I’m currently testing out some open source social networking web applications that compare to Myspace. The most promising at the moment seems to be Elgg (don’t ask me what it means). AroundMe looks good too, but I read a comment on their blog that it wasn’t quite ready yet.
Elgg is a little more difficult to install than other open source applications out there. That is, if you are installing it on a shared hosting account. There are two obstacles you will need to overcome. First of all .htaccess is probably not enabled for your account, and when the Elgg .htaccess starts trying to do things, your server will choke with a 500 Server Error. So you need to have your hosting support person enable .htaccess for the directories you will install Elgg in.
That’s not all though. My host (hostmysite.com) didn’t like the following in the Elgg .htaccess file:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
These are mod_rewrite directives. They had me comment them out and added the statements to their own special configuration file. My current .htaccess just has the Rewrite rules listed.
I found a lot of posts from people looking for installation support for this issue, and what a lot of the well intentioned developers trying to help didn’t understand (or didn’t communicate) is that these seemingly simple settings can become complex on shared hosts. For security, processes can be disabled, or configuration can be more complex than if you own your own box.
Hopefully this helps anyone having 500 server errors when installing Elgg on a shared host.
Check out my Elgg installation at Fan Club Helper
#1 by Bottlecap Napkin - August 2nd, 2007 at 17:40
Update: To make things more confusing for you, after I got mod_rewrite going, I realized my php.ini settings were not having an effect. Since PHP is installed as a CGI script on my host server, I couldn’t use the .htaccess file to make those php setting changes. The hosting company will let me use my own php.ini, but they make the changes per my request. Turns out they had my account pointed to the global php.ini, and when they pointed it to mine, mod_rewrite ceased to function, until I uncommented the RewriteEngine on directive in .htaccess. Why? I couldn’t get an answer, as I worked with 5 different techs, all of whom seemed to have a different approach. If someone could figure out what happened and explain it to me, I’d appreciate it.
#2 by couldbeyou - August 26th, 2008 at 16:09
Hi
I used a web host in the uk, they installed elgg 1.0 free of charge, may be of some help if you are having problems installing, i had issues to start with the .htaccess file. not sure if I am allowed to post the link but the company was simpleservers.co.uk
#3 by Anonymous - November 27th, 2008 at 16:35
One word - DRUPAL. Nothing compares to the way you can customize every aspect of Drupal. Drupal is by far the best open source social networking platform.
#4 by Shane - January 14th, 2009 at 22:55
Thanks for posting this! I’m exploring Elgg and I’ve asked for HMS to make these changes. I hope it works!
#5 by A2 Hosting - January 26th, 2009 at 08:34
I just wanted to give you a heads up that A2 Hosting has launched Elgg Hosting and we have tested it on our shared servers. If your readers are interested, they can find out more at our Elgg page found here http://www.a2hosting.com/social-networking/elgg-hosting.
#6 by Nick Powell - April 3rd, 2009 at 06:56
We fully support and specialise in elgg 1.5 hosting, with free real Elgg support, based in the UK with servers in UK and USA http://www.simpleservers.co.uk/elgg_hosting.php
#7 by Marco - March 5th, 2010 at 10:23
hello! I’m Marco and i’m trying to create my elgg social network! I have a problem, i can’t configurate .htaccess in the right way. Can you send me your .htaccess file??!