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I am excited to announce the release of my custom phpVMSv7 theme! I created this theme because I know that not everyone has the budget for an expensive custom design, and I want to support the community by providing a high-quality, modern, lightweight and efficient, accessible alternative. SPTheme is fully customizable and designed with privacy in mind, as it contains no external content and is 100% GDPR-compliant. It features a built-in admin module, allowing for easy management, and includes both dark and light mode for a flexible user experience. To enhance functionality, SPTheme offers live network statistics and a "Who is Online" display, ensuring users always stay informed. Additionally, a registration exam mode allows for extra verification of new pilots. For added convenience, the package includes 42+ placeholder images, making it easy to set up a visually appealing site. With multi-language support and over 226 translatable additional phrases, the theme is ready to be used worldwide. And that’s not all—there are even more features and enhancements included to provide a seamless experience. I hope SPTheme helps virtual airlines achieve a professional and modern look without high costs. More details are available at https://shop.sass-projects.dev. Check also the live demo for additional information and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

As you may have noticed, phpVMS v7 comes with built in SimBrief API integration and aircraft can be configured in some different ways to achieve better planning results. Below you can find some key instructions and settings with their effects. Main Requirement is a valid SimBrief API key, to get one kindly check SimBrief documents (website/support forum) and complete your application, when you have your key ready, just insert it in settings. While waiting for your API key you can define your Subfleets and Aircraft as below; Subfleet Definitions; Here only important field is "SimBrief Type", when it is defined it will be used for all aircraft under this subfleet. And it simply overwrites the Aircraft ICAO code during planning. If your pilots are using only one simulator (like X-Plane) and only one aircraft addon for this subfleet (like Zibo), then you can simply add your Zibo B737-800X SimBrief Airframe ID here at this field. Aircraft Definitions; This is the most important part, as it allows fine tuned planning compared to a generic subfleet airframe definition. As you can see, we do have the same "SimBrief Type" field here too. This affects only the aircraft, and has priority over the subfleet definition. So if you have a really specific SimBrief Airframe for a particular aircraft and want it to be the default, then you can enter the id here. (Also it is possible to use this field as a replacement ICAO code. Imagine you are using an Airbus CEO but want this aircraft to use Airbus NEO standards at SimBrief, so you define A321 as the ICAO code, but use A21N as the SimBrief Type.) FIN, SELCAL and HEX CODE (ICAO 24-bit, transponder identification code) are optional and have no direct effect on the flight plan you will generate but the weights below are important. When defined, these weights are passed to SimBrief for flight planning purposes, so better define them according to the aircraft you are trying to simulate within phpVMS. You can see that the DOW is empty (0) in the example, this is not a mistake but done on purpose. You will see it later. Using SimBrief Airframes (sb airframes) ; phpVMS is able to get and store all publicly available SimBrief Airframes / SimBrief Layouts during install and update them weekly (with cron), also it is possible for admins to manually trigger an update whenever they wish to. Also it is possible to add your own / custom airframes to the system easily. As like SimBrief itself, airframe definitions are "ICAO Code" based, once you define and save your custom airframe at SimBrief, you can simply copy the airframe ID and add it to phpVMS by giving it a nice looking unique name and the aircraft ICAO type code you wish to use. Also, if you do not want to use the built in SimBrief airframes and have only your custom airframes listed, then you need to enable the respective setting from Admin > Settings. This logic also applies to passenger and baggage weights being used for planning. Imagine you have an airframe definition (either created by you, or a public one provided by SimBrief), using 100 kg for passengers and 20 kg for their bags. But you do not want to use those weights because you have some custom weights for scheduled/non-scheduled flights, even better you control your baggage weights per airport with some custom code etc. Then you need to enable the respective setting to pass in your weights to SimBrief. How does it work, how is the priority logic defined ? Why the DOW is empty in the example ? Subfleet SimBrief Type = Empty Aircraft SimBrief Type = Empty Aircraft ICAO Code = A321 Aircraft DOW = Empty Aircraft MLW = Empty SimBrief Provided Airframes = Fenix A321 IAE, Fenix A321 CFM, ToLiss A321, Your Custom A321 As you know, each addon aircraft have their own basic empty weights and mostly they are hard coded (for SimBrief it is the DOW - Dry Operating Weight / OEW - Operating Empty Weight). So we leave it empty, to be able to use the DOW from SimBrief Airframe definitions. When planning, the dropdown will show you 5 items, the list is above and there will be a "SimBrief Default" entry (which is the basic definitions of SB). If you select Fenix A321 IAE, then its DOW will be used, along with its performance definitions (like fuel factor, engine thrust rating and others), equipment etc. But the weights you defined will be sent to SimBrief to overwrite those values. If you do not select one, it is ok too as the defaults provided by SimBrief along with the data you are sending (like weights and other stuff) will be used. But if you are after precise flight planning, then it is better to either have your main types defined at SimBrief and a matching airframe should be selected. Subfleet SB Type > Aircraft SB Type > Selected Airframe > Aircraft specific details (like weights, SELCAL, HEX, FIN, VA specific custom RMK field) With this order and logic you can have base airframes for your fleet, like PMDG B738, Zibo B738, LevelUp B738 (same example can be extended to Fenix, ToLiss, Aerosoft, Flight Factor group) and then define aircraft specific changes at phpVMS because in a fleet some aircraft have different MZFW or MLW's but they do share the generic specifications. Like a B738 can have 79013, 77000 or 75000 KG MTOW depending on the certification, instead of defining different airframes at SimBrief, you can simply pass that info during planning. Recent changes at SimBrief allow pilots to have precise performance calculations, specific limitations and if certified some nice ETOPS abilities, to be able to use them with phpVMS, defining airframes at SimBrief and using their ID's during planning will be the best option (considering some items still not available at api access, this method will eliminate those cases too). Climb / Cruise / Descent Profiles and Layout Options All these are also obtained from SimBrief and tied to Aircraft ICAO type codes, so when you select an A321 from your fleet to generate a flight plan, you will see the profiles SimBrief offer for that type in general. Additionally the layout is automatically selected if an airline match is found, if not SimBrief Default (LIDO) is used. What about General Aviation and Really Custom Airframe Support GA is supported by SimBrief up to a point, so we do have the same, even though the examples above are based on airliners, logic remains same for GA aircraft too. And you can still define your custom (non-existing airframe at SimBrief) as per their documentation, have a profile for it and use it at phpVMS. Considering that nothing offered by SimBrief, your custom airframe will be the only option at the dropdown. Hope this help, safe flights.

