The easiest way to get SFTrade installed is to use the automated installation script. To complete the installation do the following:

1. When downloading SFTrade, select the Automatic Installation option. You will then download an archive that contains the install.php script.


2. Select a directory of your site where you would like to install SFTrade. The software should be installed in an empty sub-directory of your site and not in the base directory of your site or a directory that already contains other files. For the remainder of the installation process, it is assumed that you have selected a directory named sft for your SFTrade installation.


3. Upload only the install.php file from the SFTrade software distribution to the sft directory of your website.


4. Change the permissions on the sft directory to 777.


5. Access the install.php file through your web browser. If using the recommended directory name of sft, the URL to the install.php file would be:
   http://www.yoursite.com/sft/install.php


6. The installation script will perform a few tests and display the results for you. If all of the tests are successful, there will be a button labeled Install SFTrade. Click on that button to continue the installation process.


7. The installer will now grab the installer file and create the necessary directories and extract the software files. When it is complete, you will get a message indicating that the software files have been installed on your server.


8. Before you can access the SFTrade control panel, you must delete the install.php file from your server.


9. The installation confirmation page will also provide you with a link to the SFTrade control panel along with the username and password that have been setup. The password is randomly generated for each SFTrade installation, so you should write it down for safe keeping.


10. After writing down the username and password, click the link to access the SFTrade control panel. You will then need to enter that username and password to gain access.


11. The first time you login, and until you save the software settings, the Global Settings dialog will appear. All of the settings will be filled in with default values, however you can change them to whatever values you would like to use. After you have made the changes (or even if you don't make changes at all) save your settings.


12. Change the permissions on the sft directory to 755.

The installation process is now complete! Continue on to the First Steps After Installation for details on items you will want to complete before going live with your site.

Manual installation of SFTrade requires a bit more work, but it still pretty straightforward. Use the following steps to complete a manual installation:

1. Select a directory of your site where you would like to install SFTrade. The software should be installed in an empty sub-directory of your site and not in the base directory of your site or a directory that already contains other files. For the remainder of the installation process, it is assumed that you have selected a directory named sft for your SFTrade installation.


2. Upload all of the files and directories from the SFTrade software distribution, with the exception of the following:
   
   
   • The utilities directory and it's files


3. Set permissions on the files and directories that you uploaded. If you are not sure how to set permissions, consult the documentation for your FTP client and/or contact your server administrator for more information. Below is a table containing the recommended permissions you will need to set on each directory or file. If you do not see a file or directory listed, it means you do not need to change the permissions on that file or directory
   
   

   File or Directory	Permissions
   data directory	777
   All files in data directory 1	666
   All sub-directories of the data directory 2	777
   All files in templates directory	666
   templates/_compiled directory	777
   logs directory	777
   in.php file	666
   [out].php file 3	666
   image.php file	666
   lib/config.php file	666

   
   
   ¹ This includes all files in the data directory itself, and all files in all sub-directories and their descendant directories.
   ² This includes all sub-directories, their descendant sub-directories and so on.
   ³ out.php can be renamed
   
   These are only the recommended file permissions, and may need to be altered depending on your server configuration. For example, on servers using suPHP you will want to use 755 permissions in place of 777 and 644 permissions in place of 666.


4. From the utilities directory of the SFTrade software distribution upload the reset-access.php script to the cp directory of your SFTrade installation.


5. In your web browser, bring up the reset-access.php script. If using the recommended directory name of sft, the URL to the reset-access.php file would be:
   http://www.yoursite.com/sft/cp/reset-access.php


6. The reset-access.php script will generate a username and password for the SFTrade control panel. Before you can access the control panel, delete the reset-access.php script from your server. Be sure to write down the username and password before you click on the link to access the SFTrade control panel.


7. After writing down the username and password, click the link to access the SFTrade control panel. You will then need to enter that username and password to gain access.


8. The first time you login, and until you save the software settings, the Global Settings dialog will appear. All of the settings will be filled in with default values, however you can change them to whatever values you would like to use. After you have made the changes (or even if you don't make changes at all) save your settings.

The installation process is now complete! Continue on to the First Steps After Installation for details on items you will want to complete before going live with your site.