Probably that is it but I am actually no server expert and therefore I never did and don't run my own server. I personally have just shared webhosting and our zenphoto.org server is managed by one of us.

I just assumed that someone running his own server knows what he is doing..;-)

Anyway, you could also enable error reporting via htaccess then you would see php errors directly when they happen.

I've tried enabling error reporting and all i've got was:
Warning: require_once(/path/to/gallery/zp-core/setup/setup-functions.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /path/to/gallery/zp-core/setup.php on line 33 Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required '/path/to/gallery/zp-core/setup/setup-functions.php' (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /path/to/gallery/zp-core/setup.php on line 33

Those are the setup files which are deleted after installation so they should be missing for security reasons. If you tried to run setup you need to reupload them. Otherwise they should not be needed.

yeah, but when going to /gallery path, i get redirected to gallery/zp-core/setup.php

Yes, if you did an new install or update this is normal. So simply re-upload the files and let setup run.

that was after new install.
so i just reupload everything, overwrite them and re-run installation setup?

Yes, reupload the files as complaind about in the error (setup.php and the folder setup) and re-run setup.

okay, i've re-run installation setup and
i've got the same permission error about installation cannot write to some folder and
i manually changed it to 777.
after setup, i change it back to 755 manually.

and now, is it all right for me to delete setup folder and setup.php?

What folder could Zenphoto not write to? And yes after successful installation (if it is that) you should delete the setup files for security's sake.

those folders are:
albums, cache, cache_html, uploaded, zp-data, plugins
which setup checks before proceeding.

Okay, i've deleted setup folder and setup.php.

as for the registration, comment posting - captchas, is it possible to implement reCaptcha instead?

Also, there don't seems to have any options for users to reset their passwords in case they lost it?

The same error came back:
Tried registering as normal users, get email sent
Activated
Tried logging in, page refreshes back to the login page... no error was displayed.

Added ini_set("display_errors", true); after

If Zenphoto cannot write to those folders it probably will not work. Certainly it needs to be able to write to the cache folders. Zenphoto upload will not work if it cannot write to the albums folder. File upload will not work if it cannot write to the uploaded folder.

The captcha handling is extendable, but of course someone would have to implement the interfacing to reCaptcha.

If users do not have an email address it is not possible to email them the reset link. So if a user may need to reset his password he will have to supply an email address. In addition, your site needs to be able to send emails. There are two email handlers to try. The normal one needs "sendmail" to work which not all providers allow. The PHP mailer can be configured to use a mail account for sending.

Alternatively you can install the 1.4.2 Beta from the nightly builds which implements a challenge/response password reset.

So i'll need to chmod those folder to 777 (which i think it's not quite safe)?

i've tried test registration by clicking "register for this site" and i've filled in my email, name, etc. that's required.

and i've received my email and clicked on activation link but when attempted to login, i get redirected to main page with user name and password form.

and as for now, when ppl visits my gallery site at https://gallery.on-sugar.com , all they'll see is
"A password is required for the page you requested"
which is in fact, the home page of gallery.

there's no way they can click "register" anymore.

edit: i've uploaded the nightly build:
zenphoto-2011-11-05-trunk.zip (http://www.zenphoto.org/pages/nightly-builds?download=3995)
and while trying to upgrade, the setup wizard throws the following error:

You should remove the following files:
zp-core/lib-htmlawed.php
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ko.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-sr-SR.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-lt.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ta.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ml.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-cs.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-tr.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ro.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery-ui-i18n.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-eu.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ar.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-th.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-fo.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-pt-BR.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-eo.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-id.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-az.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-uk.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ca.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-vi.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-sl.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-et.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-rm.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-is.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-hu.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-no.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-hy.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ru.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-bg.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-af.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ar-DZ.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-pt.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-lv.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-fi.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-da.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-ms.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-hr.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-kz.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-bs.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-sr.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-el.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-fa.js
zp-core/js/jqueryui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-sq.js
zp-core/js/jquery.editinplace.js

You can ignore these errors. The trunk becomes 1.4.2 and we did some changes by removing some now unneeded files. Probably we did not update the package list for this check accordingly yet.

Regarding permissions there is a lenghly article on the user guide troubleshooting.

A note to "https" to be sure. Your server must be setup to this otherwise it will not work. If it is not https://yourdomain.com and http://yourdomain.com are completly different addresses. I cannot even open your https link above.

To the register link missing I can't help right now as I am not familiar with that plugin.

okay, so i proceed on with installation ignoring those warnings but as for the permissions issue, i've change them to 755 manually.

i've tried accessing https://gallery.on-sugar.com/ via 3G on my cell phone and it loads fine.

as for the "forgot password" form, i tried testing it but when entering my user name, i've got random challenge questions like
"What is your father's middle name?"
which in fact, i didn't set that question.

The challenge/response texts need to be set on the user page naturally before you can use it... Each user can set that there (as with probably all other services you know).

so there's no way to like, enter username/email and then enter captcha so system will email reset link to the user?

if for example, previously ZP didn't have reset password link and after i implement this (upgrade to beta) and users didn't set that, how can they set the challenge question w/o knowing their passwords (forgotten password)?

1.4.2 beta:
If you visit the login form being logged out on yourdomain/zenphoto/admin you will find a "I forgot my User ID/password" link below it.

If you click on that you get a new form that uses the response/challange way. But it also has another link at the bottom called "Request reset via e-mail" that switches to the captcha way.

ahh, i see it now. thank you.

btw, now how'd i make it function like photobucket?

• Registration for anyone -> Activated
• Personal gallery for registered members with option to create their own albums -> ??
• Embedded link for forums, albums so they can share like photobucket/facebook -> ??
• Lets users to set passwords for their albums so that no one can access it w/o passwords -> ??
• Set quota for users (eg. 10GB) for their account -> ??

1. There is a register user plugin.
2. http://www.zenphoto.org/news/an-overview-of-zenphoto-users (Note we are talking about albums not galleries. To avoid confusion: http://www.zenphoto.org/news/zenphoto-glossary)
3. Copy the url in the address bar? I think there is also a 3rd party plugin for bbcode embeding. See the extensions.
4. See 2)
5. There is a plugin for that. See your plugins tab.

okay, so it's not possible to let users have their own gallery and create their own albums in it? if it's not possible, can i make it so that when they sign up, upon activation,
an album will be created with a choice of their own,
and then allow them to only create sub-albums in the album that's been automatically created upon activation?