Note: If you own all packages then please note the update order! SPTheme -> DBPack -> DSPack Note 2: If you changed the colors, for example, just backup the following file: /resources/views/layouts/SPTheme/config.json 05.APRIL.25 (v1.3.0 / 1.3.0 / v1.3.5) (v1.3.0 SPTheme) Fixed an issue where incorrect fuel/weight units were displayed Fixed an issue where users could not change their password Fixed some style discrepancies on macOS devices Fixed issues with VATSIM/IVAO user fields and OAuth link Fixed an issue where fares could not be entered when changing aircraft (v1.3.0 DBPack) Fixed an issue where some fleet images were not responsive Fixed an issue where cards did not have space between them Fixed a condition where the cruise profile CI/LRC could not be changed Fixed a label that had some typos Added a failsafe to the SimBrief form in case a profile could not be found Added a failsafe to the random flights Widget (v1.3.5 DSPack) Added a failsafe to the assignments if a flight was deleted Fixed a missing route to the missions area for flight details Fixed an issue with multiple airlines and the selected fleet on free flights Fixed name for the airline on assignments

Note: If you own all packages then please note the update order! SPTheme -> DBPack -> DSPack 11.MARCH.25 (v1.2.2 / 1.2.2 / v1.3.1) Some minor fixes for the award-widget, userrole and pireps table (v1.2.2 SPTheme) Changed blades for Hub/Airline Transfer v1.8 module (v1.2.2 SPTheme) Changed menu links for Hub/Airline Transfer v1.8 module (v1.3.1 DSPack) Changed menu links for Hub/Airline Transfer v1.8 module (v1.2.2 DBPack)

Thanks, everything worked smoothly after deletion 🙂

SPTransfer v1.3 for phpvVMS7 Thanks to ProAviaAZ, for the suggestions. Added an option for different charge types Added a widget for showing pending requests

