Wish to learn PHP & MySQL with me through playing with my favorite CMS script, sNews?
Then this might just be the place for you...

Here I will describe how I edit my sNews engine to suit my needs and you will be able to learn about PHP functions inside sNews that I learn about.

Prior to sNews I have never actually dug into any code and did some modifications, let alone went into creating my own stand alone script for something.

But once I found out about sNews, and tried it... it wasn't long after that I finally got my hands 'dirty' in all this PHP code.

Following instructions from a very helpful community behind sNews CMS at Solucija forum I managed to get comfortable editing a PHP script.

And here you will see everything I do with it.

Additional Article Position Options mod for sNews 1.6

Without a doubt, I made my only notable mod so far, Additional Article Position Options for sNews 1.5 out of a necessity.

It shows you just how much I need this mod that even though a new version of sNews (1.6) has been out since May 16, 2007 it took me until two weeks ago to migrate from version 1.5.31 to sNews 1.6.0 - all because I had to have my mod even in the new version - and didn't have time to deal with porting it to the new version of sNews.

As I was called by raving fans from sNews community that I make this mod functional for sNews 1.6, I set out to do it. Thanks to that, this website is now on the latest sNews version and other sNews users can now follow the instructions on how to apply the Additional Article Position Options mod to their sNews 1.6 websites.

You have the option of simply taking an already modified clean snews.php file from here:

snews.php_add_article_position_mod_v16.tar.bz2 - 22,5KB

snews.php_add_article_position_mod_v16.zip - 25,3KB

(both files have identical content)

I apologize for the wait to everybody using this mod and it would be great to know how many sNews users depend on me to continue developing this mod or at least would like me to do that.

Yes, you can tell me by commenting on this article.

Posted on July 22, 2007 ~ 5 comments


dont get mad | you have been hacked

dont get mad | you have been hacked | your security=0 y3v.h4x
was the message I found today after deleting a pornographic banner from the header of my site (sorry for that) and another fishy php file I found on my server.

How can I not get mad? When I see a pornographic banner on top of my site. I AM mad. I am VERY mad… (continue reading)

Posted on January 15, 2007 ~ 10 comments


Additional Article Position Options Mod for sNews 1.5

I've been wanting to write a full explanation for this mod where I outline and teach you all the php functions I've learned while cracking this mod, but that turned out to be an awfully lengthy and tedious process for which I don't have time right now.

So what I've done is I've implemented the mod into the fresh install of the latest sNews stable version (developers version 1.5.30) which you can download easily and use it as you please.

While I've done everything in my power to make this work, please don't hold me responsible if something doesn't work or if something brakes.
It is vital that you backup your snews.php file and your existing MySQL database, just to be safe and that you can switch back if you wish so later. (Just rename your existing snews.php file into something else and upload this modified one. And I've found some instructions for backing up your MySQL database for you if you've never done it before - it's a piece of cake, especially if you have PHPMyAdmin.)

I'd appreciate if you'd let me know if you find this mod useful.

snews.php_add_article_position_mod.tar.bz2 - 19,9KB

snews.php_add_article_position_mod.zip - 22,4KB


P.S. I haven't given up from writing the full explanation yet, it's just that this is immediate and the full explanation will have to wait a bit more...

Posted on December 08, 2006 ~ Write a comment