Author Archives: Jason

About Jason

Jason R. Koepke is Founder and Data Strategist at GNT LLC, a risk-analysis and data strategy firm that provides analytical and technical services to the public and private sectors. His work and research has been featured in the academic, financial, and technical industries.

Parse Error when Installing StatusNet

I successfully installed StatusNet (nee: Laconica) this morning to my Web server, but in doing so I came across an issue that appears undocumented.

The StatusNet install is simple and straightforward. You UL the relevant files to your server and then visit the install path in your browser. StatusNet asks you to fill in several basic fields, including MySQL db info, admin info, and basic about-type info. Once you click Save, StatusNet installs the software, structures your previously created, blank MySQL db, and creates the config.php file using the information you entered on the install page.

After I had filled in the information, I clicked Save and, instead of being greeted by a success page, I saw an error along these lines:
install config.php parse error unexpected T_STRING.

I searched the config.php file for something that might be problematic, but couldn’t find anything. In addition, I did several searches, but again nothing. After about an hour, I tried removing an apostrophe I had put in my StatusNet install name (“Jsn’s”). That did the trick (although I had to delete and recreate the MySQL db and config.php files).

Hope that helps.

Update (Tech, not Life)

I have made slow progress on evolving my site, but the results are now becoming visible so a post is appropriate. The jasonkoepke.com part of the site has been PHP-ified, allowing me more flexibility and fun. This was a setup to display RSS feeds on the home page, which will give that page some content and protect my search rankings from encroaching Jason Koepkes. I also added a micro-blogging service at sms.jasonkoepke.com for learning purposes; at some point in the near term, I will add (1) add a link to the site on the main site’s navigation bar and (2) add the RSS feed on the main site’s home page. These changes provide a more robust foundation on which to develop and play, as well as improve my PHP skills for some other projects.