Hey, first I want to mention that this is not a personal commercial promotional post. My goal is simply to encourage people to explore and use phpVMS 7. It's a powerful platform with great customization options for virtual airline management. Yes, I have a lot of experience but nothing is impossible. Creating themes and designs for phpVMS version 7 with Laravel offers great flexibility without needing WordPress for custom homepages. Since phpVMS is built on Laravel, you can leverage modern tools to craft unique, responsive designs directly within the platform. Themes are built using Blade, Laravel's templating engine, which allows for easy separation of logic and presentation. This makes it simple to create reusable layouts, such as headers and footers. Additionally, you can integrate CSS frameworks like Bootstrap or Tailwind to ensure the design is mobile-friendly and visually appealing. For dynamic features, JavaScript libraries such as jQuery or Vue.js can be added, enhancing interactivity. Laravel also supports efficient asset management with tools like Webpack or Laravel Mix, optimizing CSS and JavaScript files for performance. Overall, phpVMS 7 allows for full customization of both the homepage and the entire user interface, eliminating the need for external systems like WordPress. The flexibility of Laravel ensures that you can create engaging and functional themes directly within phpVMS. As I am a long-time user of phpvms version 5 I know how similar virtual airlines are designed, so I want to show just a few different examples, of how different your work can be end.

OP hasn't visited the forum in over 4 yeats. If it were still available after 4+ years, it probably wouldn't work with the current phpVMS release unless the theme were updated.

Great theme! highly recommended!

You are a lifesaver. I didn't see that vhost config file on the installation page XD. Thank you so much!

I am a member of OURAirports and will try and get the data updated where possible as the long term benefit to all concerned and not just Flight simulation Community is that the data has more data for use and corrections made where possible I have done similar for GeoNames Airport data

That is a good idea as well as then I can probably post the log files there as well

Hello DisposableHero, The Hero part is certainly very accurate!! Thank you so much for turning me in the correct direction, I don't think I could have been more off track with the direction I was going if I had tried. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day with pictures and a code example to help me out. Thank You so so much!!!

Resolved on discord Hi there I love this add on. It looks really well but something has happened to my dashboard page. It was working fine but now i get a 500 error. I checked the logs and got the following. I had changed the name of the airline yesterday in the admin section and all was working. Same airline just added a little. I have since changed it back to the original as the error on the page shows. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

I'm aware of the free flight thingamajig. Looks like it needs to be rebuild.

Hi, yeah I can add a failsafe this isn't a problem, but the source of this, like Disposable already said, is a missing or deleted flight. I'll send you the files tomorrow,

Hi @IFL442, Of course I know the error, it is generic one and the logic of it is already posted in "most common errors" topic. Basically it says that you have a problem in your assignments (like a deleted / missing flight) and that blade of SPTheme is missing a failsafe. Just check line 27 of SPTheme/modules/DisposableSpecial/widgets/assignments.blade.php and if possible try renaming that file (which will allow the default blade I shipped with DispoSpecial to be used). If the error comes up with my original blade, I can try to debug but if it is only happening on the modified ones shipped by @PaintSplasher, he may need to investigate too {{ optional($as->flight->dpt_airport)->name ?? $as->flight->dpt_airport_id }} This is from my original blade, it checks for the airport and uses its name, if not it uses the dpt_airport_id. But before all these optional stuff I do have a generic @if($as->flight) check, which eliminates deleted / missing flights. Looks like SPTheme version may be missing this. Unfortunately I do not see that generic check in SPTheme version of the blade. Either you may need to wait for Thorsten to publish an update or you can replicate my wider check manually on that blade too. https://github.com/FatihKoz/DisposableSpecial/blob/main/Resources/views/widgets/assignments.blade.php Hope this helps

Yes - I was basically wanting to know if the OP knew he was posting this on a competing VA management system forum. I wonder if vaBase has a forum and if they would be okay with me/us posting our phpVMS based VA in their forum. 🤨😳😉

@DisposableHeroupdated the code and generated a sample json with the fares based on the default profiles https://github.com/aerocaribbeanva/phpvms-utilities/tree/main/phpvms7-fares I was able to use https://www.simbrief.com/api/inputs.airframes.json

