At time of writing, I am still trying to configure my FBX so that it serves up a static site, rather than plinth, by default. As far as I can understand, it seems I need to go to System / General Configuration and set Webserver Home Page to Apache Default so that it serves up the content of freedombox.local/var/www/html. Then I either need to alter permissions for this folder from the CLI in order to replace the files over LAN; or - and I’m not 100% certain on this yet - I need to manually edit a config file so that the Apache server redirects incoming traffic to the appropriate User Websites folder.
I previously posted about this here:
Whereas I’m rather enjoying the process and am more than happy to learn, this level of fiddling around would be a significant barrier to use for any truly non-technical user. As per @NickA’s suggestion on the above thread, I would like to request that User Websites be selectable within the “Webserver Home Page” drop-down menu in the Configuration section. I’m not a coder but it seems like fairly low hanging fruit and a really worthwhile thing to include.
Fantastic. Thanks Fioddor. Is this something I should do myself moving forward or should I request features here? If anyone can raise tickets, please drop me a link to the portal/instructions and I’ll happily do that in future. Still finding my feet here so patience/advice appreciated. Cheers.
The link to the issue will bring you to the Debian development management system. It is a Gitlab instance called Salsa. You can register and you’ll get a guest account like mine. Then you’ll be able to create tickets.
The idea is to use the forum, which is more regular-user friendly, to drop, discuss and shape ideas and then create tickets in Salsa specifying proposals in detail.
Being new your feedback is very valuable because you suffer difficulties that advanced users don’t even spot anymore: As we get familiar with rough edges they become translucid, then transparent and finally invisible.
I personally started contributing translations in the wiki, then in the UI, then playing with my own box I found some obsolete information to update, then I started to hack code improving the documentation because as a new user I need it, and lately I’m investigating how to bring new apps to FB. But YMMV, so just scratch your own itch and find your own path.
The existing documentation is basically a reference manual plus internal notes. It still requires some minimal technical knowledge. Regular users need guidance on basic IT and networking concepts, tips on where/how to start, …etc. There’s a lot that can be done around it focusing of specific use cases. Introduction pages mention some use cases but they are not explained in detail afterwards. New articles, blog posts, videos, etc might make a long way to attract new less tech-savy users.
Thanks Fioddor. Joined this forum with a little trepidation - not knowing the culture, history, objectives and working methods of the community here particularly well. Heartening to get such a great response and to feel there may be something I can contribute here, in time. Will give that link a read. Cheers!
Hey Fioddor. It’s been a while. Finally found some time to return to my web projects. Just wondering when this ticket is likely to be closed and this feature deployed. I took a look at the GIT but I don’t really understand what I’m looking at. Hope you’re well. Cheers.
This was solved 2 months ago. You can see in the issue that it was mentioned in merge request 1952. You can follow that link and see that it solves (closes) the issue and was merged 2 months ago. Actually 3 months ago, on december, 13th. Selecting Repository->Graph from Salsa’s left menu you can see that merge, the next release to bullseye as version 20.20 the day after, and then to buster backports in december 22nd as v20.20.1
Oh - interesting. I have automatic updates turned on, on my FBX and my homepage doesn’t appear in the drop down menu. The Index.html page is in my home/username/public_html directory. Any idea why this might not be working for me? I’ll run a manual update and see if that helps.
Is your FreedomBox running on buster or bullseye? You can see that in ? → About.
Do you have the “Frequent Functional Updates” enabled in System → “Updates”?
So - ‘Frequent Feature Updates’ are activated but I’m not convinced my FBX is updating properly.
In ‘About’ it says: "You are running Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) and FreedomBox version 20.15. There is a new FreedomBox version available. "
I just ran a manual update and the log is reporting a few things I would assume are not right.
I.e. “quota not working (qgroup not set)” / “Failed to check for processor microcode upgrades.” / “User sessions running outdated binaries:” etc…
Something’s wrong indeed. You can open a thread in ‘Support’ section of the forum or join #freedombox IRC channel for the failing update.
I’m on buster with ‘Frequent Feature Updates’ enabled (same as you), but I’m up to date (v21.3) and the dropdown offers my user website. As I said, you need version 20.20 at least.