Warning: This is beta software. By downloading this software you agree that under no circumstances shall I (Andrew Grant) be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages as a result of your use of this software.
Whiist is a Windows Home Server Add-In that allows you to create and manage web content on your Windows Home Server.
After installation Whiist adds a “Website Management” tab to your Home Server Console. Using this tab you can easily create and manage new websites, photo albums, and homepage links.
Features:
- Quickly create new websites on your home server.
- Create new photo albums to share with family and friends in a few simple steps.
- Create public content, or restrict access to users of your Windows Home Server.
- Easily customize your public and private Windows Home Server Homepage links.
- Fully integrates with the Windows Home Server management console.
- Customize your Windows Home Server homepage
Please note that this is beta software and as such is still a work in progress.
Download Whiist 0.82 now! (view changelog)
Instructions:
Download the above file and copy it to the Add-in directory of your Windows Home Server. (usually \\server\software\add-ins). Within your Windows Home Server console select Settings->Add-Ins and choose Whiist from the list of available add-ins.
Screenshots:
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How-To’s:
How to create a Windows Home Server photo album
FAQ:
Q: Will internet users be able to access my files?
A: Only files in the folder used for your website will be accessible to the public. I recommend giving this folder an obvious name (e.g. public_html, website, etc) to avoid confusion.
Q: Can I create private sites that require a password to access?
A: Yes, in Whiist 0.76 and later you can make a website private and assign access to users from the Security page in a websites properties.
Q: Can I create IIs Applications?
A: You may choose to enable ASP applications when creating a website. Future versions will offer additional functionality.
Q: Can I create sites that only certain users can edit?
A: Sure, just create them in a share where only that user has write permissions.
Q: How do I assign icons for the links that I create?
A: When you are creating/editing the link you can choose an image on your network, paste one from the clipboard, or even have Whiist attempt to download one automatically.
Q: Does Whiist create any content for me?
A: When creating a regular website Whiist will offer to create a placeholder website and favicon for you. When creating a Photo Album Whiist will create a sample set of images that you can later delete.
Q: How do I backup my websites?
A: The content of your websites are stored on your shared folders and so are treated like any other data on Windows Home Server.
Q: How do I upgrade to a new version?
A: You should first uninstall the existing version, then install the new version as normal.
Q: Is Whiist free?
A: Whiist is “Linkware” 
If you like Whiist and find it useful then please link to it in a post on your blog or webpage.
Q: Is Whiist available in language xxxxx?
A: Currently Whiist is only available in English. However it has been developed with localization in mind and I plan to eventually support the same set of languages that Windows Home Server does (whatever they may be!). If you think you can help with this, drop me a mail!
Q: I have this great idea..
A: There are no major features planned for Version 1.0. However I’m always open to suggestions. Drop me a mail!
Q: Whiist?
A: Windows Home IIS (Internet Information Services) Toolkit
Update: Comments are now closed. Please direct Whiist related comments to the forums
2007/06/08, 07:59
This looks great.. but here is the ultimate question. I have an exchange server running webmail at home so 443 is forwarded to my exchange server and my home server is not publicly viewable.
Can I add my exchange server as a link and have the WHS proxy the webmail requests?
2007/06/08, 09:10
Hi Brian,
That’s probably beyond the scope of this plugin, however you may be able to achieve your aim by playing with IIs directly on your home server.
Alternatively you may be able to configure Exchange to use a different port for SSL.
2007/06/08, 13:20
Andrew,
just a quick thank you for your efforts! great job, will follow your further developments with great anticipation!!
2007/06/09, 23:15
this rocks
added a bit more fun and ease of use to my WHS setup.
I noticed that it keeps adding an extra http:// in front of links every time you edit them. Also when I select “icon from site” nothing displays on the front end… you probably already know, but no harm in mentioning it
looking forward to seeing new features evolve
Wish the basic setup allowed me to edit the default picture on the homepage! Ended up editing the image myself to put something different in
One WHS is stable I’m going to play and extend the box but for now this is the only add-on I’m bothering to re-install
2007/06/14, 04:54
Andrew,
Just got a ‘CannotCopy’ error code using RC1 and 0.5.6 - Wiist will not load under the console…
Says to contact the author…
Any ideas?
2007/06/18, 06:16
looks good i may give it a go.
hows it go with whs through a vpc and using this linkware?
2007/06/19, 08:21
Hi Andrew,
Great project - many thanks.
I noticed one thing. I created a website and then deleted it. When I now log onto my WHS’s main web page, the link to the deleted website is still there. As expected, following the link does not work, as the website has been deleted.
2007/06/20, 19:41
Andrew, I got the photo album thing down. Is there a way you could create instructions like that for regular websites. I’m having an issue with the place holder coming up instead of the contents in the folder for my website. Can you help me.
Thank you,
Gabev
2007/06/25, 20:44
This is great! I followed your photo album directions and my parents are enjoying being able to see pics of the family.
Thanks!
Chad
2007/06/25, 22:38
I have installed your Whiist on WHS and created a photo album. For the the most part everything works very well. However, Whiist will not let me change the link icon from the default “world”. For external links the “get from website” works but the choose from file option does not work even though I have a 16 X 16 pixel icon in the software folder. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?
2007/06/26, 03:28
just installed all ok, addin makes website links. But when I try to make a website it crashes the whs console when you get to the point where you need to browse for the place you are going to create the website to!??
Any ideas?