As far as I know SimBrief does not have seat configuration definition and it can differ from airline to airline, and again as far as I know you do not need an API key to fetch the default profiles. I do define my fares according to the airline I simulate, I do not care what the addon provides at that stage because they do try to provide a single layout which can suit most of their users. Imagine it like Fenix providing a 220 seat A321, but the airline I do simulate has 20+180 for example, thus 200 seats max. Also opposite can be faced, the airline you try to simulate can have a special config of 230 pax (all economy on an A321, terrible config but there are companies using that), but the addon can give you 219 only. Thus reading something from SimBrief and then converting it to v7 fares is something I would never do (even if I can, I would not go that way), I do define my fares according to the real airline, then advise my pilots to match the Traffic Load or ZFW (if the addon is not providing enough seats or cargo space). Good luck with the script

Hi @William Looks like you added "SES_ENDPOINT" only to services https://github.com/phpvms/phpvms/blob/main/config/services.php#L26-L30 Technically the "MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS" and "MAIL_FROM_NAME" are already defined and can be controlled from .env itself, no need to modify mail.php for them, as it will revert back to defaults during an update. We can add that additional AWS SES Enpoint to phpVMS itself, so future updates will have it and you will not worry about updates Safe flights

Looks like this project is 99.99% dead, as I wrote earlier, something not finished in 3+ years will never be finished. So called "additional fields" should not be a fact as they are not much in numbers and all were optional, a simple export from a recent build (or a check on export/import code) will give you the new fields in minutes, that simple it is. But, if someone does not want to do something, which is understandable and acceptable, then there is always "something else" to check. This is the reason I am thinking that this project is dead for a long time

Yeah... I think all ranks need to be present in the sub-fleet. For instance, if I am a Sr.Captain and the sub fleet only has a First Officer assigned, it will only show the schedules to ranks of the first officer and not to Captains or Sr Captains. Basically, I understand all ranks need to be assigned to the sub-fleet for all schedules to be displayed. It does not compound from the lower one. Thanks though for making me think harder!

In above solutions, SimBrief will not send the auto generated load back to phpVMS, it only creates the flight plan. You will rely on pilot input (to get the numbers back) This is important.

Yes, sorry for mixing things up!! Didn't even think about that.... It's not a theme and there's no developer involved, that is default, vanilla V7, but I'll repost this accordingly. Thanks

I have no knowledge about v5 addons, probably people are using such tools (as I saw in some old VA's doing online checks, it must be an addon or custom code VA's built for this purpose) ... For v7, DisposableBasic is capable of doing such checks (even can do callsign match checks on airline), store results as pirep field values, auto reject etc. You can check its readme file to have some more info. Safe flights and good luck on v7 switch.

Sometimes I am telling you I want to bang my head against the wall....... You wouldn't believe what the issue was! The php.ini had all values post_max_size, memory_limit, etc. set to numbers without the M at the end so in reality they were all KB. Fixed that, all issues disappeared smh. Sorry for wasting y'all's time!!

Great news! I’ll be checking for changes and updates in Disposable Basic. Untill then I’ll check out the files and try to find solutions. Airline ICAO’s checking will be a great feature.

Great help thank you! We got custom liveries for our VA so the airline ICAO’s are correct. In this case the listeners for that could work. Also thanks for the hint in the Disposable Bacic

View File FlightTools *** DETAILS *** This is version 1.0.9 of a series of aeronautical tools for your Va. Includes V1.0.9 : - Transition Level Calculation - Top Of Descent Calculation - Aero metrics Calculation ========================= - Years of Service Award - Legs in One Day Award - Total Distance Award - Landing Rate Award Check online repository & ReadMe for detailed upgrade Submitter Aciv Submitted 06/17/24 Category Add-ons  

Great news, enjoy your new addon/module

Your last post helped me. After doing more reading and studying your post I realized that the module did not provide links on the web page. In other words the module is working you just have to come in from a different angle. Phew you learn something everyday. I just have to play about now to add them to my site but thanks you. Your help did help me

The screenshot above does not show the menu after login, it is the public frontend. This is why I asked about any new menu items. Clicking those buttons from admin modules page may end up nothing if it is designed that way, a module can leave them empty/null and provide only a page a frontend which needs to be clicked from frontend etc. etc. As an example, my modules have lots of frontend links, and nothing is defined for the button you try to click, same for admin pages too. This module may be the same, therefore you should check its documents (if any) and try checking your frontend menu after logging in to your phpvms. Hope this help, good luck

Did you cleared your application cache after enabling the module? Did you check your frontend page afterwards for any new menu items?

