After you have created your first administrator, and logged into your Admin Control Panel, you must run First Time Setup. Go to the Setup->First Time Setup menu and complete the questions displayed, which are explained throughout this section.

4.2.1 Administrator Information

This section asks for the administrator's name and e-mail address. This is basically just the name of your business, and your businesses main e-mail address. This e-mail address is used for notifying the administrator about overall software maintenance (i.e. software upgrades, automated backups).

4.2.2 General Settings

1.) Which date format would you like all dates shown in?

Three different date formats are supported by xFlow. This is the format, which all dates will be displayed in, throughout the software.

2.) Would you like every member to receive their own personal hit tracker? The software will log all traffic to their self replicating web site, which can later be viewed through the Member's Only Area.

If Yes, xFlow will keep track of all traffic each member's self replicating web site receives. Members can then view detailed statistics on all traffic through the Member's Only Area. This feature does not use any additional server resources, however, can take up a large amount of disk space on your server.

3.) When the software sends an e-mail message, would you like it to automatically wrap lines that are over 60 characters long?

Generally, this should always be set to Yes. This feature will automatically word wrap all e-mail messages, to ensure that people who do not use e-mail clients which support word wrap, can easily read the e-mail message.

4.) When you're viewing a member's downline, how many downline members would you like to display per page?

When viewing a member's downline, a table is displayed listing all members in that downline level. This question allows you to specify the number of members displayed in the table, per page. You can adjust this number anytime through the Setup->General Settings menu.

5.) Which currency sign would you like displayed in front of all amounts?

Basically, exactly like the question asks. The character you place in this field will be displayed throughout the software in front of all currency amounts.

6.) Please enter the home page of your self replicating web site(s)? Please note, this should only be the name of a web page, and not a full URL.

This is the home / default page of your self replicating web site. When someone views a member's self replicating web site, without specifying a web page, such as http://www.domain.com/members/jsmith/, xFlow will automatically display the home page you specify.

7.) Enter the username of a default member for the software. When someone views a self replicating web site, for which the member doesn't exist, the software will display the web site using this members information. Leave this field blank if you do not want to assign a default member.

Enter the username of your company member (eg. admin, company, etc.). This way, when someone views a member's self replicating web site who doesn't exist, instead of receiving an error message, the company member's self replicating web site will be displayed.

8.) When someone visits a member's self replicating web site without a trailing slash in the URL, would you like the software to automatically redirect the visitor back to the same web site, but with the trailing slash? This helps ensure your links stay intact.

Depending on the design of your web site, various images and links may not work correctly if this option is set to No, and people view a member's web site without a trailing slash (eg. http://www.domain.com/members/username). If Yes, the software will automatically redirect the visitor to the proper URL with the trailing list, helping ensure all images and links always work for all visitors.

9.) Would you like to activate sub-account features? This means each member can own several memberships, and manage them all through their one account.

If Yes, every time you create a new member through the Admin Control Panel you will have the option of specifying the owner of the account. Through the Member's Only Area, the member will be able to manage all sub-accounts assigned to them.

4.2.3 Newuser Form Settings

1.) When new members join, would you like the software to automatically force their username to lowercase?

If Yes, every time a new member joins from the public web site, their username will be automatically converted to lowercase. Please note, usernames are case sensitive, so 'jsmith' and 'JSmith' are two different usernames. This feature can help you manage your member database easier.

2.) Would you like a random six character password generated for all new members?

If Yes, every time a new member joins from a self replicated web site, a random six character password will be generated for them, instead of allowing them to specify their own password. This helps make sure all member's e-mail addresses are valid, because they must have their password e-mailed to them.

3.) Would you like the software to place a cookie in visitor's browsers, to track which member's self replicating web site they originally visited? This way, if someone joins at a later date, the original member will get credit, regardless of what web site they joined from.

If yes, every time someone visits a member's self replicating web site, a cookie will be placed in their web browser, with information on which member's web site they visited. If that member joins at a later date, they will be placed under the original member no matter what.

4.) When a new member joins, would you like them to first confirm their contact information before being created? If yes, when a new member joins they'll first be shown a page containing the information they previously submitted. Once they have confirmed this information, their membership will be created.

