Prerequisite

The plugin requires your site to have WordPress.com Stats activated either as part of the Jetpack plugin or the previous stand-alone plugin version.

Installation

Extract all files from the ZIP file, making sure to keep the file/folder structure intact, and then upload it to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory. Go to the admin area of your WordPress install and click on the Plugins menu. Click on Activate for the Display Post View Count plugin.

Settings

Display To All
If set to No, view counts are only displayed to logged-in users. If Yes, view counts are displayed to visitors as well as logged-in users. The Default is No.

Include Link
If set to Yes, the view count includes a link to the individual post’s statistics at WordPress.com. The link is only included for Admin users. The Default is Yes.

Display Text
The text used to display the individual post’s view count. The variable %VIEW_COUNT% is replaced with the post’s actual view count. The Default is %VIEW_COUNT% views.

Link Hover Text
The text shown when the mouse hovers over the link to the individual post’s statistics at WordPress.com. The variable %POST_TITLE% is replaced with the post’s title. The Default is Show detailed stats for %POST_TITLE% at WordPress.com.

Surround post title with single quotes
If checked, encloses the post’s title in single quotes to differentiate it from the surrounding text. The Default is checked.

Restore defaults upon plugin deactivation/reactivation
If checked, settings will return to their default values if the plugin is reactivated. The Default is un-checked.

Usage

Place the following code where you want the view counts to display:

<?php echo do_shortcode('[display-post-view-count]'); ?>

The display-post-view-count shortcode accepts two parameters: display and link which are synonymous with the Display To All and Include Link settings respectively. Each parameter can be set to either 0 (No) or 1 (Yes). If used, they overwrite their respective setting’s value.

As an example the following code displays view counts to everyone, but no link is included:

<?php echo do_shortcode('[display-post-view-count display=1 link=0]'); ?>

Change Log

If your local server environment is running on a Mac, the local Apache server may have some difficulty serving WordPress posts and pages resulting in Error 404 Object not found! errors. These errors can often be attributed to the use of custom or so-called pretty permalinks.

The default permalink structure in WordPress is http://domain.com/?p=123. Any other structure requires an .htaccess file containing mod_rewrite directives to re-write the permalink URLs correctly. The kind of directives that are allowed in .htaccess files are controlled by the Apache server’s configuration file: httpd.conf.

The configuration file for the Apache server that ships with Mac OS X is /private/etc/apache2/httpd.conf. The directory where web pages are stored, known as the document root, is set to /Library/WebServer/Documents by default and in the Mac OS X Apache server is configured as follows:

#
# This should be changed to whatever you set DocumentRoot to.
#
<Directory "/Library/WebServer/Documents">
    #
    # Possible values for the Options directive are "None", "All",
    # or any combination of:
    #   Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks SymLinksifOwnerMatch ExecCGI MultiViews
    #
    # Note that "MultiViews" must be named *explicitly* --- "Options All"
    # doesn't give it to you.
    #
    # The Options directive is both complicated and important.  Please see
    # http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#options
    # for more information.
    #
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews

    #
    # AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
    # It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
    #   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
    #
    AllowOverride None

    #
    # Controls who can get stuff from this server.
    #
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all

</Directory>

Default document root configuration in the Mac OS X Apache server configuration file

On line 214 the AllowOverride directive is set to None. This instructs Apache to completely ignore .htaccess files. Consequently any re-write rules required for pretty permalinks will not be executed resulting in Error 404 Object not found! errors.

The fix is simple and there are two choices: set the AllowOverride directive to FileInfo or All.

Setting the AllowOverride directive to FileInfo allows the use of mod_rewrite directives in .htaccess files.

    #
    # AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
    # It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
    #   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
    #
    AllowOverride FileInfo

</Directory>

Document root AllowOverride directive set to FileInfo in the Mac OS X Apache server configuration file

Setting the AllowOverride directive to All allows the use of all permissible .htaccess directives in .htaccess files.

