TWikiMods < Main

Main Web>LocalTWikiDocs>TWikiMods (2024-01-01, BenScott) (raw view)

---+ Local Modifications to TWiki

This page documents some notable local behind-the-scenes modifications to the TWiki software.  Relevant only to those Org.ServerPeople with SSH access.  See also AdminLog for a chronological (as opposed to current-state) view of things.

Also of use is reviewing the [[TWiki.WebChanges][change history for the TWiki Web]] -- that Web is often overwritten during upgrades.

See also: TWikiFiles, TWikiPerms

---++ File Structure

A new =doc= subdirectory was created.  The documentation present at the top-level (README, LICENSE, and such) were moved to this directory.  Various sample files found in =misc= and =bin= directories were moved here as well.  The now-empty =misc= directory was removed.


A =webroot= subdirectory was created for the Apache =DocumentRoot=.  It only holds a single =index.html= telling people if they can see that file, things are broken.

A =static= subdirectory was created to contain a handful of static resources that are maintained outside of TWiki.  The TWikiFiles page details them.

A =etc= subdirectory was created to contain resources which need to be readable (not writable) by the TWiki CGI scripts, but outside of web server nominal visibility.  Again, see TWikiFiles.

---+++ Logs and Log Rotation

A new =log= subdirectory was created.  Twiki was configured to write its log files there (instead of mixing logs in with page =data= as is the default).  This is done in =LocalSite.cfg= in the various =cfg{FooLogName}= directives.  =log/old= was also created, and =logrotate= was configured to rotate files there on a daily basis.  (The built-in TWiki log rotation, which rotates monthly, yields unwieldy large log files.)  The ={Stats}{LogFileGlob}= config directive was changed to =access.????-??-??-????= (plus path) to match.  Log files are separately compressed after 45 days, by the =gnhlug_maint= script.  Since that glob does not match =*.xz= files, older logs are automagically excluded from consideration by the =statistics= script.

---++ User Registration

The =bin/register= CGI script has Apache HTTP authentication placed in front of it, controlled by the =etc/reg_htpasswd= file.  This is done to place a password on the registration process, to block spam robots.  The actual password is currently disclosed on the public TWiki website.  The theory is that spammers are unlikely to read the instructions to that level of detail.  Should this prove inadequate, the password can be changed and only disclosed by email or some other method.

The =lib/TWiki.cfg= has a 1-line modification to purge the =REMOTE_USER= variable from the environment, to prevent TWiki from ever using Apache HTTP authentication for TWiki account identification.  This is needed because of the password on =bin/register= as described above.  Otherwise, TWiki would pick up the =register= user from Apache, and think the user was logged in as TWiki user =register=.

---++ Template Tweaks

Several files in =templates/= have been customized to suit our needs.  Mainly, this means using our custom contact form ([[GNHLUG.ContactUs]]) instead of an email address.  There are also a handful of minor changes in wording, for clarity or local applicability.

   * =login.tmpl=
   * =mailnotify.tmpl=
   * =mailresetpassword.tmpl=
   * =messages.tmpl=
   * =registerconfirm.tmpl=
   * =registernotify.tmpl=
   * =twiki.tmpl=
   * =viewbottombar.pattern.tmpl=
   * =watchlistdigestnotify.tmpl=
   * =watchlistimmediatenotify.tmpl=

Topic revision: r7 - 2024-01-01 - BenScott

Main

Site Tools
Search site
Site changes

Webs
GNHLUG
Main
Org
TWiki

Contact GNHLUG

All content is Copyright © 1999-2025 by, and the property of, the contributing authors.
Questions, comments, or concerns? Contact GNHLUG.
All use of this site subject to our Legal Notice (includes Terms of Service).