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How to install Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager)

Edit and save content snippets for your web pages with a WYSIWYG editor. Have as many content snippets, on as many web pages as you like (multiple regions per page). Backup and restore snippets via a one-click interface, and manage your files too.

Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) can be installed on any website. It runs in the back-end and is so easy to setup.

Who's it for?

  • Webmasters with basic HTML/PHP experience
  • Webmasters who don't want to, or don't know how to use/setup standardised web templates
    (i.e. - common header and footer files, as used by other versions of Fast Edit)
  • Webmasters who do not wish to use, or do not have access to, a database
  • Webmasters/users who don't need/want a full-on CMS
  • Webmasters/users who do need/want multiple editable regions per web page

Please follow the steps below to get your installation of Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) setup as fast as possible.

Warning: Please make a backup of your existing website before installing Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager), otherwise websites with an "index.php" page at their root will have their home page overwritten!

  1. First you need to download the Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) zip package, so give that button at the bottom of the page a click and save it somewhere on your computer. The desktop is a convenient place. Downloads are available when you view the full version of this website on a desktop computer.
     
  2. After you've unzipped the Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) package, browse to the "fast_edit_BE/fast_edit_config.php" file and enter your settings.
     
  3. Using an FTP client (FileZilla is a good one and it's FREE), upload the entire Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) package to the root of your website. Be sure to upload it to the root and not in any sub-folders otherwise some of the scripts won't work. Also be careful to preserve the file structure for the same reason.
     
  4. CHMOD the "fast_edit_BE/" and "userfiles/" folders, plus all of their contents, to 755 (Try 777 if 755 doesn't work). You can now browse to "http://www.mywebsite.com/fast_edit_BE/" to see Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) in action.
     
  5. Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) works on web pages with the .php extension, so if your website pages don't end with that already, rename them all now. Don't worry, on a PHP enabled server, .php web pages containing all your usual HTML will still look the same but they will now be able to run PHP scripts, such as Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager). If you change extensions, remember to update hyperlinks or set up 301 redirects using .htaccess
     
  6. Now you need to pull out all of the editable content (the stuff you want to edit via Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager)) from each web page and save it in the "fast_edit_BE/_content/" folder, in individual .txt files.
    Create a .txt file for each editable region. You can have as many .txt file snippets on a web page as you wish.
     
  7. In place of the editable content snippets that you've just removed from the parent .php pages, add the following line of code: (Edit the "my_snippet.txt" part to reflect the name of your snippet file)
    <?php include('fast_edit_BE/_content/my_snippet.txt');?>
    If your web pages are in sub-folders, remember to change the path to your content snippet accordingly:
    (A web page that is two sub-folders from the root would use this path - each "../" means "move up one level")
    <?php include('../../fast_edit_BE/_content/my_snippet.txt');?>
    Alternatively, you can always use an absolute path reference, which would look something like this;
    <?php include('/home/www/mywebsite.com/fast_edit_BE/_content/my_snippet.txt');?>
    OR
    <?php include('/home/user/public_html/fast_edit_BE/_content/my_snippet.txt');?>

That's it! Now browse to "http://www.mywebsite.com/fast_edit_BE/" to begin editing your content snippets.

Please Note: Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) CANNOT create new web pages or content. You must setup new web pages, and editable snippet regions, (and update your menu) manually.

Any problems setting up Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager)?

If you experience any problems setting up your installation of Fast Edit BE (Snippet Manager) and you can't find a troubleshooting answer in the Questions & Answers page, please tell me all about it via the online contact form. I'll try and work through things with you, and document the findings on this website. Ultimately your feedback can help future others in a similar situation, so please take a moment to share.

Some other stuff worth noting


  1. If you would like to customise the editor WYSIWYG toolbar, you can do so in the "fast_edit_BE/js/fast_edit_toolbar.js" file. Please refer to the TinyMCE examples page for all available options.
     
  2. "h1.title" and "h2.sub-title" are custom classes assigned by the [Title] and [Sub-Title] buttons in the editor's WYSIWYG toolbar. Styling for these two classes must be included in your default site stylesheet, otherwise the end-user won't be able to create main or sub-titles/headings in their web page content.
     
  3. The File Manager (file browser) uses a third party plugin called TinyBrowser, which may need additional configuration to make it work fully. The most important settings are the file upload paths and file link paths in the "fast_edit_BE/tinymce/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/tinybrowser/config_tinybrowser.php" file. These must be set correctly to make uploads save to the right folders, and link addresses transfer properly to your HTML web page content. Please refer to the Questions & Answers page for troubleshooting advice.
     
  4. If you've installed Fast Edit on a local WAMP (or similar) server to test on your own computer, you will need to update sprite image paths in the "fast_edit_BE/styles/fast_edit.css" stylesheet to get the icons to show. Find "background:url(/fast_edit_BE/images/sprites.png) 0 0 no-repeat;" and replace it with "background:url(/mytestfolder/fast_edit_BE/images/sprites.png) 0 0 no-repeat;".
Last updated: March 3rd, 2015