Friends, Botmasters, Fellow AI enthusiasts! Lend me your eyes!
I'm happy to anounce the public release of Program O, version 2.0, in FINAL Beta! We have one more bug to work out (that we know of), but need to collect more "points of failure" so that we can isolate the cause and address it, but to do this we need to have more folks trying the script out who are willing to submit bug reports with enough details
* to be of use. So if you're willing to spend a couple of hours per week to install the script, and then test your bot, and then use the "handy dandy" bug report submission form in the admin pages, then maybe we can get that last little gremlin hunted down and killed! If you're willing to assist, here's what I'd like for you to do:
1.) If you haven't already done so, register at the
Program O Support Forums.
2.) visit
https://github.com/Program-O/Program-O/ to grab the latest version of the script.
3.) unzip the files into the folder of your choice, but make sure it's in it's OWN folder (e.g. chatbot, programo, MyBot or whatever) and then upload that folder to your server.
4.) Create a database for the chatbot, and note the host name, DB name, user and password. You'll need it during the install process.
4.) point your favorite web browser to the proper URL (e.g.
www.example.com/chatbot/), and the install script will take it from there.
5.) log into the admin page (e.g.
www.example.com/chatbot/admin) using the credentials that you've given to the install script.
6.) upload your AIML files (these are NOT provided by default, so that you can create a bot that's completely and totally yours).
7.) (optional - this can be done at any time) add to your bot's personality profile (there's a link in the menu on the left).
8.) Enjoy your new bot!
The install page has numerous links (small blue circles, with question marks) to a help page, with context specific help as needed, including a troubleshooting section, in case things go wrong. Liz has also written an install guide at
http://blog.program-o.com/2012/06/the-program-o-v2-installation-guide/, so check that out, too.
The admin pages encompass a very comprehensive collection of tools for customizing and controlling your bot. There are way too many features to fully describe here, so I suggest that you just explore, and see what there is available. If you don't find what you're looking for, a simple post to the forums (linked above) may help you to find what you need, or could give us ideas about adding more features. there is also a fairly exhaustive help file for the various functions (though some still need to be written - sorry) to assist you with whatever you're wanting to do. There is now full support for multiple chatbots, with each bot having the option of having it's own AIML files, or sharing the "base" AIML database with the parent bot (the one you installed first). Again, exploring the options available is a good thing.
We're really happy with the way Program O version 2 is shaping up, and with your help we hope to work out the final kinks, and release it as a full production script very soon.
* Note: This bug involves a somewhat rare occurrence where some AIML code isn't properly converted into PHP code, so when the failure is noted, we would need the user's input to the bot, the entire matching AIML category, and any error log entries that might be found (if possible). This data is best collected by setting the debug options for the chatbot to saving debug output as a file, and setting the level of detail to General + SQL. then use the admin page to submit a bug, and you'll be contacted by either me or Liz, letting you know how best to send us that debug file.
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May 19, 2013