This question is fairly straight forward, and if yes, when a new member joins they will be prompted to confirm all information they just entered, instead of having their account immediately created.

4.2.4 Database Information

This section contains one field, asking for the number of fields you would like your member database to contain. Your member database stores all members' personal information, such as their name, address, e-mail address, password, and so on. On a piece of paper, write down all information you would like stored in your member database, and enter the number of fields.

Please note, the ID Number and Username fields are automatically included by the software. You must also have a minimum of three fields (Name, E-mail, Password). You can change the number of fields at anytime through the Setup->General Settings menu.

4.2.5 Password Authentication Settings

xFlow supports two different authentication schemes. The HTML login form requires everyone to login by entering their username and password into a HTML form. The authentication method was developed by Envex Developments, and is very secure. The other form of authentication, NCSA htaccess, does not use an HTML form. Instead, a small dialog box will pop up, asking for the username and password.

There is no real difference in the security between the two authentication schemes, and the choice is only for personal preference. The first two questions of this section, simply ask which authentication method you would like to use for the Member's Only Area and Admin Control Panel.

The last two questions of this section ask for the number of minutes to automatically log people out. Please note, xFlow can only log people out if you're using HTML login form for an authentication method.

4.2.6 Transaction Settings

1.) After how many days would you like pending transactions to automatically expire?

Pending transactions are transactions which are still awaiting to be processed. This usually means either, a deposit made through a third party payment processor (eg. PayPal, 2CheckOut) which the member still has to pay, or a commission payout that has not yet been sent. If a pending transaction has been in the database longer than specified, it will be automatically declined.

2.) How much of an overdraft would you like to allow for each member's account? This means, the balance of each account will be able to go into the negative this much, before being physically charged.

Depending on the transaction, xFlow will withdraw the needed funds from the member's existing balance. However, if there are not enough funds in the member's account, xFlow will only physically charge the member the difference, to bring their account back to $0.

For example, if a transaction for $20 is added, but the member only has $19.50 in their account, xFlow will physically charge the member for $0.50. Setting an overdraft will allow a member's account to go into the negative, instead of charging them small amounts such as $0.50. Once the member has reached the overdraft limit, the Web Site Replicator will charge them the needed amount, to bring their account back to $0.

3.) What is the minimum amount members can deposit into their account through the Member's Only Area?

Through the Member's Only Area, members can deposit funds into their account. This will physically charge members and deposit the funds into their account. Here, you can set a minimum limit on the amount they're allowed to deposit. Setting the amount to $0 will set no limit.

4.) What is the minimum amount members can withdraw from their account, when requesting a funds withdrawal through the Member's Only Area?

Through the Member's Only Area, members can request funds to be withdrawn from their account, and be physically sent to them. Here, you can set the minimum amount they can request at one time. Setting the amount to $0 will set no limit. For further information, see Section 8.7 Pending Withdrawals.

5.) When new members first join and pay a membership fee via credit card, how would you like the initial transaction processed?

This question is only applicable is you're using a real merchant account, and accept credit cards on your web site. When a new member first joins from a self replicating web site, this question determines how to process the credit card charge. If you only authorize the first charges, you then have to manually approve all new charges through the Transaction->Pending Deposits menu. This allows you to check for credit card fraud.

6.) When recurring (eg. monthly) transactions are charged to a member's account, how would you like the credit card transaction processed?

Generally, you can allow the software to charge member's credit card for recurring transactions. The credit card has already been checked and approved after the first charge, so no longer needs to be checked again for fraud.

7.) When a member deletes themselves from the Member's Only Area, how would you like the software to handle all previously added commissions?

There's three different ways you can handle previously added commissions. Simply select how you would like previously added commissions handled.

8.) Would you like all new payment methods created through the Member's Only Area, require approval from the administrator (you) before becoming active?

xFlow allows members to add new payment methods (eg. credit cards) to their account through the Member's Only Area. If this question is set to Yes, all new payment methods members add must first be approved by you through the Transaction->Pending Payment Methods menu, before they become active on the member's account.

4.2.7 Backup Settings

1.) How often would you like your member database automatically backed up?

This question allows you to specify exactly how often you would like xFlow to automatically backup your member database. Generally, this should be left at once a day. All backup files are stored in the /cgi-bin/xflow/backup/ directory of your server. For a typical 10,000 member database the backup archives will be around 1 Megabyte in size.

