How to install and setup OpenTape on your Web Server

This tutorial will guide you through installing and setting up OpenTape. Opentape is a free, open-source package that lets you make and host your own mixtapes on the web.

What you’ll need for this tutorial

Apache 1.x or 2.x (though other web servers will probably work fine too)

PHP 5

PHP 5-curl extension if you want to notify and publish to the Opentape Discovery Network

An FTP client (see How to FTP using Firefox or How to use CyberDuck to FTP files in OS X)

To get started, download and unzip the OpenTape package
Use your FTP program to upload the contents of the OpenTape .zip file to a folder on your web server. If you upload to a folder named mixtape in the root directory of your site, the URL to your OpenTape will be http://www.your-domain/mixtape

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Once the files have uploaded, visit http://www.your-domain.com/the-folder-you-uploaded-opentape-in. Because this is the first time you’ve visited your OpenTape, you’ll be prompted to set a password. Enter it in the spaces provided and then click the create password button.

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Click the Now, add songs! link.

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At the top of the “add songs” page, you’ll be prompted to enter a Title: and Caption: for your OpenTape. If you leave both spaces blank, it will default to a title of “OPENTAPE” and the caption will be the number of tracks and duration of all the tracks combined. Click Save if you customized the Title or Caption.

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To upload your first track, scroll down the page until you reach the Upload Songs section. Click the Choose File button, navigate to the song you want to upload and select it.

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Now click the Upload button. If you don’t want to use this web-based uploader, or you’d rather upload a bunch of tracks at the same time, use your FTP client and place the files in the songs folder of OpenTape.

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Once the track(s) have been uploaded, you can rename them, change their order, or delete them if you decide to change your mix.

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Click the Settings tab and you’ll be presented with a box of code that you can use to embed your OpenTape on another web page.

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After you’ve uploaded all the songs you want to include in your OpenTape, visit http://www.your-domain.com/your-opentape-folder/ to view your OpenTape. Mine is at http://www.rockmusicdaily.com/opentape.