    #
    # AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
    # It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
    #   Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
    #
    AllowOverride All

</Directory>

Document root AllowOverride directive set to All in the Mac OS X Apache server configuration file

For local server environments provided by XAMPP the document root configuration can be found in /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/etc/httpd.conf.

For MAMP it’s /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/httpd.conf.

When using virtual hosts the AllowOverride directive can be set individually for each virtual host. For instructions on configuring virtual hosts see Configuring Virtual Hosts in XAMPP on Mac OS X and Configuring Virtual Hosts in MAMP on Mac OS X.

Now, some 9 months after having first raised the issue over at the WordPress.org forums member Josh Eaton seems to have found a possible cause.

To have blog posts displayed on the front page, the theme I use requires that A static page is selected in Reading Settings:

Reading Settings with Front page displays set to A static page

The theme’s wp-content/themes/infocus-v16-prod/index.php file then chooses the appropriate template based on these settings:

<?php
get_header();
require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/var.php");

$show_on_front = get_option('show_on_front');
$page_on_front = get_option('page_on_front');

if( ($show_on_front == 'page') && ($page_on_front == $blog_page) ) {
	require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/template-blog.php");
}else{
	require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/featured-" .$homepage_slider. ".php");
get_footer();
}

?>

The original inFocus v1.60 wp-content/themes/infocus-v16-prod/index.php file

Using this configuration I was experiencing issues with page navigation. Josh’s suggestion was to have Your latest posts selected in Reading Settings:

Reading Settings with Front page displays set to Your latest posts

For my theme I also needed to change wp-content/themes/infocus-v16-prod/index.php so that /wp-content/themes/infocus-v16-prod/lib/includes/template-blog.php was still being used despite A static page no longer being selected in Reading Settings.

Commenting-out the option for use of the other template has no adverse affect on my site as the site’s configuration renders this alternative redundant.

<?php
get_header();
require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/var.php");

$show_on_front = get_option('show_on_front');
$page_on_front = get_option('page_on_front');

if( ($show_on_front == 'page') && ($page_on_front == $blog_page) ) {
	require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/template-blog.php");
}else{
//	require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/featured-" .$homepage_slider. ".php");
	require(WEBTREATS_INCLUDES . "/template-blog.php");
get_footer();
}

?>

The amended inFocus v1.60 wp-content/themes/infocus-v16-prod/index.php file

While this fix may not get to the root of the issue and admittedly it feels more like a hack than a solution, it certainly allows the Jetpack plugin to play nice with page navigation on this site.

WordPress 3.x Page Navigation Error with inFocus Theme: Revisited may also be of interest as it documents a possibly related issue.

While searching for an answer I happened upon a better although seemingly unfinished version of an Apache brush, but still couldn’t get it work. A little further digging and I learnt that I needed to write a plugin to use a custom brush with SyntaxHighlighter Evolved.

My version of the plugin is based on shApacheConfig.js by Riley Wills and while still very much a work in progress, provides adequate though not exhaustive highlighting. Any suggestions or modifications are extremely welcome.

The plugin defines two valid brush names: apache and conf either of which may be used in a <pre> tag or shortcode like so:

<pre class="brush: apache;">
	.....
</pre>

Using a <pre> tag

[apache]
	.....
[/apache]

Using a shortcode

Installation instructions and further notes on usage can be found in the readme.txt file included in syntaxhighlighter-evolved-apache.zip.

The code snippets below are not necessarily working examples and are intended merely to demonstrate the brush’s highlighting capabilities.

