------------------------------------

*** SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: ***
you need:
- PHP ver >= 4.2
- Apache 1.3.x (2.x is not supported, but chat should work) 
	or IIS (not really tested), 
	theoretically - any Web Server with PHP support
- Perl (5.6.x is recommended) -- for Perl daemon (not neccessary)
- C++ compilers -- for C++ chat daemon (tested with gcc 2.95.x, 3.x)
	There is no version of C++ daemon for Windows at the moment.
------------------------------------

*** INSTALLATION ***
I've tried to make this procedure as easy as possible.
So, you need to:

1. Download voc-x.x.x.tar.gz or voc-x.x.x.zip

2. unpack it somewhere
tar -zxvf voc-x.x.x.tar.gz
(looks like you did it already, did you? :))
3. copy chat/ subtree somewhere in your web-directory (these files will be shown to visitors)
	and data/ somewhere outside (this directory must be not accessable for visitors)
4. go to the chat/admin and set admin password
	- edit file admin_users.php and set user name(s) and password
	- set write permission on the sessions.php file to your Web-server's user
5. open in the browser link to file 'configure.php' in that chat/admin directory.
6. Go through all steps of configuration process.
7. If you want to use C++ version of daemon instead of perl-one, you need to compile it first.
	See description below.
Actually, that's all what you need to do.
You can find more details at http://docs.vochat.com/
------------------------------------

*** STARTING DAEMON ***
How to start (Unix/Linux, for windows see below):
From the shell. Go to the data/daemon directory and try to start daemon by hand: ./daemon.pl (or perl ./daemon.pl).
Your daemon should work (if there are no other messages).
You can check daemon.log and daemon.pid to be sure.

Another way is to use the perl-script to start the daemon (unix/linux only! it doesn't work in windows). 
Copy the file 'daemon_admin.pl' from chat/admin/ directory into your cgi-bin.
Change the second line in that file (should be the correct path to your data/ directory), 
set eXecutable permissions and try to call it from your browser.
------------------------------------

*** C++ Version of the daemon ***
C++ version is important for high-loaded chats, because it needs 10-15 times less cpu-time than perl-version.

To use C++ version, you have to compile it first.
Go to the data/daemon directory and run command
make
If everything is ok, in several seconds you'll get the executable file called 'daemon'.
Note: you have to use GNU version of make utility. On some systems (i.e. on FreeBSD) you have to type 'gmake' instead of 'make'.
Just run it with 
./daemon
You can also use 'daemon_admin.pl' script to start/stop daemon, but don't forget to change the line which starts the daemon.

By default 'make' compiles daemon only with Files-engine support.
But it also accept parameters:
MYSQL=1 -- compile daemon with MySQL-engine support
SHM=1 -- with SysV Shared Memory-engine support
MOD_VOC=1 -- with mod_voc support
For example, if you need the daemon with MySQL engine and mod_voc support, run
make MYSQL=1 MOD_VOC=1

You can also try my pre-compiled (binary) versions of daemon, check the download area at http://vochat.com/

------------------------------------

*** NOTES FOR THE WINDOWS USERS ***
- please, use normal slashes in the pathes, not the backslashes, i.e. c:/inetpub/data/
- DON'T try to start daemon through web-interface. Open command promt, go to your daemon-direcotry and start it: 
perl daemon_win.pl
- Daemon writes logging information into standard output, not to the daemon.log file.
</end "For WINDOWS users:"> ;)
------------------------------------

*** USING SMILEYS ***
put smileys  images into the chat/converts directory.
Then edit the data/converts.dat file. The format is
KEYWORD\tIMG_TAG
\t is TAB sign.
In the IMG_TAG you have to use the absolute url (like <img src="http://server.com/converts/image.gif">).
You can also try some scripts to work with this file (i.e. ListCreator.zip from download-area for windows users)
There is also special php-script in the admin-zone since verstion 0.08.10.
------------------------------------

*** ADMIN ZONE ***
At the chat/admin (through browser again) you can modify user-rights. 
There are two levels now -- ordinary users and moderators (admins)
If the user has 'admin'-rights, he sees the special link in the navibar. 
And he can make alerts to the other users or BAN them (disconnect from chat for a selected time)

You can also delete users from the admin zone.
------------------------------------

*** HOW TO USE STATISTIC ***
1. You need php as executable module (cli) -- to install crontab job.
2. test update_statistic.php script from command line, i.e.
	php /home/voodoo/htdocs/chat/admin/update_statistic.php
	Fix the problems if any :) (It might be neccessary to change include("../inc_common.php"); 
	to use an absolute path).
3. install cron-job, add something like
	*/2 * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /home/voodoo/htdocs/chat/admin/update_statistic.php >/dev/null
	(i recommend to use 2-minutes interval)
4. enable logging feature in the admin-zone.
5. You can access statistic through web with url like: http://www.yoursite.com/chat/admin/statistic.php
------------------------------------

*** USING NON-LATIN CHARACTERS IN THE NICKS ***
Since 0.08.10 it's easy to enable non-latin characters in the nicks. 
Just change settings in the admin/configure.php script. (i.e. _a-zA-Z0-9-- for russian nicks in cp-1251)
Then it can be good to change your comparision function for the nicks (i.e. lilu IiIu)
Just choose one of the implementation in the file chat/inc_to_canon_nick.php or write your own there.
And run "(Re)generate canon nicks for all users" page from admin-zone if you already have registered users.
------------------------------------

*** HOW TO USE web-indicator ***

At the moment there are no universal admin-tools to manage web-indicators.
You need to change script chat/user_status.php if you want to use non-standard buttons.

Or at least you need to change basis-images in the data/statuses directory and put 'font.ttf' file with
font you preffered to that place.
Anyway you need GD & TTF support in your PHP.
------------------------------------

Comments? Suggestions? Need Help?
Try voc-project forum: http://forum.vochat.com/

