Procedure 2.1. Installing the Plugin

1. First, you'll need a working WordPress installation. Installing and configuring WordPress is beyond the scope of this document, but help can be found at WordPress's website.

2. If you are upgrading from a previous version of stripShow, make sure you disable the plugin in WordPress's Plugins page before proceeding.

3. Upload the folder called stripshow to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory.

4. Activate the plugin through the Plugins page in WordPress.

5. Choose a theme. stripShow 2.0 ships with a new framework theme, stripShow Sandbox. You can read more about its features in Chapter 7, Theming stripShow.

   Also included is stripShow Classic, which is nearly identical to the original stripShow example theme included with version 1 of stripShow.

   I recommend copying at least the folder called stripshow_sandbox into your themes folder. This will allow you to create a child theme based on this framework. See Chapter 7, Theming stripShow.

   Using a Symbolic Link

   If you intend to create a child theme of stripShow Sandbox and doing your design there, it might be a better idea simply to create a symbolic link to the original theme using the command line. On UNIX and Mac OS X systems, from your themes directory, type:

   ln -s ../plugins/stripshow/example-themes/stripshow_sandbox stripshow_sandbox

   Now there's a symbolic link to the stripshow_sandbox folder in your themes folder, and when you upgrade stripShow, you won't have to copy that folder again.

6. Create a folder to hold your comics. If such a folder already exists, take note of its location relative to your WordPress root, as you will need to enter that location on the stripShow Options page. In either case, this folder will need to be writeable by your webserver, in order to use stripShow's upload feature.

   Where should I put my comics folder?

   While you can put your comics folder anywhere within your WordPress root, I recommend placing it within your wp-content folder. This conforms with the general principle of a clean WordPress root, with all user-supplied content being segregated into one folder. That way, when WordPress is upgraded, only one folder needs to get special consideration for preservation. The default location for comics in stripShow is wp-content/stripshow_comics.

   When you have created and copied all the folders you wish, your installation might look something like this:

   Figure 2.1. stripShow Folder Tree
   
   

7. Configure stripShow. The options you can set are detailed in the next chapter.