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
	RewriteEngine On
	RewriteBase /
	RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
	RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Example .htaccess file

#
# Do not add a slash at the end of the directory path.  If you point
# ServerRoot at a non-local disk, be sure to point the LockFile directive
# at a local disk.  If you wish to share the same ServerRoot for multiple
# httpd daemons, you will need to change at least LockFile and PidFile.
#
ServerRoot "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles"

LoadModule authn_file_module modules/mod_authn_file.so
LoadModule authn_dbm_module modules/mod_authn_dbm.so
LoadModule authn_anon_module modules/mod_authn_anon.so
LoadModule authn_dbd_module modules/mod_authn_dbd.so

<IfDefine JUSTTOMAKEAPXSHAPPY>
	LoadModule php4_module        modules/libphp4.so
	LoadModule php5_module        modules/libphp5.so
</IfDefine>

<IfModule !mpm_winnt_module>
	<IfModule !mpm_netware_module>
	User nobody
	Group nogroup
	</IfModule>
</IfModule>

ServerAdmin you@example.com

ServerName localhost

DocumentRoot "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs"

#
# First, we configure the "default" to be a very restrictive set of
# features.
#
<Directory />
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride None
    #XAMPP
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
</Directory>

#
# This should be changed to whatever you set DocumentRoot to.
#
<Directory "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs">
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks ExecCGI Includes
    AllowOverride All
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

#
# DirectoryIndex: sets the file that Apache will serve if a directory
# is requested.
#
<IfModule dir_module>
    DirectoryIndex index.html index.php index.htmls index.htm
</IfModule>

#
# The following lines prevent .htaccess and .htpasswd files from being
# viewed by Web clients.
#
<FilesMatch "^\.ht">
    Order allow,deny
    Deny from all
</FilesMatch>

ErrorLog logs/error_log

#
# LogLevel: Control the number of messages logged to the error_log.
# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
# alert, emerg.
#
LogLevel warn

<IfModule log_config_module>
    LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" combined
    LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b" common

    <IfModule logio_module>
      # You need to enable mod_logio.c to use %I and %O
      LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\" %I %O" combinedio
    </IfModule>

    CustomLog logs/access_log common

</IfModule>

<IfModule alias_module>
    ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/cgi-bin/"
</IfModule>

<IfModule cgid_module>
    Scriptsock logs/cgisock
</IfModule>

#
# "/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/cgi-bin" should be changed to whatever your ScriptAliased
# CGI directory exists, if you have that configured.
#
<Directory "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/phpmyadmin">
    AllowOverride None
    Options None
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

DefaultType text/plain

<IfModule mime_module>
    TypesConfig etc/mime.type
    AddType application/x-compress .Z
    AddType application/x-gzip .gz .tgz
    AddHandler cgi-script .cgi .pl .asp
    AddType text/html .shtml
    AddOutputFilter INCLUDES .shtml
</IfModule>

MIMEMagicFile etc/magic

#
# Customizable error responses come in three flavors:
# 1) plain text 2) local redirects 3) external redirects
#
# Some examples:
ErrorDocument 500 "The server made a boo boo."
ErrorDocument 404 /missing.html
ErrorDocument 404 "/cgi-bin/missing_handler.pl"
ErrorDocument 402 http://www.example.com/subscription_info.html

EnableMMAP off
EnableSendfile off

# Server-pool management (MPM specific)
Include /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-mpm.conf

# Multi-language error messages
Include /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf

<IfModule ssl_module>
    <IfDefine SSL>
        Include etc/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
    </IfDefine>
</IfModule>

#
# Note: The following must must be present to support
#       starting without SSL on platforms with no /dev/random equivalent
#       but a statically compiled-in mod_ssl.
#
<IfModule ssl_module>
	SSLRandomSeed startup builtin
	SSLRandomSeed connect builtin
</IfModule>

#XAMPP
Include etc/extra/httpd-xampp.conf

#
# Use name-based virtual hosting.
#
NameVirtualHost *

# tech-otaku [AllowOveride All for WordPress installs to stop 404 Page Not Found errors. Source: http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks#Using_.22Pretty.22_permalinks]
<VirtualHost *>
	ServerName macbook.to
	DocumentRoot "/Users/steve/Sites/DOMAINS/tech-otaku.com"
	<Directory "/Users/steve/Sites/DOMAINS/tech-otaku.com">
		Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes execCGI
		AllowOverride All
		Order Allow,Deny
		Allow From All
	</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Example .httpd.conf file (XAMPP)

Shortly after the release of WordPress 3 I offered a solution to broken page navigation conceivably caused by upgrading from version 2. Recently, in an attempt to fix a long-standing and seemingly unrelated issue, page navigation reared its head once more.