Neil Spinney
2007/06/26, 08:22
Are you running RC1 of WHS?
2007/06/26, 19:17
I am runing RC1
2007/06/27, 17:00
I had installed Whiist on WHS RC1 and it worked great. However, due to problems with WHS I had to do a re-install (clean). Now Whiist ver 0.6 crashes the console simular to Neil’s description from June 26th. I have uninstalled and reinstalled several times without any change.
Thanks
2007/06/28, 04:40
Solved the problem, I download the lastest iso from microsoft and did a clean install. Whiist now works a treat!!
Hope this helps
Neil
2007/06/28, 07:16
Wow - scary. It sounds like the WHS install can end up doing different things!
2007/06/28, 20:07
Thanks Neil. Downloading the latest ISO and loading corrected the problem.
2007/06/28, 20:26
Good to hear.
2007/06/30, 03:44
Hi Andrew,
Nice tool, works great. Only I get the following errors in HomeServerConsole.log:
[1]070629.105319.1718: Init: Error: Could not find appropriate HomeServerTabExtender in HomeServerConsoleTab.Whiist: exception System.TypeLoadException: GetType failure for Microsoft.HomeServer.HomeServerConsoleTab.Whiist.HomeServerSettingsExtender
at Microsoft.HomeServer.Controls.TabFinder.GetExtender(Assembly a, String typeName, String prefixedDllName, Int32 width, Int32 height, IConsoleServices consoleServices)
at Microsoft.HomeServer.Controls.TabFinder.FindTabs(Int32 tabWidth, Int32 tabHeight, Int32 settingsWidth, Int32 settingsHeight)
2007/06/30, 14:52
Hey Andrew,
Is there anyway that someone could remove the links? I tried uninstalling, but the page still has the links (and they dont work).
2007/06/30, 17:05
Matt,
To remove the links you would need to use Whiist, or if you’re familiar with XML you can edit the Websites.xml file in c:\inetpub\home and c:\inetpub\remote on your server.
2007/06/30, 17:39
Ill have to reinstall Whiist when I get my WHS back up. I tried editing the XML file, but would get a server error page. Any idea what to do to it?
Hm…justed edited the inetpub/home one, not remote. Time will tell.
2007/07/03, 14:19
Hi!
When I remove a site in the add-in, it’s still available on the “Home”-site after login.
How do I delete this or couldn’t it be removed automatically when I remove a site?
Thanks!
Tademos
2007/07/03, 14:21
Hi Tademos,
Yes, currently any links you have made will remain when you delete the site. In a future version there will be an option to remove any links and content when removing a site.
2007/07/04, 13:23
Thx Andrew. So no manuel way to delete these entries?
Also I’m looking for a way to change the picture on the start remote screen and the text on it. Could I change this?
2007/07/18, 14:11
I’m getting this error as well…I’m running WHS build 3790 SP2
[1]070629.105319.1718: Init: Error: Could not find appropriate HomeServerTabExtender in HomeServerConsoleTab.Whiist: exception System.TypeLoadException: GetType failure for Microsoft.HomeServer.HomeServerConsoleTab.Whiist.HomeServerSettingsExtender
at Microsoft.HomeServer.Controls.TabFinder.GetExtender(Assembly a, String typeName, String prefixedDllName, Int32 width, Int32 height, IConsoleServices consoleServices)
at Microsoft.HomeServer.Controls.TabFinder.FindTabs(Int32 tabWidth, Int32 tabHeight, Int32 settingsWidth, Int32 settingsHeight)
2007/07/19, 09:31
Hi,
I’m puzzled. The msi file is in the right directory and nothing is visible in the available add-ins list.
When i directly doublle click on the msi file, i get :
This installation package could not be opened. Contact the application vendor to verify that it is a valid Windows Installer package.
The file is version 0.6
Any idéea ?
2007/07/19, 09:45
Hi TimKey,
I’m afraid I have no idea where that problem comes from. Some people have reported a similar issue that was fixed by a reinstall of WHS.
Do other add-ins work?
2007/07/19, 09:47
Hi Alain,
It sounds like the msi may have been corrupted. Can you try redownloading it?
I think in future I will place Whiist in a zip to avoid problems like this.
2007/09/08, 07:19
Ooooh. now .78……. loading now…LOL
2007/09/27, 20:51
Congrats Andrew on the code2fame challenge win, it was nice meeting you at Microsofts campus yesterday.
2007/09/28, 02:04
no comments
2007/09/28, 05:34
This is a really nice piece of work Andrew. I was pleased to see you won the code2fame challenge with it. Congratulations!
2007/10/23, 22:03
very helpful, thanks!y
2007/10/29, 12:21
Hello,
I was wondering if there is a way to use PHP 5 with this addon? Would it be similiar to using PHP 5 and IIS on a windows 2003 server?
Thanks
2007/11/02, 10:16
I downloaded Whiist 0.78 and followed the instrucation but under add-ins under available tab is not showing up.
2007/11/05, 00:13
Hey I have the same problem i downloaded the msi put it in the add ons folder and it wont show up even thought other msi files do any ideas?
2007/11/05, 08:52
Andrew:
I downloaded Whiist 0.78 and followed the instrucation but under add-ins under available tab is not showing up.
2007/11/05, 09:21
Installed with no problem, but I created one site and decided to delete it Also, I forgot to give my site a ‘friendly name’ so now I’ve got 2 sites with a name of “My Web Site” and seemingly no way of removeing the one that doesn’t work or altering the name. I guess I can ‘remote desktop’ to my WHS and hack away at some files there?
