Mod Manager TNG V7

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Ambox notice.png The Mod Manager mod in the summary applies to TNG V7.1 through TNG V7.1.3 only.

Starting with TNG V8 the Mod Manager is built into TNG, see the Mod Manager page.
A list of Mods available for TNG can be found in Mods category which includes a link to Mods for TNG v8 category as well as to pages for earlier versions of TNG.

TNG 7.1


Mod Manager
Summary Allows easy management of TNG modifications.
Validation {{{mod_validation}}}
Mod Updated {{{mod_last_update}}}
Download link Mod_Manager_V2.2.zip for TNG V7 only
Mod Manager is part of TNG V8
Download stats {{{download_stats}}}
Author(s) Brian McFadyen
Homepage Mod Manager (This page)
Mod Support TNG Community Forums
Contact Developer {{{mod_contact}}}
Latest Mod 2.2
Min TNG V 7.1.0
Max TNG V 7.1.3
Files modified
manage_mods.php
Related Mods
None
Notes
See Installation for instructions on installing the Mod Manager the first time on TNG V7.
This mod is obsolete with TNG V8 since Brian McFadyen's Mod Manager is now part of TNG


Purpose of the mod

The TNG Mod Manager is intended to provide a more integrated way to install/remove and manage modifications (mods) to the TNG software package using config files that have been coded to work with the mod manager.

Once installed, the Mod Manager may be connected into the TNG Administrative page for easy access by installing the mod manager config file, $$manage_mods_v1.3.cfg.

The Mod Manager consists of a single script, manage_mods.php that should be extracted to your TNG admin folder.

A sub folder, mod_folder in the TNG admin folder will also be created by the extract and is used to contain the configuration file for the Mod Manager ($$manage_mods_v1.3.cfg) and the config files for other TNG mods that use the Mod Manager for automated installation.

A sub folder, extensions in your TNG folder must also be created to contain some of the mod extensions that are installed by other Mod Manager config files.

This mod is obsolete with TNG V8 since Brian McFadyen's Mod Manager is now part of TNG, so the functionality described in this article still applies.

Developer

The Mod Manager was developed by Brian McFadyen with testing and suggestions provided by Ken Roy.

The messages issued by the Mod Manager were converted to $text variables by Darrin Lythgoe in TNG V8 to support multiple languages.

Advantages

This mod has the following advantages:

  • automates the installation, removal, and management of TNG modifications
  • eliminates the need to manually track TNG mods by line number, since the changes are now contained in a config file
  • allows tracking stylesheet and configuration changes

The following are the instructions for installing the Mod Manager on TNG V7 only, since it is part of TNG V8.

Requirements

Although the Mod Manager was developed as of TNG version 7.1.0, the Manager will work with any version of TNG. The individual mod configuration files may be limited in the number of TNG versions they will work with. Their suitability will be evidenced by the Mod Manager's status display for each mod.

  • A backup of your TNG admin/leftbanner.php
  • A backup of your TNG admin/main.php

Installation

To install the Mod Manager, follow these steps:
  1. Download the current version of the Mod Manager from Mod_Manager_V2.2.zip
  2. Extract all the contents of the Mod_Manager_V2.2.zip to your TNG installation folder
  3. The extract will create a new mod_folder under your admin folder, ensure it has write permission (775)
  4. The extract will create a new extensions folder in your main TNG folder, ensure it has write permission (775)
  5. Run the admin/manage_mods.php file from your browser URL for the first time
  6. Follow the normal automated installation for Mod Manager, as shown in the example Mod Manager - Installing Config Files to install the $$manage_mods_v1.3.cfg.

It is recommended that you increase the number of lines for the Admin log to 2000 lines or more (Admin->Setup->Configuration->Log Settings) since the Mod Manager writes all actions to the Admin log, by default. If you later want to turn off the logging, click the Edit button that appears in the Status column for the $$mod_manager, once it is installed. We do not recommend turning off logging, but when you are familiar with using the Mod Manager, you may wish to reduce the size of the Admin log to, say, 1000 lines.

Screen Shot of the Mod Manager

Using the Manager for the First Time

We can use the Mod Manager to bootstrap itself into the Admin index page, thereby becoming an additional Admin menu item, as follows:
  1. The Mod Manager may be called directly via your browser by adding /manage_mods.php to the end of your admin folder url. For example: "http://genealogy.mysite.com/admin/manage_mods.php".
  2. After running the script for the first time, you should install the $$manage_mods_vn.n.cfg config file (where n.n is the file version), as shown in Upgrading_regressed_mods#Re-install_Regressed_Mod. This will create a link to the Mod Manager in the left hand administrative menu and a "Mod Manager" button in the main window menu as shown on the right.
  3. After step 2, you can then access the Mod Manager from the left nav link or the Mod Manager button from your admin/index.php as shown on the right.

Note that the Backup Living menu item shown at right is itself a mod added to TNG, and will likely not be in your Admin index page and the button now installs on the right hand side, since the function is restricted to Admin users.

Admin screen showing Mod Manager