A detailed explanation and solution to the original issue can be found here. In short, the fix was to replace this code block in the file wp-content/themes/infocus/lib/includes/template-blog.php:

<?php
$exclude_blog_cats = preg_replace("!(\d)+!","-${0}$0", $blog_excludecats);
$query_string = "cat=".$exclude_blog_cats."&paged=$paged";
query_posts($query_string);
$counter=0;
?>

… with this, which tested the version of WordPress being used:

<?php
if ( (int)substr(get_bloginfo ('version'),0, stripos(get_bloginfo ('version'),'.')) < 3 ) { // WordPress 2.x or lower
	$paged = $paged ? $paged : 1;
} else { // WordPress 3.x or higher
	$paged = $page ? $page : 1;
}
$exclude_blog_cats = preg_replace("!(\d)+!","-${0}$0", $blog_excludecats);
$query_string = "cat=".$exclude_blog_cats."&paged=$paged";
query_posts($query_string);
$counter=0;
?>

Having used this fix for some 18 months it transpires that it’s only needed when using WordPress 3.x if blog posts are displayed on the front page i.e. in WordPress admin A static page is selected in Reading Settings > Front page displays. Changing this setting to Your latest posts breaks page navigation yet again.

Heres’s the revised code which only uses the $page variable when using WordPress 3.x and blog posts are displayed on the front page. Otherwise $paged is used.

<?php
if ( ( (int)substr(get_bloginfo ('version'),0, stripos(get_bloginfo ('version'),'.')) >= 3 ) && ( $show_on_front == 'page' ) && ( $page_on_front == $blog_page ) ) {
	// WordPress 3 or higher and blog posts displayed on front page
	$paged = $page ? $page : 1;
} else {
	// WordPress 2.x or lower
	$paged = $paged ? $paged : 1;
}
$exclude_blog_cats = preg_replace("!(\d)+!","-${0}$0", $blog_excludecats);
$query_string = "cat=".$exclude_blog_cats."&paged=$paged";
query_posts($query_string);
$counter=0;
?>

Well, they will be if using the default MAMP ports for Apache: 8888 and MySQL: 8889. However, I prefer using the standard ports for Apache: 80 and MySQL: 3306 and doing so requires I enter a password when MAMP starts as port 80 is a privileged or well-known port. Not ever having had any success using a launch daemon with MAMP the only alternative appeared to be AppleScript.

Saving this AppleScript as an Application and adding it to the Login Items will work but it has one major problem; the PASSWORD and USERNAME are stored in plain text.

tell application "Finder"
	# Start MAMP's Apache server
	do shell script "/Applications/MAMP/bin/startApache.sh &" password PASSWORD user name USERNAME with administrator privileges

	# Start MAMP's MySQL server
	do shell script "/Applications/MAMP/bin/startMysql.sh"
end tell

AppleScript to start MAMP’s Apache and MySQL servers with user name and password stored in plain text

To overcome this security issue a new item can be added to the users keychain and made available to the AppleScript using Keychain Scripting. Unfortunately, as of OS X Lion the Keychain Scripting.app is no longer included. Prior to OS X Lion it could be found in /System/Library/ScriptingAdditions/. We’ll see two alternative methods later, but first we need to create a new item in our keychain.

Open Keychain Access.app in the /Applications/Utilities folder:

Keychain Access showing keychain list with login keychain selected

Ensure the login keychain is selected and press ⌘N to create a new password item:

Adding a new keychain item in Keychain Access

Enter the Keychain Item Name. I’ve used MAMP, but it can be anything. Enter the Account Name and Password you use to login into your computer and click Add.