2.) How many days worth of backup files would you like kept on your server? All older backup files will be automatically deleted off your server, to save disk space.

Every night at 2:00am (local server time), a script will automatically run and delete all backup files that are older than specified in this question. This helps reduce the amount of disk space that backup files take.

Remote FTP Server Info

These fields are optional, and are only required if you would like backup archives automatically uploaded to a remote FTP server. If wanted, enter the FTP login information into the provided fields. Every time the software performs a backup of the database, it will login to the FTP server provided, and upload the backup archive. This helps against severe server failures, as your backup archives will also be available on a remote server.

4.2.8 Other Settings

1.) Will you allow the software to automatically send any error messages to Envex Developments that shouldn't have occurred? This will help Envex Developments to diagnose and fix any bugs the software may contain.

All errors that shouldn't have occurred are automatically logged by the software. If this question is set to Yes, a script will automatically run every night on your server and send all error messages that occurred during the day to the Envex Developments server.

2.) Would you like the software to automatically contact the Envex Developments server every 24 hours, to check for any newly released upgrades, and automatically install them?

If yes, the software will automatically contact the Envex Developments upgrade server every night, and check for new upgrades. If any upgrades are available, they will be automatically installed on your server. This ensures you're always running the latest version of xFlow, without any manual intervention.

4.2.9 E-Mail Settings

This section only contains one question and asks for the method you would like to be used to send e-mail. Generally, this should always be set to Sendmail, unless for some reason, your web server does not have Sendmail installed. Please note, if your web server uses Exim or Qmail, you should still select Sendmail as the option, as they all work in the same way.

You should now have the first page of First Time Setup completed. Just submit the form, and continue on to the second page.

4.2.10 E-Mail Information

This section contains one question, asking for either the path to Sendmail on your server, or the host name of your SMTP server. xFlow has already tried to determine the answer for you. If you do not know the answer to this question, please contact your server administrator.

4.2.11 Database Information

This section contains one text box for each of the fields you specified for your member database on the previous page. You simply need to enter the names of all member database fields in this section. Please note, fields can not contain spaces, special characters, or digits. However, you can use the underscore "_".

Now that you've completed the second page of First Time Setup, click on the "Continue to Next Step" submit button to continue onto the third page.

4.2.12 Database Information

This section contains one table, which asks for the location of member's information in your database. The only fields which are required in this table are, Full / First Name, E-Mail Address, and Password. The rest of the fields are optional. This informs the software about which database fields correspond to the name of fields you have provided previously.

4.2.13 Newuser Form Settings

1.) Please check all fields which you would to make required on the newuser HTML form.

When a new member joins from a self replicating web site, the software will ensure all checked fields contain at least one character. If any required fields are left blank on the HTML form, an error will be given off, asking the new member to specify in the required field. This error message can be modified though the Other->Internal Messages menu.

2.) Please mark all fields that you would like the script to check for duplicate entries when a new member joins.

When a new member is created, xFlow will check all existing members for the marked fields, to see if any member has the same information. For example, you could check for duplicate e-mail addresses, to ensure no two members have the same e-mail address.

4.2.14 Member's Only Area Settings

xFlow allows members to edit their personal profile through the Member's Only Area. The first question in this section asks for the fields that members can edit themselves.

The second question asks if you would like to use a different set of HTML templates for each Member's Only Area. If yes, all HTML templates located inside the /xflow_data/htmlt/marea directory will be copied over into the /xflow_data/htmlt/public/X/templates directory for each Member's Only Area you create. This allows you to customize the HTML templates for each Member's Only Area. If no, the default set of HTML templates in the /xflow_data/htmlt/marea directory will be used for all Member's Only Areas.

Now that the third page is completed, click on the "Continue to Next Step" submit button, to continue to the fourth and last page.

4.2.15 Downline / Upline View Information

This section allows you to specify what information is displayed when viewing a member's downline. You can have to up eight different pieces of information displayed. The tables each contain two columns, one allowing you to choose exactly what information is displayed, and the other allowing you to specify the title of the column.

That's it! You just need to submit the form, and First Time Setup will be completed!