Other than that this is great.
2007/11/05, 13:53
Hi Jay/Erik,
That’s very strange.
I’d suggest perhaps trying the download, if it’s been corrupted WHS won’t recognize it as a valid installer.
You could also you log into the server and check Add/Remove programs to see if there’s any old/partial install of Whiist?
If all else fails you should be able to just run the installer when logged into the server.
2007/11/05, 13:57
Hi Robert,
I think you’re seeing the links that are left over, and not the websites themselves.
See if this helps;
http://www.andrewgrant.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19
A.
2007/11/05, 16:01
I figured out the add in not showing up! All you have to do is redownload it and you should be all set thanks again
2007/11/07, 04:42
I keep getting this error message when I click on website. Any suggestion?
You are not authorized to view this page
You do not have permission to view this directory or page due to the access control list (ACL) that is configured for this resource on the Web server.
——————————————————————————–
Please try the following:
Contact the Web site administrator if you believe you should be able to view this directory or page.
Click the Refresh button to try again with different credentials.
HTTP Error 401.3 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to an ACL set on the requested resource.
Internet Information Services (IIS)
2007/11/13, 17:39
Thanks anyway Andrew, A Friend helped with a link to a http 401.3 error site. It was an easy fix. I just had to allow
READ & execute in the phote album folder security properties for the network. Your whiist is working fine. Do you have anything in the works that would allow links to small MVI video clips?
2007/11/16, 16:19
I Installed WMA a few days ago and it truly works on the KISS principle. The only hard part is deciding which photos to show so I made several photo sites available to the public.
It took about 3 minutes per site besides the time required to dowload the phots. IT WORKS!!
2007/11/16, 16:35
I also added this add in and by using it I was able to remove my unwanted photo/mistakes sites. http://www.vanhorn.net/addin/ One of applications has a refresh button that you may need to use but I do not know which one.
2007/11/16, 18:06
Hi Walter,
Whiist also has the ability to remove those links (and add new ones). You can edit them by clicking the “Websites” button on the left and changing to “Links”.
2007/11/16, 18:26
That was the one I used to fix my sites. I am sorry that I mistook your work for someone Else’s. It was hidden until clicked on the arrows to the right. I know nothing about programing but what you guys/gals do is beyond my imagination. Good work. But if you want a good Access Inventory, THAT I can do.
2007/11/23, 16:25
Someone said, “Wish the basic setup allowed me to edit the default picture on the homepage!”
And
“Ended up editing the image myself to put something different in”
My question is how were you able to do that?
2007/11/24, 18:24
Is this program compatable with HP Photo Webshare and “visitor” accounts?
2007/11/25, 13:47
Rich,
I havent used the HP WHS so i cant say for sure, but there shouldnt be a problem. Whiist may list sites that are created by the HP software and removing/editing those sites could cause problems.
As for ‘visitor’ accounts, you can restrict access to any account on your WHS. That can be the guest account, or one you’ve created specially for the purpose.
2007/11/25, 18:29
FYI, The HP WHS is scheduled to become available the middle of next month from CompUSA and Best Buy web sites.
I built my own WHS and installed the OEM software. I know for a fact that Whiist add-ins work!!
I, with advice from Andrew and others, was able to change my Windows Home Server’s Photo. Now I just have to make it fit.
2007/12/03, 23:22
Andrew-
Thank you so much. This is really wonderful.
I have two tidbits to offer and one question.
First the question to show I must have a blind spot. I have created a folder “Web” (Shared Folder.) The webite needs read/write permissions for for IIS_WPG. I go in via Remote Desktop, right click, Properties, Security tab and add IIS_WPG and give it full permission. Everytime WHS reboots, like for updates, it deletes the IIS_WPG permissions. How do I prevemnt this. It takes the website down.
Now the tidbits - 1) If your ISP blocks port 80 (http) on you. Try having your users use https:// This is port 443 and the ISP probably forgot to block it. Mine forgot. With the 11/27 update to WHS you even have a Server Certificate now.
2) I am running a website using asp.net .NET Framework and using SQL database. So it would seem sky’s the limit thanks to Andrew. Microsoft has free “express” versions of everything you’ll need. Just go to http://asp.net/get-started/ They even have packaged ready to fly Starter Kits you can download and customise. Just download it, download the “express” software you need, use Andrew’s Whiist; and you have an instant free website!
2007/12/04, 05:44
Hi Tom, I am amazed at the knowledge you guys have. I read a lot but only understand about 5% of the “computer talk” I read. But as I sometimes can put 2 + 2 together and makes 4 BUT. I understand what computer router ports are, but please explain the tidbits a little bit to me. The acronyms escape me completely. Example NAS means Naval Air Station and SQL speaks to me as an Access database.
At the present time I have 4 attached web pages (I think)containing photo albums and was able to change and expand MS model family to my girls to home a total of 6 sites. I hope I am making sense.
I want to do more with my WHS but lack the necessary computer knowledge to do it.
Andrew’s Whiist was the best computer software that has happened since DOS. I started with a TRS 80. Maybe that explains my ignorance.
2007/12/04, 15:57
Hi Tom,
As far as I know it’s not possible to modify the permissions on a shared folder. WHS seems to monitor these very diligently and will reset them to the the permissions that have been setup via the console.
This is one of the reasons Whiist makes you select a folder within a share, rather than a share itself.