The two alternatives methods I mentioned earlier for accessing the keychain using AppleScript are Red Sweater’s Usable Keychain Scripting and the security command in Terminal.

Using Usable Keychain Scripting the following AppleScript will grab the Account Name and Password for the keychain item named MAMP and assign each to a variable:

tell application "Finder"

	# get the user name and password using Usable Keychain Scripting
	tell application "Usable Keychain Scripting"

		set theKeyList to every generic item of current keychain whose name is "MAMP"

		repeat with x from 1 to (length of theKeyList)
			set theKey to item x of theKeyList
			set theUserName to the account of theKey
			set thePassword to password of theKey
		end repeat

	end tell

end tell

AppleScript to obtain user name and password using Usable Keychain Scripting

The same can be achieved using the security command in Terminal:

tell application "Finder"

	# get the user name and password using the security Terminal command
	set theUserName to do shell script ("security  find-generic-password -l \"MAMP\" | grep \"acct\" | cut -c 19-99 | tr -d '\"'")
	set thePassword to do shell script ("security 2>&1 >/dev/null find-generic-password -gl \"MAMP\" | cut -c 11-99 | tr -d '\"'")

end tell

AppleScript to obtain user name and password using the security command in Terminal

I prefer using the security command so I’ll include this method in my AppleScript as opposed to Usable Keychain Scripting though the latter will function just as well.

Substituting the plain text PASSWORD and USERNAME from the original AppleScript for their respective variables: thePassword and theUserName, we can use the following AppleScript:

tell application "Finder"

	# get the user name and password using the security Terminal command
	set theUserName to do shell script ("security  find-generic-password -l \"MAMP\" | grep \"acct\" | cut -c 19-99 | tr -d '\"'")
	set thePassword to do shell script ("security 2>&1 >/dev/null find-generic-password -gl \"MAMP\" | cut -c 11-99 | tr -d '\"'")

	# Start MAMP's Apache server
	do shell script "/Applications/MAMP/bin/startApache.sh &" password thePassword user name theUserName with administrator privileges

	# Start MAMP's MySQL server
	do shell script "/Applications/MAMP/bin/startMysql.sh > /dev/null 2>&1"

end tell

AppleScript to start MAMP’s Apache and MySQL servers using the security command in Terminal

Save this AppleScript as an AppleScript application and add it to the user’s Login Items and MAMP’s Apache and MySQL servers will be up and running when user login is complete.

Start MAMP Servers Applescript application added to Login Items

Run this AppleScript now and you’ll be prompted with the following:

Authorisation for the security command to access the 'MAMP' keychain item

Clicking Always Allow will ensure this prompt won’t appear each time the user logs in. Opening the Access Control panel for the MAMP keychain item in Keychain Access shows the security command added to the list of authorised applications:

Access Control panel for the 'MAMP' keychain item

While this AppleScript will suffice I’ve included some other functionality in the final version.

This code uses a user-defined function to ensure that MAMP’s Apache and MySQL servers are only started if no other instances of Apache or MySQL are currently running:

tell application "Finder"

	# Check if the Apache or MySQL servers are already running
	set apacheRunning to my ProcessRunning("httpd")
	set mysqlRunning to my ProcessRunning("mysqld")

end tell

on ProcessRunning(processName)

	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "\\|"
	set theExpression to processName as string
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""

	set isRunning to every paragraph of (do shell script "ps -acwx -o command | grep -ix " & quoted form of theExpression & " || echo 'false'")

	if isRunning contains "false" then
		return false
	else
		return true
	end if

end ProcessRunning

AppleScript to determine if Apache and MySQL are currently running

This code starts the MAMP control panel and then hides it after a short delay:

tell application "MAMP"
	activate
	delay 3
end tell

tell application "System Events" to set visible of process "MAMP" to false

AppleScript to open and then hide MAMP.app

The final version in its entirety:

tell application "Finder"