Thanks This sorted the issue What a great feeling.

Please kindly check the docs (theme readme, at same location, github), requirements about a va/admin owned fontawesome kit is documented there. Once you start using your own kit, pages/links/icons will start working. Good luck

I would like my pilots track their Estimated Time Enroute (which is basically the time between takeoff and landing) "ETE" from their aircraft directly, either from flight management systems or instruments. Compare it against their flight plans, preferably along with elapsed time value during flight. Do necessary actions if they are falling behind or ahead of their schedule or flight plan etc. None of my guys would look to vmsAcars map window for something dynamic like it, as it will not be accurate and will be a misleading/unnecessary information Safe flights

For my own VA I have created a simple plugin which adds to phpVMS a Tour/Charter system for airline managers to group flights into tours. Each tour consists of several legs/flights which can be bid on and completed separately. The plugin keeps track of the pilot's progress and automatically issues an award (if one was added to the tour), once all PIREPs from the tour legs were accepted. IfaTours makes as much use of core functionality as possible, using the default awards and flights from phpVMS. If you don't like it you can safely remove the plugin and move on, IfaTours won't modify the code or database tables from the core phpVMS system. Image upload feature is included in the tour creation. I'm a lazy ass and hate it when I have to use a separate tool to upload files to a server (e.g. teaser images for my tours...) https://github.com/FnordLord/IfaTours Reason why: I appreciate the great efforts from guys like Disposable who probably (haven't had a chance to try it) has an excellent tour system in his massive plugin collection, but I wanted something simpler (plus I was curious about the innards of phpVMS), so there it is. Feel free to add it to the addons directory if it qualifies.

My base system is fairly much unrecognisable from its release. There have been years of customisations, from graphs and charts to animated schedule maps, exam systems, training systems, animated flight paths etc, etc. It's not likely that I will move to v7 as there are thousands of pireps in the system and converting is not really an option. Since I run this on a dedicated server, I have full control over the environment, so in theory, I can keep this going for as long as I need. If any devs are willing to work on a new Acars system, please let me know. As previously said above, I am looking for a lightweight solution using Simconnect and backward compatibility with fsuipc. We would need to work together to ensure all my current reported data is available in the new system, I can create a function to control the parameters depending on the acars client when the data is received in the system as we have some custom scoring criteria in place based upon the flight log received. If any developers are willing to progress this, please let me know. Thanks, Mark.

Clowns - they have been advised to NOT install beta 5. I believe Taylor Broad provided them with a link to the correct phpVMS download to install. Personally, I'd never go asking them to install or fix anything phpVMS related. It's not that they are incompetent, but phpVMS isn't their specialty. In the phpVMS Discord, visit the #v7-releases channel. Scroll to the bottom. The last entry (from 12/6/24) presently shows 7.0.46. Click on the 'zip' to download the file to your desktop. Filezilla is fine for editing files and moving addons into phpVMS - But it's easier and quicker to use cPanel's included File Manager to upload the phpVMS dev zip file. Here is a link to the docs for phpVMS 7 https://docs.phpvms.net/ Since you have an existing install, click on 'Installation', then 'Updating'. https://docs.phpvms.net/installation/updating Read thru that short section on updating. You will be uploading the entire zip file to the root of your phpVMS 7 install (the one with the .env file in it. Make a backup of your site! Skip this at your own peril. At a minimum, make a backup of the .env files. Also, make note of any changes you made to files in the /config folder - I recommend making a backup of this as well and checking to see if there are changes to any of those files which might need to be copied over. On your remote site (through your FTP client or SSH), delete the vendors folder On your remote site (through your FTP client or SSH), delete all of the files in bootstrap/cache and storage/framework/cache (delete the contents, NOT the folders) Upload all of the files (or upload latest build via your file manager and unpack), and overwrite everything. If you are using composer, then run composer install command via shell/terminal Visit the /update URL of your site (e,g http://myva.com/update) to complete the update/installs Check the changelog for template changes so you can update your skin Follow the instructions - except #5 as you are uploading the entire zip - to the letter. The final step is to go to admin, maintenance and clear the cache. This should bring your phpVMS up to date. Airports, aircraft, flights (schedules) will need to be added manually. I believe you can upload a few airports, aircraft and schedules - then export them and edit/add to them using Excel (or similar) in the CSV file format and then re-import them with your changes/additions. Be sure to follow the format in the CSV files exactly or you will have issues with missing data. I'd suggest getting the base phpVMS system working first and then concern yourself with addons (theme, modules). As for SC3, there should be a Web or Module folder included which you (as the site admin) would upload to the phpVMS 'modules' folder. This will allow you to test SM3. The above should at least get you started with the basic system and SM3.

