My host has the aspell libraries installed at /usr/bin/aspell. I put the spell.pl file in the cgi-bin folder and CHMOD the folder and file to 777. When I click on the spell check button, I get an internal server configuration error.

Greetings!

I am one of those computer illiterate people, who don't know anything about computers, and constantly make spelling mistakes too...

i want to install the spelling checker at my forum at http://www.hpscleansing.com

can somebody here guide me through it (hacks, smaks) step by step so that i can get it up and running... it will help a lot of people at my group....

please advise.

btw, i don't see it used here at this forum, why, is it so problematic?

peace

Got this hack installed last night - AWESOME hack!! Real easy to install and runs great - THANKS

Not working for me in 2:30

Any suggestion on how to add this to quick reply box?

Do you have the aspell dictionary installed? The dictionary files are available at http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/aspell/dict/.

Or, if you're using the newer version of spell.pl, from http://www.dontpokebadgers.com/spellchecker/ , it comes with a custom.dic file. Try deleting that file, and see if that works.

great hack, got it working with a little help from my host. i had the same problem as 94supratt but was easily fixed once the dictornary files where installed.

I've done everything and all I get is INTERNAL SERVER ERROR.

1. check permissions; I would chmod it to 777 first, and if that works, turn it down to 755 and see if it works
2. make sure the path to perl is correct in the first line of spell.pl
3. make sure the script is in a directory where your host allows CGI scripts to run

Otherwise, check your error logs, and find the exact error text that corresponds to the internal server error.

I tried 777 but not 755. It is in the correct path to perl. I verified that with my webhost. The shell.pl file is in the CGI-BIN directory.

If it doesn't work at 777, then changing it to 755 won't help.

By shell.pl, you mean spell.pl, right? Also, check to make sure that your server will run CGI scripts that end in ".pl". Sometimes a ".cgi" suffix is required.

The next step I would take is to look at my server error logs, and find the exact, specific error that corresponds to your attempt to access the script.

Yeah typo on my part the shell.pl thing.

Does anyone know how to get this spell check to work with a WYSIWYG editor?

Anyone?

I'm trying to figure that out right now...
I'll get back to you if I'm successful.

Just installed and works great.

Seeing some people are having problem with the perl script. Here is my note.

1)Making sure your server support cgi-bin in the location you want.

I have:

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /var/www/html/forums/cgi-bin/

under my virtual host setting. It assigns the location of the cgi-bin alias as well as allowing script excuting under that directory.

2) Permissions

For cgi-bin I have 711 (I never use 755, don't like the idea of people going through my cgi-bin directory)

for the perl script I have 755.

There is no need to have 777. It is very dangerous to say the least. eg. Anyone on the server can put their own cgi script in your cgi-bin directory. Also if you have 777 for the script, anyone on the server can alter it's contents!

3)Line wrapping.

Perl does not like Windows line wrapping: \r\n.

Under Unix, the line wrapping is \n. So you either need to upload your script in text mod, or if you unzip the file on the server as I do. Fix the script using:

dos2unix spell.pl

(If you open the file under a consol, and discovered a M at the end of each line. You have windows line wrapping!, naturally you can manually remove it under the consol one by one)

Strangely, for my server this isn't true.
I had it set to 777, thinking this would be fine for the testing and always got an INTERNAL SERVER ERROR. Then, chmod to 755, and whammo, it worked like a charm.

So for anyone getting an internal server error, be sure to check your paths to the spell.pl as stated, and also be sure to chmod the file itself to 755. Worked like a charm, great hack!

This can also be applied to the Quick Reply box with ease.

Just made a small addition to the showthread_replybox template that you needed to custom create for the quick reply hack.

Add the same "form" text from this spellcheck hack to the showthread_replybox template, right after the Reset Form button line.

Great hack, thanks again!

This solution works very well once you make sure everything is done correctly. Every failure or problem I experienced during installation was generated by my own errors and mistakes.

The only thing I noticed is the custom.dic doesn't work and affects the spell.pl application if you're on a shared host with the aspell library installed. I removed custom.dic and now it works fine now. Thanks for the solution/hack.

I really want to use this hack. I followed the directions, uploading the file to my cgi-bin and CHMODing it. I also modified my templates correctly. I'm receiving this error:

Did you try CHMODing the file to 755 and NOT 777?
As I posted a few messages above, I got the same error on 777, but CHMODing to 755 worked perfectly.

Yeah, I tried that.

I sent a ticket to my host, and apparently they don't have aspell and would charge me extra for installing it. :(

that's weak. I'd find another host and tell them exactly why you are switching.
Our shared host has the aspell stuff loaded in at no extra cost. Email me if you want the details, thanks.

I am trying to get this setup, have the latest version 2.5i from the site. I can run the ./spell.pl just fine, it just displays a bunch of HTML, no errors or anything. But I get the Internal Server error as others have gotten. Everything is configured correctly permissions wise, tried 755 & 777, check the apache conf file for ScriptAlias, perl paths and aspell all correct.

Error_log: Premature end of script headers: spell.pl
Access_log: "GET /cgi-bin/spell.pl HTTP/1.1" 500 514 "-" "

Running it from the command line, I get no errors whatsoever. However, via Apache... the above error shows up.

Any other suggestions?!

Did you first download spell.pl to your home computer? If so, verify that the spell.pl file has proper UNIX line-ending characters, and not Windows/Mac line ending characters. That is one thing that could cause the error you're getting.

I should have mentioned I covered that aspect too. :) It runs great on the command line, just not via apache.

wuts the chance of getting this to work with rc4

I know I'm probably just an idiot, but what is a shebang line? Where is it?

"Be sure to check the shebang line of the spell.pl file to make sure that it is pointing to the correct location for perl on your server."

I'm lost.

Any chance to implement this in vB 3.0 ???
Sure would love to have it ;)

Ditto.

Any chance of an update so it will work with 3.0.7? :rolleyes:

vB2 and vB3 are completly different. Not much chance it will work, and updating would probably be a lot of work.

OK thanks :(

We've got it working on vb3. Since the spellchecking function is largely external, integrating it shouldn't be too tough for different vb versions.

The posting screen is setup a little bit differently in vb3, so you have to watch out for complications that arise from nesting forms. You can see how it was done by checking out the site in my profile.

Just a heads up... there is a security issue with this. The script does not check to see if it is being called from the domain name it runs on, so anyone can easily link directly to your spell check script.

Follow the original instructions, just watch out for the proper form nesting. You can also add spellchecking to your PM screens. Pick up the latest version of spell.pl from http://dontpokebadgers.com/spellchecker/ . The script has a tendency to be a little trouble-prone -- some javascript and perl knowledge is helpful.

Could someone PLEASE help us with the button size?

The spell check button is much bigger then any of the other buttons. Could someone PLEASE show us how to fix this? You can see a picture of it below, and our button code is also below. Thank you.

My first thought is that it is a stylesheet setting. Can you post a url?