2007/12/04, 22:30
Fastphoto-
Not to worry. Actually I was not too far ahead of where you are in the learning curve just 8 weeks ago.
First the acronyms. asp.net is a webpage programming language (sometimes called a framework.) SQL stands for Structured Query Language and is shorthand for Microsoft SQL Server a database system from Microsoft. .Net Frame (read “dot net framework”) is a software component you can get from Microsoft that has “canned” solutions to common stuff you need on webpages.
Now let me give you an example:
Let us say you want a Personal or Family website. You could go to http://www.asp.net/downloads/starter-kits/personal/ and download a fully functional website kit for free. This page also has all the instructions, etc. You copy it to a folder on your WHS, follow the instructions and then use Andrew’s super add-in. Then run Visual Web Developer debug on it once and you are a Webmaster.
To make it run you’ll need SQL Database Software. But you can download the “Express” version for free from Microsoft. You will also need .Net Framework 2.0 on the WHS machine which is readily available for Free.
You may want the Visual Web Developer software to customize debug (”Express” vision available Free.) And you’ll need the SQL Management Studio Express (”Express” = Free) to run the script that comes with the website kit.
In short everything you need to make a pretty sophisticated website run on WHS is free and can be found via the asp.net website (http://www.asp.net/)
All this installs in the 20GB OS partition but takes just a tad more than 1GB leaving plenty still spare/free. You use Remote desktop for the installations.
I think Andrew will not mind it we continue this exchange because ultimately this info will make his add-in quite a bit more valuable to folks. So write again if I can be of any help.
Oh, yes, the ports. What I am saying is if your ISP blocks your ability to have a regular http:// type website (which if you have the Photo Album up and running they are not blocking) then you can always use https://
2007/12/04, 23:45
Andrew-
I must be doing something wrong then. The actual site is in D:\share\web\web-site. Every time the WHS reboots you can no longer login to the website. The way I fix this is to Remote Desktop into the WHS server and change the permissions on the D:\shares\web folder and all its child objects.
The SQL database is in D:\shares\web\web-site\App_Data.
I know the Microsoft Internet Information Service Local User Group IIS_WPG needs read/write to the database. That apparently is going away on reboot.
It occurs to me that your example sites like Photo Album only need read permissions.
Suggestions?
2007/12/05, 02:53
Awesome plugin. I’ve got a problem with the EXIF data though. I’m getting an exception (I think it was a buffer overflow) unless I remove the EXIF data from the pictures.
2007/12/05, 17:16
This is a great add-in. I have been using it to publish photos from a webcam in a photo album. Since the file names include the date stamp, all files are sorted in ascending order (old to new.) Is it possible to change the order of the photos in the album? I would prefer to have the newest files at the top. BTW - It is not possible to change the file name from this camera.
2007/12/06, 10:23
This plug-in is fantastic. Thanks Andrew!
2007/12/10, 12:00
I installed Whiist and was able to create a website, but now I can’t use the Photowebshare function from the Control Center. It comes up with an “unknown file type” error.
2007/12/10, 21:18
Folks,
Trying to use FrontPage (ya, can you believe it!) and can’t log into the site created via Whiist. I presume this is because the IIS server extensions are not loaded on IIS. I have the HP Media Server. Any pointers?
2007/12/10, 23:07
Umm yeah i try downloading the thing, butt nothing comes up, no installation wizard or anything. What should i do?
2007/12/12, 07:08
after installing on a HP WHS, the HP photoweb share site does not work…. I have done a system restore using the CD, with the option to preserve data, rather than wipe ….
after reconfiguring, still cant load hp photoweb share..
any thoughts before i do a complete restore… and start over
2007/12/12, 11:57
>after installing on a HP WHS, the HP photoweb share site does not work…. I have done a system restore using the CD, with the option to preserve data, rather than wipe ….after reconfiguring, still cant load hp photoweb share..any thoughts before i do a complete restore… and start over<
Same thing happened to me. I had to do a complete restore to make things work again. WHList seems to break the HP server’s Photoweb share application. I have not done any trouble shooting but suspect it overwrites a critical file.
2007/12/12, 16:06
Re: Broken Photo WebShare site.
After hours of trying to debug the problem I ended up doing a complete restore to get the system back to where it was before installing Whiist.
2007/12/16, 09:23
I am running Whiist on my HP MediaServer.
Does Whiist work with SharePoint Services installed on a different port (i.e. 8080)?
From what I know of IIS, It should not have a problem…?
2007/12/17, 07:22
Good morning Andrew,
As I have been using Whiist now for several weeks, I find that it is truly exceptional! I now have 7 websites with photo albums for friends and family to enjoy. Some of my albums have as many as 1800 photos give or take 50 or so. My friends are delighted with the photos as am I. As I am not a computer expert, I hesitate to use the word “geek” because it may offend someone, I continue to be amazed at the ease of using Whiist. There is very little learning curve, it JUST works.
A little tip for those seeking to change the photo on the WHS web page. I used Paint to reduce the original photo size then expanded the areas on the right (for the websites) and bottom for adding captions under the photo. By further expanding the bottom I was able to add additional websites.
2007/12/17, 07:43
Hi Tom,
I have more questions. If I have MS SQL Server 2005 installed, do I need the Express and SQL Management Studio Express?
Net Framework is already in stalled.
My WHS is working just fine and do not want to muck it up. So far only one add-in caused problems and it was remove easily from the console.