Are you sure you copied all the files of DisposableBasic to the correct folder including the proper folder name? As the error clearly says: "production.ERROR: Class "Modules\DisposableBasic\Providers\DB_ServiceProvider" not found". https://github.com/FatihKoz/DisposableBasic?tab=readme-ov-file#installation-and-updates

affirm, i'll do that next time it occurs

I shared my thoughts already at Discord. Looks like your install is not good and you have file/folder access problems.

Already did as we speak Issue Link : https://github.com/nabeelio/phpvms/issues/1873 Solution Link (Pull Request) : https://github.com/nabeelio/phpvms/pull/1874 So when this gets merged, a new dev build will be released and this will not be problem anymore for anyone I hope Have a nice night.

Did you checked your ranks? My answer is still same, check your ranks. You can thank us later

There is a setting at admin side for this, works only if your cron is working properly. Admin > Settings ... Acars group, Live Time Set it to something like 2 or 3 (hours) according to your needs.

My pleasure. At least you learnt the importance of cache by the hard way (maybe the hardest way) around, you will never forget it again Congratulations, enjoy your mails (free for 3 months) with mailgun. By the way, API is the fastest and safest way to implement it, glad it worked as expected and you did not used the smtp solution. Have a nice day Addition; 2022 Jan / Academy award winner screenshot name "An important moment in the history"

Well, I really have no idea why it fails @William, some guys tried the api setup it worked well and some other users of phpvms v7 are using mailgun with api too. I am not blaming you, there should be something blocking api access somewhere. Classic smtp settings should work, I mean it is basic mailing, works for every server, why it should fail at yours. You already have server, port, username, password etc for their smtp access. Just use the default SMTP example with that info. SMTP MAIL_MAILER=smtp MAIL_FROM_NAME='American Virtual' MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS='postmaster@americanva.org' MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailgun.org MAIL_PORT=587 MAIL_ENCRYPTION= MAIL_USERNAME='postmaster@americanva.org' MAIL_PASSWORD='that long password here' API MAIL_MAILER=mailgun MAILGUN_DOMAIN='americanva.org' MAILGUN_SECRET='that long api key here' I assume you are cleaning the application cache from admin > maintenance after doing changes to env.php and saving/uploading that file, failing or forgetting this step will cause problems. (technically until you clean the cache your old env.php will remain in effect and changes will not be applied)

Technically, what the main question owner wants does not need a private token or a private api access ... Those checks can be done simply with the public access (public whazzup data). You can fetch the data (with minimum 15 second interval for both networks), do your checks however you wish and then either store the data in a database table or delete it. If your acars software is sending live data to your phpvms, then you can do your checks live and mark the flight online/offline as you wish. If it is sending all the pirep info after the flight then you need to store the live whazzup data with (prefably utc) time codes (like one copy for every 5 mins and keep the last 24 hours) and then check them according to the pirep (prefably utc) times to see if the pilot was online or not during the flight. Anyway, these are technical details ... I already did it for phpvms v7 with public api access, so it can be done for v5 too. Hope you can find your solution for v5.x series.

