Working With Mambo
Mambots

Mambots are additional scripts that run when you use certain features in Mambo. They can enhance functionality of existing Mambo features, or add additional functionality. Unlike Components (Add-Ons) which add functionality, these scripts perform a specific task, which can be anything from enhancing WYSIWYG editors, provide search capabilities, activate a feature, or can be full libraries of functions which can be used within Mambo.

You can find a good collection of Mambots from MamboPortal and MamboForge.

Installing A Mambot

NOTE: Before you begin, you will need to realize that this method does not work on Active Web Hosting's servers due to php's Safe Mode being set. While a Safe Mode Patch has been tried with Mambo, this was also not found to work. You'll need to develop your web site offline first and upload your files and import your database to install all your mambots into the Mambo system. The instructions here are given for those who are developing on Linux-based systems. If you are using Windows, you will need to use a different method to set write permissions for files and directories.

Before you install a Mambot, be sure that the following directories have write permissions set (CHMOD 777):

media/
language/
mambots/
mambots/content/
mambots/search/


Go to Mambots -> Install/Uninstall. Here you'll see a list of installed Mambots. If you have installed the Safe Mode Patch, then you can you can upload a .zip file from your hard drive containing the module you want to install. Click on the box next to Use FTP Assist and enter your CGI Server username and password (note that this is not your normal FTP password). Click the browse button next to the Upload Package File text box. Then click the Upload File & Install button.

Alternatively, you can also upload the Mambot directory and it's files to the /mambots/ directory (or /administrator/mambots/ directory if it is a module for administrator use only).

Next, go to or refresh the Mambots -> Site Mambots page to see the new Mambot listed. Note that if you do not find the Mambot listed on the first page, then look at the bottom blue bar at the end of the list. You'll see links to 'Start', 'Previous', other pages, 'Next', and 'End'. Click on one of these to see more modules that are installed.

Activating A Mambot

Go to Mambots -> Site Mambots. This is where you'll see all the Mambots currently installed. An icon with a green checkmark indicates modules that are currently in use, or published. An icon with a red 'X' indicates modules that are installed but not in use (unpublished). Clicking in the Published column will toggle the icon between published and unpublished.

Uninstalling or Removing A Mambot

There are two ways to deactivate a mambot. One is to simply unpublish it. To do this, go to the Mambots -> Site Mambots page and click on the icon in the Published column. It should change from an icon with a green checkmark to an icon with a red checkmark. Most of the time, you'll want to do this since you may decide to add the mambot to your site at a later time.

If you are certain you will never again use the Mambot, you can delete it. First unpublish it as mentioned above. Click in the box to the left of the Mambot name. Click on the Delete icon in the upper right of the page. The Mambot will be deleted. To get it back again, you'll need to reinstall the Mambot. If the site is hosted on Active Web Hosting's servers, you'll also need to manually remove the mambot directory from the /administrator/mambots/ and /mambots/ directories using your FTP program.

Using Mambots

Usually, Mambots have their own unique usage. You'll need to read the instructions that come with the Mambot to see how it is to be used. Sometimes, basic usage information is given in the Mambot itself. To see this, Go to Mambots -> Site Mambots and click on the name of the Mambot you want to examine. Look at the Description under the settings on the left site. Also, from this page you can adjust any user-configurable settings in the Mambot itself to suit your needs.