CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Hi. 
I've recently installed Joomla (using the control panel) on my GoDaddy shared hosted website.  I now want to install CiviCRM for my non profit organization, but am having trouble.  When the automated installation didn't seem to work, I started following the directions on this website.  But the first thing to do is to unzip the civicrm-1.9.11960-joomla-php5.zip file after copying it to the home directory. Ok.

First problem -  which home directory?

I have two Joomla installations on the website in subdirectories.  I've used the GoDaddy domain control panel to set up to subdomains and all traffic is being directed to one subdirectory or another based upon the incoming domain.  I want CiviCRM to be a single instance, available to both Joomla instances - though I'd live with just one if I could just get it installed.  The file is now sitting in the "PHPDownload" directory.

Second problem -  how do I unzip on the server? 

I usually unzip on my PC and then FTP the files.  Can I do that?  I don't know how to unzip from the shared server. 

Third problem - should I give up before going any further?

I read the hoster recommendations in another thread and it says, for GoDaddy shared "don't even bother" and something about the database control panel.  Am I going to regret choosing CiviCRM because I'm set up on GoDaddy shared hosting?

P.S.  The non-profit that I work for does not have much money, but I'd be willing to pay someone out of my pocket for a few hours of virtual tutoring help in setting up Joomla and CivicCRM if it is possible at all.  Please call me at 610-689-0571 if you are qualified and interested.

First, let me say I'm not familiar with GoDaddy's hosting packages. So this info is generic.

1) "Which home directory do I unzip in" -- It doesn't matter. The directory you unzip it into is simply a temporary location for the files so that you can install the component in Joomla from a directory on your server rather than by uploading a compressed installation file. The problem is that the CiviCRM Joomla install package is pretty large (approx 8mb), which is almost always too large for the Joomla install tool to both upload and install without timing out. Thus this alternative -- bring the file to the server and install from there. Within the Joomla component install, you simply need to reference the correct folder where you've unzipped the package.

2) "How do I unzip" -- Most hosting packages give you access to a file manager tool that includes the ability to uncompress files. Find the tool, browse to the temp folder you created for the CiviCRM package (where the zip file should have been uploaded), and decompress the file in that location. You can then install from folder. If you don't have access to a file manager tool on the host, or can't find it, try installing JoomlaXplorer within Joomla (http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,102/Itemid,35/). It's a file management tool that operates within Joomla (very handy). You can browse to the file and unzip it using that.

3) "Should I give up" -- Depends on where you're going with this. Personally, I wouldn't choose my CRM/Member management tool based on what hosting package I have; I would choose the hosting package based on the CRM/Member software I needed to run. In other words, if you've determined that CiviCRM will meet your needs as a not for profit, but are concerned that it won't run effectively on GoDaddy, then I would ditch GoDaddy and move to a host that is better suited for the software's needs. CiviCRM has some config needs in php (memory_limit, max_execution_time) that some shared hosting environments can't or won't give you.

-Brian

2) "How do I unzip" -- Most hosting packages give you access to a file manager tool that includes the ability to uncompress files. Find the tool, browse to the temp folder you created for the CiviCRM package (where the zip file should have been uploaded), and decompress the file in that location. You can then install from folder. If you don't have access to a file manager tool on the host, or can't find it, try installing JoomlaXplorer within Joomla (http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,102/Itemid,35/). It's a file management tool that operates within Joomla (very handy). You can browse to the file and unzip it using that.

kind of slow, but if you don't want to install JoomlaXplorer you could always FTP the uncompressed directory to your hosting account...there is also the options of using some of the webftp/hosting tools that godaddy.com provides too. Keep in mind that you need to use a windows/firefox browser and full Java support turned on. The hosting panel doesn't like Opera or Safari...be advised too that your Firefox session will eventually blow up your browser session and you will have to restart your browsed.

Thanks for all the help, everyone.  I'm going to try some of the suggestions and let you know how it works out.

Regards
CJ