I do get lots of personal messages/questions about this, "ok I installed v7 what next ?" Here you may find your answer, if not do not hesitate to ask (not personally but via forum so everyone can benefit from the answer) 0. Which version should I download and install ? Definitely NOT beta4 or beta5 ! Please download and install LATEST DEVELOPMENT ( in short terms dev or latest dev) build, it is much more stable compared to any beta builds and have many improvements. If you install beta4 and have some errors (you will have them for sure), the first reply to your support question will be "install latest dev". 1. How do I install v7 ? Please do check docs.phpvms.net , it is pretty well documented. And make sure you are meeting all the requirements, then apply the instructions there for uploading. 2. Where to install v7 ? This is up to you, considering that Laravel does not like being installed under folders it is still possible with some tricks to htaccess file. But I think best location is a new subdomain, it will cost you nothing (if you are not using a strange host) and will save you from further troubles for sure. yourdomain.com ops.yourdomain.com crew.yourdomain.com opscenter.yourdomain.com 3. What next ? Define at least two airports I do prefer defining my hubs first. Hubs are your main bases of operation. Do this manually , admin -> airports , add new airport . Write the ICAO code and click lookup, phpVMS v7 will get the correct data in correct format for you. Click save. No need to enter Ground Handling Costs or Fuel Prices at this moment, you can do that later (or can use default / fixed prices for all your airports) Define at least one Fare ( details can be found at other guides ) Define at least one Subfleet ( details can be found at other guides ) Define at least one Aircraft Define at least one Flight Optionally you may Assign your subfleet(s) to your flight(s) Go to settings, disable below checks during initial setup (you may alter them later according to your wishes) Disable Pireps : Restrict Aircraft to Ranks ( enabled by default ) Disable Pilots : Auto Accept New Pilot ( enabled by default ) Disable Pireps : Restrict Aircraft At Departure Disable Pilots : Flights from Current Disable Pilots : Restrict the flights to company While you are at settings, check below items are enabled/active , if not enable them Check General : Automatic airport lookup ( should be enabled by default ) Check Pilots : Hubs as home airport You are basically ready now ... Rest is admin work and needs time, having and managing a virtual airline is not an easy task. phpVMS v7 is only here to help you, it can not do things for you 4. How can I block bots being registered to my VA ? Well, you can not block them totally but using hCaptcha reduces their amount. And phpVMS v7 is ready for this, just check hCaptcha docs and obtain your site keys, then enter them to your phpVMS v7 settings. Also disabling Auto Accept New Pilot option is a good way to block them reaching content of your VA. 5. Where the hell are airports ? ( "Why I am forced to enter them, this software is crap !" etc.) PhpVMS v7 is capable of looking up airport details when requested, so calm down. There are more than 40k airports around the world and populating your database with them just slows things down. MySQL is capable of handling them, but it will make your phpVMS slower for sure. You can import airports, there is a feature for that BUT before importing make sure that file is containing valid data without any errors and is fully compatible with v7. Importing a file with incorrect data make things worse and let you have unexpected errors during usage. For example, importing airports directly from sources like OurAirports is not a solution. It does not provide time zones for airports, locations (cities) are not compatible with v7 location logic and have errors in it (i do checked some countries I know, found really strange errors and wrong ICAO codes being used for airports). Simply it is not a good source to start with. "What about i do get an export of some other v7 user's airports and insert them to mine ?" If you know that the other user's database is populated with correct data and you intend to use the same airports this may be a starting solution. Best way to add airports to v7 is importing flights (or some call them schedules or routes). With the `Automatic airport lookup` option enabled, missing airports from the flights you imported will be added to your database, and with correct/reliable information in the correct format. By using this method, you will get what you need and when you need. To import flights, just do an export of your current flight(s), you will have a proper csv file. Then you can edit it, "I am insisting on having lots of airports even when they are not needed, I do want to populate my database with useless entries. What should i do ?" You can use flight import trick to get there. Just add fake flights to all of the world airports in a csv file, then import it. After importing the flights you can safely delete them (not the airports but the flights). And to do a mass delete operation you need to use a database workbench tool like phpMyAdmin. 6. Which ACARS software should I use, which is the best one ? Currently, you have only one choice ... it is called vmsACARS and developed by the same person developing phpVMS v7. There are no demo versions for it, there are no other (free/paid) solutions either. So if you are not a developer yourself, you need vmsACARS. "What about kAcars, smartCARS v2, cACARS ?" etc. Nope, they are not compatible with v7, only smartCARS v3 can work with phpVMS v7 with some custom plugins. 7. Where are the skins or addons for v7 ? "I do want to spend some cash on them" You can find some at Downloads section of the forum, be sure that the addon (be it a skin or a widget or a module) is fully compatible with the version you installed. Do not try to install older version files to v7. This logic applies to both v7 addons developed for beta4 and addons developed or phpVMS v5/v2 etc. As far as I know, the only paid addon for v7 was a tour module, which is not working properly (and people bought it had problems, tried refunding their money back). And there is only one paid skin (as of the date this is written), you can find its topic at this forum too. ---------- We may add more questions and answers in time, for now above items should be enough for start I think. Happy installs and safe flights