Slash

NAME README - Slash Readme

DESCRIPTION Slash -- Slashdot Like Automated Storytelling Homepage -- is the code that runs Slashdot. More than that, however, Slash is an architecture for putting together web sites. It comes with functionality for posting articles, conducting polls, having discussions, and more; but it can be extended in innumerable ways.

Slash is written in Perl, and is built on top of Apache and mod_perl. It
requires a database backend, though the only well-supported database
used with it is MySQL (more databases will become well-supported as time
goes on; PostgreSQL support is already well on its way). Slash is fast,
scalable, and secure (as evidenced by one of the best test cases you
could have, running Slashdot itself).

Through a plugin system, developers can add functionality to Slash.
Through themes and templates (which are written using Template Toolkit),
the look and feel of a Slash site can be customized.

See INSTALL for information about installing Slash, including hardware
and software requirements. Read that document carefully, and follow the
instructions as precisely as possible.

Also see INSTALL for information on upgrading from previous versions of
Slash.

As noted in the FAQ, please send any bug reports, and subscribe to
mailing lists, at Slash's SourceForge.net site.

        http://sf.net/projects/slashcode/

DOCUMENTATION The .pod documentation included with Slash can be read with the "perldoc" program, included with perl, or translated using one of the many "pod2*" translators.

The documentation is also available online on the Slash FAQ.

Slash FAQ
    Basic information about Slash, how to contact the developers, and a
    lot more.

    http://slashcode.com/faq.shtml

Template Toolkit (version 2)
    For more information on how to write templates, see the Template
    Toolkit site.

    http://www.template-toolkit.org/

RSS For more information on RSS 1.0, and the RSS Slash module.

    http://purl.org/rss/1.0/
    http://slashcode.com/rss/1.0/modules/Slash/

Installation
    The details on how to install, and upgrade, Slash.

    INSTALL

API The details of the API available in Slash.

            perldoc Slash
            perldoc Slash::Utility
            perldoc Slash::Display
            perldoc Slash::DB

    The modules represent the bulk of the public API of Slash. The other
    Slash modules have embedded POD to be read with perldoc, too. Some
    of the documentation here is woefully incomplete.

            use Source 'Luke';

HOWTOs
    There are currently the beginnings of HOWTO documents for templates,
    plugins, and themes.

    docs/HOWTO-Plugins.pod

    docs/HOWTO-Templates.pod

    docs/HOWTO-Themes.pod

Schema
    The layout and description of the database. [These are out of date.]

    docs/slasherd.fig

    docs/slasherd.ps

    docs/slashtables.pod

Other
    The slashguide document (previously called getting_started) helps
    you get your feet wet and gives vital information for how to run a
    Slash site.

    docs/slashguide.pod

    themes/slashcode/htdocs/slashguide.shtml

Authors
    The authors and contributors of Slash.

    AUTHORS

LINKS Slashdot The site that started it all.

    http://slashdot.org/

Slash
    The main site for Slash.

    http://slashcode.com/

CVS
	The main CVS repository.

    http://cvs.slashcode.com/

SourceForge.net Site
    Access to the code, bug reports, patches, mailing lists, and more.

    http://sf.net/projects/slashcode/

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE The information below applies to everything in this distribution, except where noted.

Copyright 1997-2005 by Open Source Technology Group.

        http://www.ostg.com/

Slash 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.

Slash 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 for
more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with Slash (COPYING); if not, go to http://www.fsf.org/ or write to the
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
02111-1307, USA.

VERSION $Id$