===============
Latest Version:
===============

Before you get in too deep, make sure you have the latest version
of the FAQ-O-Matic. Check the main website:

 http://www.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jonh/faq.pl

Especially the Administrators' Guide:

 http://www.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jonh/faq.pl?file=3

And check the FTP site for the most recent revision:

 ftp://ftp.cs.dartmouth.edu/pub/jonh/

===========
Quickstart:
===========

% perl Makefile.PL
% make
% make install
% mv fom /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/fom
        (or wherever your CGIs live.)
% netscape http://localhost/cgi-bin/fom
 (or whatever browser you prefer)
          (or whatever the URL would be to execute the CGI)

* subscribe to faqomatic-users (see link to FOMFOM at bottom).

* add your Faq-O-Matic (a description is fine if it's not public) to
the List of Faqomatics (on the FOMFOM).

* send Jon a postcard, if you're feeling generous.

======================
Themes and Variations:
======================

* If you don't have the privilege to install the modules in an "official"
 place, tell Makefile.PL that before you start:

   % mkdir ~/user_perl
   % perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=~/user_perl
   % make
       ...

* If your web server requires CGIs to have a certain suffix, simply
 rename the generated file "fom" to something like "fom.cgi":

       ...
   % mv fom /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/fom.cgi
   % netscape http://localhost/cgi-bin/fom.cgi

* If the user that CGIs run as can't write to the directory in which
 CGIs reside (a wise security move), create a writable meta/ directory
 (or a link to one) there in advance:

       ...
   % mv fom /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/fom
   % mkdir /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/meta
   % chown nobody /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/meta
   % netscape http://localhost/cgi-bin/fom

   or

       ...
   % mv fom /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/fom
   % mkdir /somewhere/else/meta
   % chown nobody /somewhere/else/meta
   % ln -s /somewhere/else/meta /usr/local/etc/httpd/cgi-bin/meta
   % netscape http://localhost/cgi-bin/fom

* If you'd rather not even put a link in that directory, modify the
 fom CGI stub to name the meta directly:

   % vi fom
   % cat fom
   #!/usr/local/bin/perl
   use Faq::Omatic::dispatch
   Faq::Omatic::dispatch::main('/somewhere/else/meta/');
       % mv fom ...

 Either of the above two techniques are also suitable for running
 multiple FAQ-O-Matics on one server. Keep in mind that if the FAQs
 are related, they should probably be kept together as one FAQ with
 a few main categories, so searches will search the entire lot.

============
Author Info:
============

       [email protected]
       http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~jonh