AbstractSubmissionModule - Readme

  A set of PHP3-scripts to handle abstract submissions for scientific conferences
  over the WWW.

  Version 1.1.1 pre-release - 02/08/2001
  http://www.guckelberger.de/service/

  Copyright (C) 2000-2001 Olaf Guckelberger <olaf@guckelberger.de>

  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License <http://www.opensource.org/gpl-license.html>
  for more details.

  Requirements: 
    PHP3 <http://www.php.net>
    MySQL <http://www.mysql.com>
    a web-based MySQL-Administration tool like phpMyAdmin <http://www.htmlwizard.net/phpMyAdmin/>
    a web-server
    a web-browser
                
  Summary:
    AbstractSubmissionModule (ASM) is intended to handle the submission and adminstration
    of scientific abstracts for small to medium sized congresses over the WWW.
    Currently it supports:
    - the whole process of generating and submitting abstracts online
    - the use of special characters and formatting tools (text processing)
    - the inclusion of tables and figures into the abstracts
    - the generation of review packages for the review process
    - the submission of reviewer's ratings online

  Download:
    You can get the newest version at http://www.guckelberger.de/service/.

  Credits:
    Thanks go to 
    - all the people who were involved in creating such great open source software
      like PHP, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin.
    - all the people who contributed to the online manuals and comments of these programs,
      and this way prevented me from running into even more troubles.
    - all the people in our department who had to conquer the 0.x versions.
    - all the people who had to use the first beta version when submitting their abstracts
      to our ILTS ELTA LICAGE Berlin 2001 congress <http://www.ilts-berlin.de>.
    - all the people who used the first beta version and gave their qualified comments
      (there were other comments, too!).
    - my colleagues who did a lot of my work on the wards when I was hacking the code.
    - my family who kept all the daily struggles away.
   
  Installation:
    - Install PHP, MySQL, and your MySQL administration tool on your web-server.
    - Unpack the compressed ASM file keeping the directory structure.
    - Copy the ASM directory to your web-server.
    - Protect the '_private' sub-directory.
    - Create a MySQL database.
    - Create the necessary MySQL tables using MySQL dumps supplied with the ASM package (ASM_MySQL_dumps.txt).
    - Insert your MainTopics into the MySQL MainTopic table.
    - Insert your SubTopics into the MySQL SubTopic table.
    - Insert the administrators and their passwords into the MySQL administrator table.
    - Insert the reviewers and their passwords into the MySQL reviewer table.
    - Edit the configuration files 'public.cfg' and 'private.cfg'.
    - Edit the second part of the header files 'asmheader.htm', 'adminheader.htm', and 'reviewheader.htm'.
      You can include your conference's logo for example.
    - Edit the instructions for authors (asminstructions.phtml).
    - Start the web-based applications:
           asm.htm for users submitting abstracts
           abstractAdmin.htm for administrators
           abstractReview.htm for reviewers.
  
  ChangeLog:
    1.1.1 pre-release - 02/08/2001
      - new configuration variable ($congressFax) has been introduced
      - 'asmsubmit.phtml' has been updated (was not configurable)
      - most <META>-tags have been changed into HTTP-Header directives

  Known bugs:
    - Some strange browser/operating system/printer combinations just don't manage to realize
      'WYSIWYG' printouts.
    - Some browsers (preferably MAC?) don't manage to display abstracts using 'Times New Roman' fonts.
      In these cases, even very long abstracts seem to fit into the preview box.
  
  Good luck with your congress,
                                Olaf Guckelberger