	# Check if the Apache or MySQL servers are already running
	set apacheRunning to my ProcessRunning("httpd")
	set mysqlRunning to my ProcessRunning("mysqld")

	# If neither the Apache nor MySQL servers are already running...
	if (not apacheRunning and not mysqlRunning) then

		# get the user name and password using the security Terminal command
		set theUserName to do shell script ("security  find-generic-password -l \"MAMP\" | grep \"acct\" | cut -c 19-99 | tr -d '\"'")
		set thePassword to do shell script ("security 2>&1 >/dev/null find-generic-password -gl \"MAMP\" | cut -c 11-99 | tr -d '\"'")

		# Start MAMP's Apache server
		do shell script "/Applications/MAMP/bin/startApache.sh &" password thePassword user name theUserName with administrator privileges

		# Start MAMP's MySQL server
		do shell script "/Applications/MAMP/bin/startMysql.sh > /dev/null 2>&1"

		tell application "MAMP"
			activate
			delay 3
		end tell

		tell application "System Events" to set visible of process "MAMP" to false

	else

		if (apacheRunning and mysqlRunning) then

			set theMessage to "Both Apache and MySQL servers are"

		else if apacheRunning then

			set theMessage to "The Apache server is"

		else if mysqlRunning then

			set theMessage to "The MySQL server is"

		end if

		display alert "Local Server Environment" message theMessage & " already running." & return & return buttons {"OK"} default button 1 giving up after 50 as critical

	end if

end tell

on ProcessRunning(processName)

	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "\\|"
	set theExpression to processName as string
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""

	set isRunning to every paragraph of (do shell script "ps -acwx -o command | grep -ix " & quoted form of theExpression & " || echo 'false'")

	if isRunning contains "false" then
		return false
	else
		return true
	end if

end ProcessRunning

Final version of AppleScript to start MAMP’s Apache and MySQL servers at login

Hat Tip: Start MAMP at login without password request at Mac OS X Hints and How can I find out if certain processes (multiple) are running? at MacScripter.

Changing the MySQL password for the root user was straightforward enough, but locating and editing the files to reflect the new password was a different story. Information on MAMP’s own site appeared incomplete and other documentation I found, while helpful, was for versions of MAMP prior to version 2.

Please note that these instructions are for the free version of MAMP not MAMP Pro.

To change the MySQL password for root ensure that MAMP’s MySQL server is running then open Terminal and type:

 
/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqladmin -u root -p password
 

You’ll be prompted for the current root password:

 
Enter password:CURRENTPASSWORD
 

Enter a new password for root and confirm:

 
New password:NEWPASSWORD
Confirm new password:NEWPASSWORD
 

Next, all the occurrences of the old password root need to be changed to the new password NEWPASSWORD in the following files. For files marked * an easy way to locate the old password is to search for the string -proot where -p is the password option and root is the old password.

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/checkMysql.sh *

# /bin/sh
/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqlcheck --all-databases --check --check-upgrade -u root -pNEWPASSWORD --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/quickCheckMysqlUpgrade.sh *

# /bin/sh
/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqlcheck --quick --check-upgrade -u root -pNEWPASSWORD --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock mysql

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/repairMysql.sh *

# /bin/sh
/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqlcheck --all-databases --repair -u root -pNEWPASSWORD --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/stopMysql.sh *

# /bin/sh
/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqladmin -u root -pNEWPASSWORD --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock shutdown

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/upgradeMysql.sh *

# /bin/sh
/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysql_upgrade -u root -pNEWPASSWORD --socket=/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock --force

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/mamp/index.php

$port = '3306';
$link = @mysql_connect(':/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock', 'root', 'NEWPASSWORD');

File: /Applications/MAMP/bin/phpMyAdmin/config.inc.php

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user']             ='root';            // MySQL user
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password']         ='NEWPASSWORD';     // MySQL password (only needed
                                                            // with 'config' auth_type)

Finally, stop and restart MAMP’s MySQL server to complete the password change.