Perhaps you can explain the tie-in with Whiist because Whiist really works fine.
2007/12/17, 11:23
I’ve just installed your Whiist add-in program and I’m using it to view photos in my shared folder.
It looks great but I have a question. My shared photo folder consists of a large number of individual folders, each containing a group of jpg images. At present I can only select one of these folders to view with your add-in. Is it possible to select more then one of my folders?
Jim
2007/12/19, 23:17
Hello,
GREAT add-in! One quick question: is it possible to use Whiist to “redirect” a local URL to work as a website? Specifically, I’m using the WebGUI for uTorrent, and I can reach it locally just by typing in the machine name and the specific port, like this: http://server:10001/gui/
Is is possible to have a link on my homeserver page that would call up this so that I could use the WebGUI when I’m connecting from outside my network?
Thanks for any help you can offer,
-Andy J
2007/12/19, 23:51
Hey Andy,
No I’m afraid you can’t do this for a couple of reasons. However if you configure your router to forward traffic from port 10001 to your WHS’s LAN IP then you should just be able to use http://servername.homeserver.com:1001/yourhomeserver
Andrew
2007/12/20, 07:08
Thanks Andrew, that worked perfectly! Keep up the great work!
2007/12/23, 12:24
Fastphoto -
The connection with Whiist is that is allows you to host all sorts ofwebsites on you WHS Computer not just photo albums.
If you are happy with the functionality of the Photo Album website you did not need all the extra stuff I mentioned. Sorry if I confused you or misled you.
I though you were interested in a more powerful web application (the “sky is the limit” part of my original post.) The website I am hosting on WHS is about 100 pages, users log on to it (user name & password), it has recent news articles, a forum where users can share information and ask each other questions, voting polls, a calendar showing what is happens when, the ability for users to download various useful documents (like directions and maps to a recent Christmas Party), it shows users pictures (a photo of the actual user) and address, home phone etc., it has photo albums of user events, links to other useful websites.
What I was saying in my original post was that you can have any kind of ISS website that you want.
Take a quick look at:
http://www.asp.net/community/projects/
You will find about 20 pre-packaged website kits; everything from e-commerce to clubs and personal websites. You can host any of these on you WHS computer using Andrew’s Whiist.
2007/12/24, 15:10
Just want to let you know you have another happy Whiist user: great addin Adrew, thanks!
Love the option to edit the WHS homepage with a few simple mouseclicks!
2007/12/27, 18:49
Welcome back Andrew - if you need help with a mirror site let me know.
Great add in by the way!
2007/12/29, 16:18
Does Whiist still break the HP websites on a MediaSmart Server? Someone told me to use it to change the image on the homepage that HP sets up for you, but don’t want to do it if it is just going to break the functionality.
2007/12/30, 22:36
Bill,
As of 0.80 the HP websites are no longer editable in Whiist. I believe all problems with the MediaSmart server arose from people modifying these entries using Whiist.
That said Whiist is beta software and I don’t own a MSS so can only guarantee a level of trouble-free operation with the OEM version of WHS. There is always an outside chance that a conflict with another add-in or piece of OEM software may necessitate a system restore. (your data on the otherhand will be quite safe).
2008/01/01, 06:49
Agreed on the Andrew’s comment of .80 and HP Media Servers no longer being editable. I made the mistake of installing .80 and just changing the picture. I wasn’t able to access the default HP sites anymore. I tried uninstalling and that didn’t help either. If anyone has any suggestions to get this back in order (without reinstalling) I would really appreciate it.
Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!
2008/01/01, 07:07
Darrell,
I am confused. If 0.8 cannot edit the HP sites, why did it break the HP default sites? Really all I wanted to do was update that homepage to get that HP/Microsoft picture gone. So it still can edit the homepage but breaks the HP site?
2008/01/01, 07:17
Hi Bill.
I installed the software for the same reason as you a)to change the picture and add my own and b) to create my own web sites. When I did A, it erased the picture that is there now, plus the link to the default share. If I realized in advance that installing the software was going to diable the HP PhotoShare site, I never would have done it. Worse though, when you uninstall the software, there is no way that you can access the photoshare that comes with the server.
I can’t tell you if it will work for item B above, because I didn’t go any farther.
I realize I got this software from a UK site, wegotserved.co.uk, but there should probably be a strong warning on this page as well as that site (WARNING: This software is not compatible with the HP MediaSmart WHS products.)
I don’t know if Andrew is in the US or the UK, but the HP MediaSmart is the only shipping pre-boxed server available in the US so if it doesn’t work on that it’s kind of a moot point right now except for people deciding to roll their own server.
Again, if anyone knows how to fix this issue with out reinstalling, I would appreciate any help.
2008/01/01, 07:42
Thanks Darrell, I appreciate the update as I don’t want to break my HP stuff. I guess I will have to wait longer before using this to modify the pictures to see when these issues are fixed.
2008/01/01, 07:56
Hi Andrew,
Is it necessary to uninstall an older version before I install 0.8?
Everything is working great, including links to other websites.
