nWebSystems Voting System Readme
================================

Current Version :	v1.0 Beta
Last Updated : 		6th September 2001

NOTE: nWebSystems Voting Script requires PHP 4.0.3 or later

Contents
========
- Copyright & User Agreement
- Installation
- Changing Basic Poll Settings
- Creating and Activating a New Poll
- Displaying the Latest Active Poll on your Website
- Deactivating a Poll
- Closing a Poll
- Displaying the Results of the Previous Poll
- Contacts & Bug Reporting


Copyright & User Agreement
==========================
All code and graphics are copyright nWebSystems 2001. All Rights Reserved.

nWebSystems will not be held liable or responsible in ANY way for ANY problems to arise from the downloading, installation or use of the Voting System. This is the first release of this script and bugs are more than likely to appear, which is why it is running at Beta stage. 
By downloading and installing the nWebSystems Voting System you agree to the above conditions.


Installation
============
Extract the files into a directory called "vs" one level above the page where you wish to run the polling script from. Before running the setup script, open up "info.php" and edit the MySQL database details at the very top of the file, so suit your database. Please ensure you complete all 4 options otherwise the script will fail to work. Once this has been done, run setup.php using the following url:

	http://yoursite.com/path-to-vs/setup/setup.php

This will then proceed to create the following tables in your database:

	- vs_users
	- vs_questions
	- vs_results
	- vs_settings

It will create a default user using the following details:

	Username : admin
	Password : admin

Immediately after installation, please login and change the administrators password to ensure that unauthorised users cannot access and alter your polls.


Changing Basic poll Settings
============================
There are currently a limited number of settings in which you are able to change the look of the poll. These are as follows:

	- Table Width
		The width of the table in which the Poll is located
	- Cellpadding
		The amount of "cellpadding" for the table in which the Poll is located
	- Cellspacing
		The amount of "cellspacing" for the table in which the Poll is located
	- Table Border
		Whether the table in which the Poll is located should have a border
	- Table Background Colour
		The background colour of the table in which the Poll is located
	- Graph Image
		Currently only 3 options being Blue, Red or Green. The colour of the graph "bars" when poll results are displayed. More colours are to be added in newer versions of VS.
	- Font Face
		The font type used in the Poll
	- Font Colour
		The font colour used in the Poll

All of these can be altered by selecting the "GENERAL SETTINGS" option in the menu


Creating and Activating a New Poll
==================================
Once logged into the control panel system, use the menu to the left to navigate. To add a new Poll, click on the "ADD POLL" option and a new page will appear. The "QUESTION" field, "ANSWER 1" field and "ANSWER 2" field are required, and the poll will not be added unless these are completed. Simply fill in your Question and Answers and press the "SAVE" button. This will then proceed to add the Poll into the system.

Once this has been completed, you will then need to "activate" the poll in order to make it appear on your website. In order to do this, click on the "EDIT POLL" option in the menu, and then click on the Poll which you wish to  "activate". A new page will load displaying the current question and all answers. Below that there will be an button/option saying "Activate". Simply click on that button, and the Poll you selected will now become active.

You can check the status of any poll at any time, simply by selecting the "EDIT POLL" option from the menu and then looking at the results displayed.


Displaying the Latest Active Poll on your Website
=================================================
In order to display the Poll you have created and activated, on your website simply follow these instructions.

Open the PHP page (in a text editor) which you wish the poll to be displayed upon, and use the following line of code:

	<? include ('vs/poll.php'); ?>

This will then display the poll on your page. If you find you need to alter the size of the table in which the Poll is located in, then please read the section titled "CHANGING BASIC POLL SETTINGS".


Deactivating a Poll
===================
A poll can be "deactivated" at any time and will simply stop the Poll from being displayed. It can then be "reactivated" at any time. In order to deactivate a poll, do the following.

Go to the "EDIT POLL" option in the menu, and then click on the poll you wish to deactivate. A new page will load displaying the current question and all answers. Below that there will be an button/option saying "Deactivate". Simply click on that button, and the Poll you selected will now become INACTIVE.


Closing a Poll
==============
NOTE: 	CLOSING a poll is very different to DEACTIVATING one. Once a Poll is closed, it cannot be reused or reactivated. This is an 		experimental function and I would appreciate any feedback (feedback@nwebsystems.com) upon this as to future versions of the Voting 		System.

In order to close a poll do the following - remember that once it is closed IT CANNOT BE REUSED.

Go to the "EDIT POLL" option in the menu, and then click on the poll you wish to close. A new page will load displaying the current question and all answers. Below that there will be an button/option saying "Close". Simply click on that button, and the Poll you selected will now become CLOSED. You will notice if you then follow the same procedure that you no longer have the Activate, Deactivate or Close options available to you once the Poll is closed.


Displaying the Results of the Previous Poll
===========================================
NOTE:	This will only function correctly if a Poll has been CLOSED, otherwise an error will be generated. It will select the newest Poll to 	be closed and display the results.

In order to display the Previous Poll on your website simply follow these instructions.

Open the PHP page (in a text editor) which you wish the RESULTS to be displayed upon, and use the following line of code:

	<? include ('vs/result.php'); ?>

This will then display the RESULTS of the most recent Poll to be Closed on your page. If you find you need to alter the size of the table in which the Poll is located in, then please read the section titled "CHANGING BASIC POLL SETTINGS".


Contacts & Bug Reporting
========================
If you have any suggestions/comments or bug reports regarding this script please use the relevant contact address below. Please ensure you include the name of the script which you are contacting us about:

Suggestions : 		suggestions@nwebsystems.com
General COmments : 	comments@nwebsystems.com
Bug Reports :		bugreport@nwebsystems.com

Thanks for downloading our script 
nWebSystems