Group Invite Links Directory

Welcome

Thank you for purchasing the Group Invite Links Directory PHP script. This script is a state-of-the-art catalog and SEO-optimized search index for active public WhatsApp group invite links, WhatsApp broadcast channels, Telegram group chats, and Telegram channel invite links.

Equipped with an automated web setup wizard, self-service premium card promotion (PayPal integration), Google AdSense placeholders, dynamic sitemap builders, and advanced file caching, it allows you to configure, launch, and monetize a link indexing business in minutes.

Key Features

Below is a summary of the main features packed inside this web directory platform:

Server Requirements

Before launching the installer, verify that your server meets the minimum requirements listed below:

Local Setup (XAMPP / WampServer)

Follow these steps to run the script locally on Windows using XAMPP:

Production Deployment (cPanel)

Deploying the website live on your hosting account via cPanel is straightforward:

Automated Installer Wizard Flow

The script comes equipped with an automated web setup wizard (install.php) that guides you through the configuration in 5 steps:

1. Step 1: System Requirements Check

   Checks if your hosting matches PHP version requirements, verifies database drivers, and tests if folder permissions are writable so it can modify config settings.

2. Step 2: Database Configuration

   Requires your MySQL host, database name, database user, and password. Clicking **Test & Build Schema** creates the database tables automatically and updates your config.php file.

3. Step 3: Site Details & Default Settings

   Detects your site URL. Enter your site name, SEO metadata tags, and select whether to import the default category package, global country list, and 18 demo approved listings.

4. Step 4: Administrator Credentials

   Define your admin dashboard username and password. The password is secured instantly using secure PHP bcrypt hashing algorithms.

5. Step 5: Completion

   Generates an install.lock file in the root directory to secure the website against re-installation attempts and redirects you to the login screen of the admin panel.

config.php Configuration Guide

The config.php file in the root folder contains parameters utilized by the script's database adapter and settings system:

<?php
/**
 * Configuration Settings for Group Invite Links Website
 */

// Database Settings
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_USER', 'root');
define('DB_PASS', '');
define('DB_NAME', 'xmap');

// Error Logging (Keeps warnings out of AJAX endpoints)
ini_set('log_errors', 1);
ini_set('error_log', __DIR__ . '/php_errors.log');
ini_set('display_errors', 0);

// Website Settings
define('SITE_URL', 'http://localhost/groupinvitelinks');

// Fallback Website Name (overridden by database settings dynamically)
if (!defined('SITE_NAME_DEFAULT')) {
    define('SITE_NAME_DEFAULT', 'Group Invite Links');
}

// Administrator Settings
define('ADMIN_USER', 'admin');
define('ADMIN_PASS', 'Admin123!'); // Default fallback password

// Auto Approval Setting
define('AUTO_APPROVE_SUBMISSIONS', false);
?>

Configuration Parameters Explained:

• DB_HOST: The database server address (usually localhost on cPanel).
• DB_USER: The MySQL user configured inside database manager.
• DB_PASS: The database user's password.
• DB_NAME: The MySQL database identifier where the schema is stored.
• SITE_URL: The absolute URL of your website (exclude the trailing slash, e.g., https://yourdomain.com). Used for absolute sitemap links, asset paths, and redirection checks.
• AUTO_APPROVE_SUBMISSIONS: If set to true, links submitted via the front-end form go live immediately. For AdSense compliance, set to false (default) to require admin dashboard review first.

Administrator Dashboard Walkthrough

To log in to the administrator control center, navigate to admin.php (e.g. http://localhost/groupinvitelinks/admin.php) in your browser. Log in using the username and password defined during the setup wizard.

Admin Dashboard Sections:

PayPal Gateway & Premium Boosting Setup

The script features a self-service checkout system that lets users pay to pin (boost) their groups to the top of the homepage grid, bypassing standard moderation cues. This feature relies on the PayPal REST API.

How to Integrate PayPal:

SEO Optimization & Clean URLs

The platform is pre-configured for search engines, containing built-in directives for URL rewriting and XML indexing:

1. Clean URL Rewriting (.htaccess)

URL rewrites are handled by the .htaccess file, transforming dynamic parameters into clean structures:

• Front-end links: https://yourdomain.com/submit (points to submit.php)
• Privacy policy: https://yourdomain.com/privacy (points to privacy.php)
• Group details card: https://yourdomain.com/group/slug-name-ID (points to group.php?slug=slug-name&id=ID)

2. Dynamic Sitemap Generator

A dynamic XML sitemap is accessible at https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. This route is rewritten to sitemap.php, which queries the database and serves fresh active links to crawlers (like Googlebot) in real time.

3. robots.txt Directives

Configured dynamically via the settings table. It allows crawlers to index active group detail views and lists, but explicitly blocks them from indexing files such as admin.php, db.php, or configurations to secure admin assets.

HTML Page Caching System

To ensure high performance and minimize database query overhead, the script uses a file-based page caching system. Let's look at how it works and how to manage it:

How Caching Works:

• When a visitor loads a page (like the home directory list, search filters, or a group details card), the script checks if a pre-compiled HTML file exists under the cache/ directory.
• If the cached file exists and is fresh, it is served directly to the browser instantly, avoiding database roundtrips.
• If the cache is stale or missing, the page renders, queries the DB, and writes a static HTML snapshot back to the cache directory.

Cache Invalidation:

The script automatically clears relevant cache files under the following circumstances:

• A user submits a listing that gets auto-approved, or the admin manually approves a listing from the dashboard.
• An admin modifies database categories, countries, or settings.
• A user boosts a listing via PayPal checkout.

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Here are answers to the most common setup and operational questions:

Q: "Installation has already been completed" error displays?

A: This message appears if the installer detects an install.lock file in the root directory. To run the setup wizard again, log in to your server and delete the install.lock file from the root folder.

Q: Database Connection Failed during Step 2 of the setup?

A: Double check your MySQL credentials. If hosting on cPanel, ensure you have assigned the database user to the database, verified that the host is set to localhost, and checked that the user has all privileges.

Q: Avatar images are missing or showing fallback initials?

A: The script uses cURL to scrape the image metadata from WhatsApp/Telegram links. If images fail to scrape, verify that your server has the cURL extension enabled and that outgoing firewall rules allow ports 80/443 connection to chat.whatsapp.com and t.me. Telegram profiles are particularly prone to temporary blocks if scraped too frequently.

Q: Clean URLs show "404 Not Found" errors on subpages?

A: This indicates that Apache's mod_rewrite is not active on your server, or that the .htaccess file is missing or blocked. Verify that .htaccess is uploaded in your root directory and that your hosting supports URL rewrites.

Q: PayPal buttons are not loading on checkout pages?

A: Ensure that you have entered your PayPal Client ID inside the Payments tab in the Admin Dashboard, toggled "Enable Boost Feature" to ON, and configured at least one active billing package.

Q: Settings or group details are not updating on the front-end?

A: Since the script utilizes a high-performance page caching system, changes made inside the admin area might not reflect instantly. Log in to the administrator panel, check that database settings are properly saved, and click the Clear Cache button in the dashboard header to flush cached files and force real-time compilation.

Developer Support & Customization

If you have questions, require help with installation, or want to request custom feature additions for the directory, please contact our support team: