SIM HOCKEY LEAGUE WEB PORTAL QMJHL OHL WHL Memorial Cup

FAQ

I. What do I need to make SIM Hockey League Web Portal work?

You need the following to make SIMHL work.

1. Website. If you don't have one, go to GoDaddy.com and buy one for 1 year. You need to puchase a DOMAIN NAME and LINUX WEB HOSTING. I recomend LINUX hosting because it comes set up with PHP.

2. Your webhosting MUST have PHP 4 and up and 1 MySQL 4.1 database.

3. 1 copy of the most recent version of STHS. Please always use the most recent. Older versions do not work properly.

 

II. Do I need to know how to program websites to run SIMHL?

No you don't have to know how to program websites to install SIMHL. But... it is a major asset.

This is not for web novices. To get a scripted webiste built in PHP to work with a database requires a lot of technical lingo which can scare people that aren't familiar with it.

I recommend that if you really are not comfortable with working with technology, then you may want to pass on this product. If you choose to buy it, I will help guide you but it may take you several days and frustratied moments.

 

III. When I try to IMPORT the 'SIMHL-Database.sql' into my MySQL database, I get an error?

Make sure you open the 'SIMHL-Database.sql' file and rename the database from `simhl` to your new name on lines 11 and 13.

 

IV. I was able to create the MySQL database but now when I load the website, why do I get a MySQL connection error?

PHP isn't able to connect to the new MySQL database you created. To connect PHP to your database, go into the 'Connections' folder and open 'simhl-setup.php' in Notepad or any HTML editor. Fill in the proper username and passwords in the following variables.

$hostname_simhl = "10.0.0.1";
$database_simhl = "SIMHL-DATABASENAME";
$username_simhl = "USERNAME";
$password_simhl = "PASSWORD";

 

V. I got the web portal to load, but were is my data from the STHS game?

Well, you need to upload the XML files generated from your STHS game which can be found in the 'CSVXML' folder of your game.

To upload those XML files, first log into the website with the administrator account that is in the 'simhl-setup.php' file.

Once your logged in, go to the 'Upload Files' page and upload the League and XML files.

 

VI. I got the web portal to load. But where are all the graphics?

The web portal does not come with any photographs, logos or graphics. You are responsible for populating the web portal with your own content.

 

VII. How do I upload new Header and logo graphics for the teams?

When you are logged in, go to the team page you want to upload graphics for and click "Edit GM". On that page you can upload the header and logos for that club.

 

VIII. How to I upload photographs for the players?

When you are logged in, go to the players page and click "Modify". On that page you can upload the new photograph.

 

IX. Why to I get a PHP error when I try to upload XML files or graphics?

Your server has permissions for all files and folders. You will have to logged onto your FTP server using a FTP client software like Filezilla or CuteFTP.

Once your logged on, select the 'File' and 'Image' folders. Then click the "Permissions".

Make sure you have 'READ' and 'WRITE' checked on.

VIDEO: http://www.simhl.net//video/permissions/permissions.html

 

X. Why to I get a PHP error when I try to create a season?

Your server has permissions for all files and folders. You will have to logged onto your FTP server using a FTP client software like Filezilla or CuteFTP.

Once your logged on, select the 'File' folder. Then click the "Permissions".

Make sure you have 'READ' and 'WRITE' checked on.

 

XI. Why don't I see the game results when I click on the link?

You need to upload the HTML files generated by the STHS from the 'Output' folder of the game.

Use a FTP program like Filezilla or CuteFTP and log onto the FTP site. Go to your 'File' folder. In there, you should have a folder for each season you created. Upload your HTML files to the appropriate folder.

VIDEO: http://www.simhl.net//video/permissions/permissions.html

 

XII. I've uploaded all the HTML files to the season folder and I also uploaded 'TodaysGames.xml' and 'Schedule.xml' files but when I click the link for the game results, the server says I don't have permission to view the file.

Your server has permissions for all files and folders. You will have to logged onto your FTP server using a FTP client software like Filezilla or CuteFTP.

Once your logged on, select the 'File' folder. Then click the "Permissions".

Make sure you have 'READ' and 'WRITE' checked on.

VIDEO: http://www.simhl.net//video/permissions/permissions.html

 

XIII. When I upload the 'TodaysGames.xml' file, it doesn't insert anything into the website and when I open the file in Notepad, it is blank. But I just simulated todays games, I don't get it?

You need to upload that file right away after you simmed todays games. If you do one transaction like a trade and you click 'Output' once again, the game treats it as a new day with no games played.

That is why the file it blank.

 

XIV. When I upload the 'Players.xml' file I get a PHP error saying it can't parse the XML, why?

Make sure you have the latest version of STHS, Version 1.0.4 or higher.

Older versions of the game do not properly format XML data for use with SIM Hockey League Web Portal. Especially the 'Players.xml' file.

A quick fix is to upgrade the STHS. If you choose not to you will have to open the 'Players.XML' in Notepad and find the first instance of <INJURY></INJURY> then remove all the spaces in between the tag.

The old version of STHS insert illegal invisiable characters in the INJURY field that PHP can't parse. If you remove the first instance, PHP will skip the rest. You will have to do this every time you want to upload the 'Players.xml' file. Its much easier just to upgrade the software. Its free.

 

XV. How do I get the top bar navigation of logos to work like you have on your demo sites?

To activate the logos on the top bar do the following Go into the "Connections" folder and open up "topbarNav.php".

Its just an HTML image map with all the links. First delete the "<!--" on line 1 and the "-->" on the last line. That will activate the image map. Then just put the team numbers in the links and it will work. Shouldn't take you more than a few minutes.

 

XVI. Why can't I upload the 'DraftPicks.xml' file?

Because it doesn't exist yet. I temperally built a management system in the web portal to manage the ownership of draft picks. So when you trade a draft pick, you have to trade it in the game and on the website as well. Its a pain.

The creator of STHS will export this 'DraftPicks.xml' file in future versions of the game. Be patient.

 

XVII. Is there a version of SIMHL in french?

Not at the present time. When I program version 2.0 it will be fully multi-lingual. I hope to have 2.0 released by the summer of 2008.

 

XVIII. Why does the site stop importing my Players file half way through?

What is happening is the Host server is timing out the processing of the XML file. All servers have a time limit so jackasses can't write code that will crash the server.

Now, I have a php.ini file in the root. You can play with the processing time in there and increasing it. ( max_exeuction_time = 60000)

If that does, nothing then you have four options.

  1. Contact you web host and ask nicely if there will configure PHP to process longer. Thats a shot in the dark.

  2. After each sim, you will have to manally split the one XML file into two files and upload one after the other. Its a pain but it will work.

  3. Delete the extra players and reduce the players down to around 1000. That should reduce the players.xml file below 2MB and the severs will usually process that amount. If you run a farm league, then that may not be an option.

  4. Find another host that will give you longer processing times.