2008/01/01, 07:57
FYI… I have an HP MediaServer and I use Whsiit. When I first installed it, I also lost the HP default site; I did a restore and did not lose my data but recovered the default site (it takes a while but it gets restored, follow HP’s instructions at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=uk&docname=c01213381). There is not much that Andrew (the author) can do about that issue, it is just the nature of the web server not a problem in this addin software. I currently use Whsiit with a number of other sites including a Sharepoint site and as long as I don’t touch the HP Webshare site I am ok. The key is to not modify the default HP site in anyway with Whsiit. You can add new site references and links. If you try to modify the default image then it changes the HP defaults so don’t do that either. In this case the best thing to do is modify the image manually by using remote desktop into WHS and going to the website directory c:\inetpub\home\images and replace the file named: i_landingpage_main.png with your own image.
Don’t be afraid of this addin, just be careful not to modify the default site on an HP MediaServer.
2008/01/01, 08:25
Al - thanks for the advice. I will try your suggestion. I have already had to do this a couple of times already. I did see a post above with at least one person that tried this approach, but it didn’t work. When you say don’t touch the HP defaults, I assume you mean don’t click the settings button and make any changes and don’t ever delete the 2 HP Links that show up (HP MediaSmart Server Webshare & HP MediaSmart Server Home Page). Is that correct? Thanks again for the help.
PS Might not be bad for Andrew to add this info to the FAQ above as it’s very useful information.
2008/01/01, 09:10
Hi Daryl,
Are you saying that when you changed the picture that some of the links were removed? The only way whiist touches the file that contains those links is if you purposefully edit them within whiist. Similarly, when you change the picture the only file Whiist modifies is the photo.
To be honest I’m completely stumped, at this point I’m beginning to think the HP software works in some really bizarre ways. I’m going to write a little tool that collects certain configuration information and compare the HP info to a plain OEM install. Hopefully that will shed some light on things.
I apologize for your troubles.
2008/01/01, 09:21
Hi Andrew - see Al Jiminez’s comment above. It sounds like just modifying the picture in some way changes things on the server. If you do have a test app in the next couple of days, I would be happy to run it on my existing installation (with your software on it) and then do a clean install and run it again so you can compare the two if that would help.
Let me know either way. Thanks much.
2008/01/01, 14:22
Hi Tom,I have quoted you in part because I do want to have additional websites but do not understand what I need to do or additional web applications, some public and some requiring logons. I am very hesitant about adding something to my WHS because it and Whiist work so well together. I have highlighted items below that I would like. At this time I do have links to other websites.
“I though you were interested in a more powerful web application (the “sky is the limit” part of my original post.) The website I am hosting on WHS is about 100 pages, users log on to it (user name & password), it has recent news articles, a forum where users can share information and ask each other questions, voting polls, a calendar showing what is happens when, the ability for users to download various useful documents (like directions and maps to a recent Christmas Party), it shows users pictures (a photo of the actual user) and address, home phone etc., it has photo albums of user events, links to other useful websites.
What I was saying in my original post was that you can have any kind of ISS website that you want. “
What does ISS stand for????????
2008/01/02, 21:08
Fastphoto -
First, I fat fingered the ‘ISS.’ It should have been ‘ISS’ which stands for Internet Information Services.
Second, the highlighting did not come through.
You can build a second site (using Whiist) and call it something like LadyWolves. The address would end up being http://YOURNAME.homeserver.com/LadyWolves/
You put in a folder called LadyWolves right next to you folder called home. You can then build/modify/create/mess-arround with the LadyWolves website and it will have NO effect on the other home website whatsoever.
I am thinking you and I have need to contact eachother directly. Andrew has been more than gracious.
I just left a message for the webmaster on the Lady Wolves Website with an email address you can use to reach me. Lady Wolves Website says the webmaster is coachrick4. So get a hold of him and email me directly.
I’ll send you the link to the site on my end. BTW, I counted and it is 160 pages not counting the pictures in the albums.
You could encorporate your pictures (good BTW) into something like what I have and add news, messaging, events (games) calendar, login, etc., etc.
2008/01/04, 09:55
Love your add-in, makes a missing feature very easy to accomplish. the documentation could be a bit better (in fact, i started my own install doc with pictures just so I don’t forget to do it when I setup the next system).
Keep up the good work.
2008/01/05, 07:41
Hi - WhIIst works just fine v.79 - photo sites look good too….just concerned about the process to update to v.80 !!
If I uninstall v.79 then install the new version do I lose all the settings/users/web sites etc - or will it work just fine - I’m worrrying ‘cos I don’t want to rebuild my OEM version
2008/01/05, 12:27
Subject: Upgrade Process
Andrew-
You now have the same question two different was and I have added my own version.
Back on 1/1/08 it was “Is it necessary to uninstall an older version before I install 0.8? Everything is working great, including links to other websites.”
Today it is (above), “If I uninstall v.79 then install the new version do I lose all the settings/users/web sites etc ”
I’ll add mine; “What’s the process to upgrade? I am on 0.78 and all is AOK. The features you added to 0.80 look interesting but I don’t want to muck up what I have”
Andrew, answer, please.
2008/01/05, 12:31
Tom, Graham,
You must uninstall the current version of Whiist before installing a new one. I believed the WHS Add-In dialog enforced this, but perhaps not.
When uninstalling Whiist the websites and links you have created will be left unharmed.
2008/01/06, 06:58
Loved it.look forward to additions
John
2008/01/08, 02:47
Hey I’m demoing the home server software runs nice but I’m havin troubles installin whiist I downloaded it stuch it in software folder open concele and don’t have the add-in option do you have to update something to get that???
2008/01/08, 03:03
Darrell
I did my update yesterday from .79 to .80 - it worked a breeze!
Login to WHS and then look at the ‘Manage Websites Tab’ - settings/WHIIST….