Purely for cosmetic purposes you may also want to update MAMP’s start page to reflect the changed password. The English version of this file is /Applications/MAMP/bin/mamp/English/index.php:

						<table class="mysql">
							<tr>
								<th>Host</th>
								<td>localhost</td>
							</tr>
							<tr>
								<th>Port</th>
								<td>3306</td>
							</tr>
							<tr>
								<th>User</th>
								<td>root</td>
							</tr>
							<tr>
								<th>Password</th>
								<td>NEWPASSWORD</td>
							</tr>
						</table>
						<h3>Example:</h3>
						<pre>$link = mysql_connect('localhost', 'root', 'NEWPASSWORD');</pre>
						<p>or you can connect using an UNIX Socket:</p>
						<table class="mysql">
							<tr>
								<th>Socket</th>
								<td>/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock</td>
							</tr>
							<tr>
								<th>User</th>
								<td>root</td>
							</tr>
							<tr>
								<th>Password</th>
								<td>NEWPASSWORD</td>
							</tr>
						</table>
						<h3>Example:</h3>
						<pre>
						$link = mysql_connect(
						  ':/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock',
						  'root',
						  'NEWPASSWORD'
						);
						</pre>

Before seeing what potential difficulties this creates and how to overcome them, let’s take a look at a typical home network and how it communicates with the outside world.

I use the terms home network and LAN interchangeably and for the purposes of this article they can be considered one and the same.

A Home/Local Area Network (LAN)

At the network’s centre is the router. To the right, in the diagram above, are the devices connected wirelessly or wired to the router which make-up the home network.

To identify them on the LAN, the router and each device are assigned a unique dynamic or static IP address, in this case in the range 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.200. These IP addresses are private and are only recognised within the LAN itself. The IP address 192.168.1.1 is usually reserved for the router.

To provide Internet access to devices on the LAN, the router is typically connected to a modem supplied by the ISP. The router is given a second IP address by the ISP to identify it externally on the Internet e.g. 123.45.67.8. However, unlike its internal private IP address which is static, the router’s external public IP address is often dynamic.

In combination with a method known as port forwarding* we need only enter the router’s external public IP address in a browser i.e. http://123.45.67.8 to remotely access the home network over the Internet.

There are two disadvantages to using the router’s external public IP address. The first, is that it can be difficult to remember. The second, and more important, is that it is most likely a dynamic IP address and will therefore change over time. Keeping track of a dynamic IP address can be difficult. Here’s where services such as those provided Dyn come in.

Using their free DynDNS Free service allows you to keep track of your router’s difficult to remember, dynamic public IP address with a more memorable static hostname.

After signing-up for an account at Dyn head over to the DynDNS Free configuration page.

DynDNS Free configuration page

1. Enter the hostname you want to use up to a maximum of 24 characters. From the drop-down menu on the right you can choose suffixes other than dyndns.info.

2. Ensure that for service type Host with IP address is selected.

3. The configuration page will show your router’s current external public IP address. Click the link to use this one or enter another valid IP address.

4. Click the Add To Cart button and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the configuration and activate your hostname. Don’t be put off by Add To Cart. Like its name suggests, DynDNS Free is free.

With the new hostname activated there’s a second step to the process.

The hostname xxxxxx.dyndns.info when entered in a browser will resolve to the router’s external public IP address as it was when the hostname was originally activated i.e. 123.45.67.8. If this is a dynamic IP address, when it changes to say 123.45.67.890 the hostname xxxxxx.dyndns.info will still resolve to the original IP address and not the new one.

To overcome this, download one of the DynDNS Updaters and install it on one of the computers on your home network. Add your Dyn account to the DynDNS updater and it will periodically check your router’s external public IP address. If it detects that the IP address has changed, it sends the new IP address to the hostname in your Dyn account.

Using OS X Lion 10.7.1, I’ll describe two ways of assigning a static IP address to a computer on a local network.

