To get started using Chameleon, you need to do two things: first you need to set up your server, and then you need to install and run Chameleon.
So, first of all, you need a web server, which can be hosted at a web host or which you can install yourself. When choosing a web host, you need to make sure they support Ruby and MySQL. If you're just testing Chameleon, you can install it locally, and you'll have to download and install Ruby from its website, and MySQL from its site.
Next, download Chameleon here, and unpack the package. Copy the file config/database.example.yml to config/database.yml, and update the "development" and "production" parts of it to match your database settings (you can enter the same credentials in the two sections). So, this becomes:
development:
adapter: mysql # Change this to the sort of database you'll be using, for example "mysql" or "postgresql".
database: <database_name> # Change this to the name of the database Chameleon should use.
username: <username> # Your database username comes here.
password: <password> # Your database password comes here.
host: localhost # Change this to the host name where the database will run. Most of the time, this will be "localhost".
[...]
production: # Copy the development section to here, to keep the same settings.
adapter: mysql
database: <database_name>
username: <username>
password: <password>
host: localhost
Now, upload the complete directory to your server.
Next, we'll set up the database. To do this, you need access to the command line. If your host supports SSH, you should normally have access to it, ask them how to do this if you don't know. Once in the command line, run these commands:
To load the database schema into the database, run:
rake db:schema:load
Then, to set some default settings, a default user and a welcome post, run:
rake db:fixtures:load
Finally, all you need to do is run the application. Again, you may need to contact your host on how to do this. If you're running Chameleon locally, you can run ruby script/server in the command line to start the server, and if you then surf to http://0.0.0.0:3000 (this might be http://127.0.0.1:3000 on some browsers, such as Opera) and you'll see your Chameleon installation. By surfing to http://0.0.0.0:3000/admin, you can log in with the default username "admin" and password "admin", and you'll get to the admin center. From there on, you'll find your way easily.
If you have any more questions, take a look at the Installation Problems page, or post a question on the support forums!
