This page contains questions and solutions to problems you might be having with the News Publisher script. Please read this page over before posting on the forum or emailing me. Thanks.

I got the news script to work, but for some reason it won't save my configuration or authors. How can I fix this?
This is usually caused by either a wrong chmod setting on the data directory or a wrong full path to the data directory. To see if it is a wrong chmod setting, chmod the data directory 777. If it is not a chmod setting problem, then it is more than likely a full path problem. Email your system admin to find out the correct full path.

The script is working fine, but when I post a new story it gives me a 500 internal server error. When I log back in though, it saved my story. How can I get rid of this?
This is caused by either a wrong chmod setting on the comments directory, a wrong full path in the $commentsdir, or you forgot to create the comments directory entirely. More than likely it is caused by not creating the comments directory. So create that directory and chmod it 777. Also make sure that the $commentsdir variable points to the new comments directory.

I can add new authors, but it won't let me log in with the authors I created. What is the problem?
More than likely this is an encryption problem. Some servers don't support this feature. You should go into the configuration and turn off the encryption of the authors passwords. Then go back and re-add all the authors. You should now be able to log in with those authors.

I log in as the admin, but I can't seem to find out how to post news stories. Where do I post stories?
First thing you should do is log in with the admin. Next you should goto the 'Author Options' section in the menu. From here you should add an author. After you have added a new author, log out and then log back in with that new author's name and password. Then in the menu, select 'Add News Story'. You add all the news stories from here.

I have installed the script, but for some reason it won't let me delete stories. What is the problem?
You need to download this zip file. Then install it. All you need to do is copy this news.cgi file over the old one on the server. Be sure to configure this one, just like your old one.

Delete Problem Patch

How do I reset the comments database?
Reseting the comments database is pretty easy. First go into your comments directory. Once inside of this directory, delete all of the files. There are 3 files in there to delete. Once you have deleted these 3 files, then post a new story. The comments database is now reset.

I have created categories on the Category Options page and they show up on that page. However for some reason, when creating new stories, the new categories don't show up. What is wrong?
You need to give each author access to the new category you created. You do this be going to the Author Options page and then editing an author. You will get to decide which categories they have access to post to on this page. Once you do this, they will show up when adding a new story.