Using DHCP With a Manual Address

The first method uses the Network preference pane in System Preferences.

Open System Preferences and click Network.

Network preference pane in System Preferences

1. Before continuing, you may need to authenticate by clicking the lock icon.

2. The current services are listed on the left of the Network preference pane. I have a wireless network so I select the active Wi-Fi service.

3. To continue click Advanced…

TCP/IP tab showing computer’s dynamically assigned IP address using DHCP

4. On the TCP/IP tab the computer is shown as having an IP Address of 192.168.1.99 dynamically assigned using DHCP.

Assigning a static IP address using DHCP with manual address

5. From the drop-down menu select Using DHCP with manual address. This allows a static IP Address to be assigned to the computer. Here, I’ve entered 192.168.1.2.

6.Click OK to return to the Network preference pane.

Network preference pane before changes are applied

7. The all important step I sometimes forget. Remember to click Apply to save the changes. The computer now has a static IP address on the local network.

DHCP Reservations

The second method uses a router to reserve a static IP address for an individual computer. The method described here uses an Airport Extreme 802.11n wireless router.

First, we need to find the computer’s unique MAC (Media Access Control) address.

Open System Preferences and click Network.

Network preference pane in System Preferences

1. Select the currently active service listed on the left of the Network preference pane.

2. To continue click Advanced…

Hardware tab showing the computer’s MAC Address

3. The Hardware tab shows the computer’s MAC (Media Access Control) address in the format xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx. Make a note of it for later.

4. To return to the Network preference pane click Cancel.

I’ll be using AirPort Utility to configure the Airport Extreme.

Open AirPort Utility located in Applications > Utilities.

Initial screen of AirPort Utility

5. Click on Manual Setup to continue.

DHCP tab showing DHCP reservations

6. Click the Internet icon.

7. On the DHCP tab click + to add a DHCP reservation.

Initial screen of the DHCP Reservation Setup Assistant

8. Add a description for the reservation.

9. Ensure that MAC Address is selected to reserve the IP address.

10. Click Continue to go to the next screen of DHCP Reservation Setup Assistant.

Final screen of the DHCP Reservation Setup Assistant

11. Enter the computer’s MAC address obtained earlier in the format xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.

12. Enter an IP address you want assigned to the computer. Note that it’s only possible to change the fourth and final series of numbers.

13. Click Done to return to the DHCP tab.

DHCP tab before applying updates

14. Enter more IP addresses for other computers on the local network if desired. Then Click Update to apply the changes and assign the computer(s) a static IP address.

To put an open application into full-screen mode, simply click the arrows in the top-right corner of the application’s window.

However, re-opening an application in full-screen appears not so straight forward.

My understanding is that if you want an application to re-open in full-screen mode you mustn’t quit the full-screen application using command-Q. Instead, you need to navigate to the Desktop, control-click the application icon in the Dock and click Quit. It appears also that you need to do this every time you want the application to re-open in full-screen mode.

However, this seems a little inconsistent. Take Mail for example.

Open Mail in non full-screen mode and open, say, the Activity window (Window > Activity). Now put Mail into full-screen mode and launch Mission Control. You’ll see that as a full-screen application Mail occupies its own space. Mail’s Activity window, however, is shown on the Desktop.

Quit Mail while in full-screen using the method described above and you’d expect Mail to re-open full-screen. It doesn’t. Why? I suspect it has something to do with the Mail’s Activity window.

So, close the Activity window first before putting Mail into full-screen mode. Now quit Mail using its Dock icon. Open Mail and it’s full-screen.

I’ve experienced the same problem when Mail’s Preferences window is open, but not with Mail’s Photo Browser nor Address Panel windows. The same is true of Safari with either the Preferences or Activity windows open. iTunes however seems to suffer no such problem. It re-opens in full-screen regardless of which windows were open. Odd.

Whether this is expected behaviour or a bug, the way to have a fair chance of applications re-opening in full-screen mode is to close any additional application windows first.