Requirements

To use Couch you must at least have a working knowledge of HTML and CSS and know the basics of creating a website. You should also be familiar with the use FTP to upload files to your server. No previous knowledge of PHP is required.

Server Requirements

  • PHP 4.3.3 or greater
  • MySQL 4.1.2 or greater
  • Apache (or compatible Web Servers like LiteSpeed etc.)

IMPORTANT! Microsoft IIS web server is NOT supported.

IMPORTANT! Core files of Couch are IonCube encoded and will require IonCube loaders on your server to run them. Please see note below.

  • (Optional)  GD library compiled into PHP for CAPTCHA.
  • (Optional) Apache mod_rewrite module for prettyURLS.


Local Testing

If you intend to install Couch on your local computer (for testing) there are a number of packages that you can use

  • XAMPP - Multi-platform - Apache, MySQL, PHP, installation.
  • Wampserver - Windows platform - Apache, MySQL, PHP, installation.
  • Install Apache, MySQL, PHP separately and configure them all to work together.
     

Note on IonCube Loader

IonCube loader required for running Couch is usually available at all decent web hosts. If your web host does not support it yet, you'll have to send a request to your provider asking him to enable IonCube loader.

If, however, you are installing Couch on your local machine you might have to install IonCube loader yourself.
The process requires downloading the appropriate loader from IonCube's site, placing it within your local website and perhaps having to make a one line change to php.ini.

To guide you through the process, IonCube has made available a wizard at its website.

  • Please download either the zip or the tgz archive containing the wizard. Extracting the archive will yield a folder named ioncube.
  • Place the folder, along with its contents, into your local website.
  • Launch the Loader Wizard script in your browser. For example:  http://yourdomain/ioncube/loader-wizard.php
  • Follow the steps as directed by the wizard.