request.
Though you can specify any valid locale, the locale information you
specify must be installed on the server.
Optional
String
n/a
http://php.net/manual/en/function.setlocale.php
Behavior of this config variable changed in 1.11

admin_encoding (deprecated)
Description:
Note:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

Specify the encoding to use for admin translations.

In almost all cases, default_encoding should be empty (which defaults
to utf-8) and admin_encoding should be utf-8. If you'd like this to be
different, change both. Keep in mind, however, that the admin
interface translations are all in utf-8, and will be converted on the fly to
match the admin_encoding. This could seriously slow down the
admin interfaces for users.
Optional
string
utf-8

default_encoding (deprecated)
Description:
Note:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

Specify the encoding to use for admin translations.

In almost all cases, default_encoding should be empty (which defaults
to utf-8) and admin_encoding should be utf-8. If you'd like this to be
different, change both. Keep in mind, however, that the admin
interface translations are all in utf-8, and will be converted on the fly to
match the admin_encoding. This could seriously slow down the
admin interfaces for users.
Optional
string
n/a

set_names
Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

A flag indicating whether a 'set names' command should be given to

the mysql database upon connection.
Optional
Boolean
TRUE

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set_db_timezone
Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:
Version 1.11.7
Version 2.0
See Also

A flag indicating whether a 'set timezone' command should be given to

the mysql database upon connection.
Optional
Boolean
FALSE
Added, default value is FALSE
Default value is TRUE.
timezone config variable.

wiki_url (removed in CMSMS 1.11.3 and later)

Description:
Status:
Type:
Default Value:

A URL indicating where the CMSMS wiki is located. Used for help
links
Optional
string
http://wiki.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/User_Handbook/Admin_Pan
el

show_performance_info
Description:
Note:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

A flag indicating whether performance information should be

appended to all output from CMSMS requests.
This setting when enabled could interfere with the output of some
modules, for example when downloading files or exporting XML
information. This variable is not normally set in the config file, setting
this variable to any value will enable the feature.
Optional
Boolean
unset

debug_to_log
Description:

Status:
Type:
Default Value:

A flag indicating whether the debug_to_log method should actually

output anything. This variable should be set to false for production
environments.
Optional
Boolean
FALSE

php_memory_limit (deprecated)
Description:

Status:
Type:
Example::
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

This config variable, if set will attempt to override the memory

available to PHP for various tasks. Note: that this may have no
success depending upon server configuration.
Optional
String representing a memory amount.
$config['php_memory_limit'] = '32M';
n/a

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showbase
Description:

Status:
Type:
Example::
Default Value:

2011 CMS Made Simple

This config variable, indicates wether the <base> tag should be output
by the {metadata} tag. This config variable can also be overridden by
the showbase parameter of the {metadata} tag.
Optional
boolean
$config['show_base'] = true;
true

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Revision History:
August 2011 Robert Campbell
Initial Revision

October 2011 Robert Campbell

Fixes to minor spelling and puctuation errors.

April 2012 Robert Campbell

Updated for CMSMS 1.11

Adds css_path

Adds css_url

Adds ssl_css_url

Removes process_whole_template

Removes output_compression

Removes use_adodb_lite

Remove use_smarty_php_tags

Removes default_upload_permission

July 2012 Robert Campbell

Final corrections for 1.11

May 2013 Robert Campbell

Updated for CMSMS 1.11.7

added info for set_db_timezone

2011 CMS Made Simple

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