I followed these steps:-
1) From WHS settings/Add Ins - click remove WHIIST
2) Restart WHS
3) Download .80 (this is a compressed file)
4) Uncompress the file and copy the ‘WHIIST’ installer file to the “Software/add-ins” folder.
5) Login to WHS console - settings/add-ins and look in available packages
6) Run WHiiST
7) Reboot WHS server
you should see the change homepage image.
Sorry this was long winded but it worked for me - hope it helps you!
2008/01/12, 08:44
Great bit of software, but just one thing i have made a simple photo album for my family and friends to view, but i do not want anybody copying and pasting the pictures, can you add the no right click software to stop this. or at least an option to have it on or off
2008/01/14, 11:32
Thanks Andrew!
2008/01/21, 01:01
Excellent product! Thanks! Making my life much easier!!!
2008/01/22, 01:55
Hi!
I want to ask why it’s not possible that Whiist auto-rotate pictures as other programs? When I take a picture vertical I have to rotate it before it is shown right via Whiist.
My fault or missing feature?
Thanks
Tademos
2008/01/24, 07:42
Hello
I had a trial windows home server. And now i realy want to buy it but it is not available in my country.
My dad is going to the states next week and i was thinking if he coul buy one for me, but i’m not sour if i will be able to activate it back here in slovenia(it is in europe union thow).
Will I?
2008/01/25, 21:03
This thing does not work. Ive followed the directions to the word and when i get to the page where the photos link is, all i get is the placeholder webpage that does nothing. and there is no where you can find the fix. this will be uninstalled very quickly
2008/01/26, 02:48
Hi erik,
If you need extended help please post something in the relevant forum at forums.andrewgrant.org. When you do, let me know if you see the sample pictures in the gallery and what type of images you’re trying to add.
2008/01/26, 03:11
hi Steve,
I’m afraid that even if I were to disable the right-click menu people would still be able to download your photos as this isn’t hard to bypass. Its a bit like putting an intricate but non-locking latch on your house. It may deter some people but the false feeling of security is almost worse than no security!
If it worries you I’d recommend that you make your albums private and create a new account on your WHS with no share permissions and no remote-login capabilities for people who you wish to see your photos.
2008/01/26, 21:52
Erik-
Sorry you are having trouble.
This works perfectly. You must not have done something quite right.
Tom
2008/01/28, 20:35
Hi Andrew, Whiist is working well for me and nice to see you can still get something nice for free. The time ran out on my beta of avast for WHS.
I wanted ask you if there is a way to use Whiist and create a public link to a folder of word files. I installed folders4WHS and that works good but it seems you still need to sign on to get access. My wife teaches High school and I would really like to give her a public link to post assignments and stuff to students the same way the whiist public photo album works without signing on? Any help there? MZ
2008/01/29, 11:17
Hi Mike,
The easiest way would be to create a regular webpage which contained a main html page with links to the documents.
E.g. your folder structure may look like;
\\websites\teaching
\\websites\teaching\index.html
\\websites\teaching\files\Lesson1.doc
\\websites\teaching\files\Lesson2.doc
index.html would then contain a description of each lesson with a hyper-link to the file, or to further webpages.
There are a variety of packages you can use to create/edit the index file, Microsoft Word is surprisingly good.
2008/02/02, 23:18
Hey I Have the 500GB Hp Home server was wondering if the problem was fixed with the conflict in software I wanna install whiist
2008/02/04, 14:39
Hello-
Just added Whiist. Thought that everything was ok. I changed the home picture and now can not log into my home server. What did I do wrong? Any help is appreciated.
2008/02/07, 18:43
Hey Andrew, Thanks for getting back to me so quick. Your reply was very helpful. I managed to put together a little web site with word and hyperlinks to documents that open right up. It took me a lttle while to figure it out. I misunderstood trying to make a link with whiist istead of just regular hyperlinks inserted into the web page. I used this nice little “how to create a web site Page” like you suggested that was a lot of help. http://www.harding.edu/dlee/word.pdf
Thanks for the assistance. I’m sure other people ould be interested in seeing how this works. Even the IT folks I work with think its a real Home Run for microsoft.
Comment:
Hi Mike,
The easiest way would be to create a regular webpage which contained a main html page with links to the documents.
E.g. your folder structure may look like;
\\websites\teaching
\\websites\teaching\index.html
\\websites\teaching\files\Lesson1.doc
\\websites\teaching\files\Lesson2.doc
index.html would then contain a description of each lesson with a hyper-link to the file, or to further webpages.
2008/02/08, 07:30
Great job, bud! Thanks for making this addin! Now, if only I could find a way to stream my videos on a page…
2008/02/09, 15:15
Hey Andrew, for some reason I can’t get the Whiist add-in to install. I get the error message “A network error occured while attempting to read from the file: \\lhsrvhome07\software\add-ins\whiist[1].msi”. Any help would be appreciated.
2008/02/10, 11:34
He Brian,
Please update your install instructions, because your download file isn’t visable in WHS consule at add-inns.
I hope to enjoy your program soon.
Dirk
2008/02/12, 10:58
By chance will this support .AVI, .WMV, etc extenions in upcoming releases so someone can click and stream a small video feed ?
2008/02/17, 03:52
First of all: GREAT!
But, I do run in problems with some photoalbums. It seems, that these are due to not enough memory (just 512MB, 2GB allready ordered). Calling a photoalbum done with Whiist I do get errors. So far, I could bring that down to exitcode ‘0×800703e9′ which simply means stack overflow, reported in W3SVC. This crashes a lot, up to reporting that port forwarding fails and no internet access is possible.
Restarting the server resolves the problem.
Would it be possible to ‘catch’ that error in a future release or is someting wrong in my configuraion?
thanks & brg from Vienna
2008/02/20, 07:55
Do flash websites work with Whiist? I have added a website to WHS created in light room that uses flash. The main page comes up, displays loading, but never loads any pictures. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
2008/02/20, 10:31
Hi Terrick,
I’m afraid I have no experience of using flash. If you’re failing to see images could it be a relative/absolute path issue?
2008/03/01, 00:20
I know you mentioned that you are looking into the HP issue. Any estimate on timeline?
My friend has whiist and says it is a great plugin and is very easy to use so I am anxious to load it on my home server.
Thanks and God Bless!
2008/03/03, 17:31
Andrew-
Please check your email again.
Tom
2008/03/04, 15:23
I want to thank you for this easy install gallery plugin. I have just a question if it is possible to show the filename of the pictures in your Gallery. Only the folder names are shown.
Thanks in advanced,
Johan
2008/03/15, 14:32
I love your photo album web page Whiist, but would love to edit it a little. What program allows me to edit the page. I, of course, would leave full credit to you but would love to put my name on the site.
thanks
Jim rollins
Acushnet, MA
2008/03/16, 02:26
Hi,
please allow a newbie question: I created a photo album as described but I can not copy pictures in the folder: WHS tells me that I do not have the rights to do so?
2008/03/18, 22:21
Hi Andrew!
Very sweet Add-In you got there!
1st: Do you aim to support special characters in a link’s name like ) : - etc?
What about more clearly label for the pictures? (e.g. a picture with “back” on it or something like that 
2nd: The photo album is really nice. But my mom is old school. She’s a little bit confused about the back-button-pictures
2008/03/29, 06:38
I just bought an HP MediaSmart Server and am very interested in extending its capabilities to include web site hosting. I’ll be checking back to see how things are going with resolving the potential hazards of modifying the system.
2008/04/06, 19:51
Awesome addition to homeserver - Thank you!
Now that I have a few websites running I would like to associate them with some domains. How do I do that?
I know I can do “forwarding” (using my domain registrar) from a domain to my “xxxxx.homeserver.com/website” site but that would immediately change the URL to xxxxxx.homeserver.com instead of my own domain.
How do I make it work like a “normal site”?
Thank you again - Ariel
2008/04/08, 03:19
The entire family now uses our homeserver with Whiist installed for our photos and we are simply wrapped. We are not experts with this stuff but you have made it so easy to use. Thanks heaps Andrew and we will keep watching as you develop one of the best add-ins for WHS.
2008/04/10, 12:06
Is this work with IIS?
2008/04/13, 10:59
How can you make Whiist update the photo album, when you add new pictures?
2008/04/19, 09:14
How would you like to add a fully functional ASP.Net 2.0 dynamic website by using Whiist? (a dynamic website is a website that updates itself automatically)
Go and look about halfway down these posts and you will see starting on 12/3 an exchange between Tom and Fastphoto. They apparently continued their correspondence and have now written a guide.
http://whswebsite.googlepages.com/
This guide covers how to add a full-blown website by using Whiist.
The website you end up with has:
* User Login
* Two kinds of photo Albums
* Events Calendar
* Notices/News Articles
* Automatic Emails
* etc.
Nasir and Raul, the Guide also answers questions like your questions, take a look at it
2008/04/19, 11:55
Tom and I have completed the project “Whiist Website Construction” and invite you to visit the following website http://fastphoto.homeserver.com/Testbed/default.aspx or http://whswebsite.googlepages.com/
The first site is a complete working website and a download page that contains all of the parts of the project plus a MS Word document of 148 pages. Our email address is included on the documents. Have fun and enjoy!
2008/04/23, 10:16
does this support php or MYSQL?
2008/04/23, 10:25
does this support php and or mysql?
thanks
2008/04/23, 12:48
does this support php or MYSQL? As I do not know what php or MYSQL, I cannot answer that question
2008/04/23, 14:33
irishking-
No it does not support MYSQL nor php.
This is a tutorial that starts with Whiist, adds a free code download and uses free Microsoft Express type software. It uses ASP.NET, already written code in a Starter Kit (not php) and SQL Express, which is free (not MYSQL.)
So while MYSQL and php are both freely available, so are the ASP.NET Starter Kits and the SQL Express. What you do get extra is the fact that the code in the Starter Kit is already written
Tom
2008/04/24, 07:43
This is great! I love it, but it only works in “https” for me and I dont want the security cert popup for my visitors. I tried following the link to the “http” page on the default page but no go..wonder where I went wrong?
2008/04/28, 19:35
Brilliant, brilliant application.
Lovin’ it!
Is there available, or planned, a convenient way to clear the Photo Album cache?
I have some instructions which involve deleting some sub-folders under \WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\etc, but it would be extremely convenient if some facility were available from within the WHS console.
Unless I’ve missed something…
2008/05/01, 20:46
Part 7 – WWC (Whist Website Construction) has been posted. This is the final document that is planned at this time. Part 7 includes modules for a User Forum, User Polls and Secure Downloads functionality.
This can be found with the previous six parts at
http://whswebsite.googlepages.com/