jobberBase is a new open source PHP/MySQL script using which you can set up a job site (thereby acting as a bridge between the job givers and job seekers).

Live Demo (installed as part of this tutorial) | Official Site | Official Forum | Official Blog

The way the site works (once you install it on your hosting space):

1. Any user (even non-registered) can fill the form for posting a new job. The form will contain the category to which the job belongs to (Default categories are: Programmers, Designers, Administrators, Testers, Editors, Marketers, Managers and Consultants).
2. An e-mail notification is sent to the approver [whose mail address is specified in config file (NOTIFY_EMAIL) during the script installation].
3. Once the approver activates the ad, it gets posted in the site. Any further job postings from this e-mail address (i.e., the hiring person) will be auto activated.

   The above 3 steps are diagramatically shown below:

   

4. Interested applicants can apply for the job by filling in their details like a covering letter and upload their resume/CV. This application will instantly be delivered to the hiring person.

What’s cool:

1. Simple to use, Nice to look at.
2. RSS Feeds
3. Site-widget to show jobs on other sites.

What’s not cool:

1. The web site of the script states ‘Post jobs without an account’ as a feature, when infact I see it a lack, thereof. Letting anonymous post jobs is akin to welcoming spam (reaching the approver’s inbox). Only registered users should be able to post jobs and, if possible, after making a payment via paypal or CC.
2. There’s no admin panel. So presently it’s not possible to manage the jobs posted or do things like changing the site title or manage the default categories through GUI like you would expect to do in any PHP script.
3. No theme choices.

Requirements:

• PHP 5+
• MySQL 4.1+
• Apache module mod_rewrite should be enabled

Installation Instructions:

The following is a step-by-step instructions to install it on your shared hosting space. If you don’t have web hosting yet, I recommend DreamHost.

1. Go to http://www.jobberbase.com/ and download the latest version. I had problem downloading it (getting redirected to their homepage). I requested a friend of mine to download it for me. I uploaded the same to divshare. Here’s the link.
2. Extract the zip file.
3. Create a new database using phpMyAdmin and import __db/jobberbase.sql into it.

   

   

4. Open config.php and update the following constants so they suit your production environment (Leave the MySQL + misc settings for local environment section as is):
   DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS, DB_NAME, JOBBER_URL, _APP_MAIN_DIR, NOTIFY_EMAIL, ADMIN_EMAIL, SITE_NAME.

   _APP_MAIN_DIR is the path (NOT the absolute path) after your top level domain name upto the directory where you are installing jobberBase without the trailing slash.

   // MySQL + misc settings for production environment
   	else
   	{
   		define('DB_HOST', 'mysql.scriptful.com');
   		define('DB_USER', '******');
   		define('DB_PASS', '******');
   		define('DB_NAME', 'jobberbase');
   		define('LOCATION', 'online');
   		define('JOBBER_URL', 'http://www.scriptful.com/sri-addons/scripts/jobberbase/');
   		define('_APP_MAIN_DIR', '/sri-addons/scripts/jobberbase');
   		define('ENVIRONMENT', 'prod');
   	}
   
   	// Global settings definitions
   	define('NOTIFY_EMAIL','srikat@gmail.com');
   	define('ADMIN_EMAIL','srikat@gmail.com');
   	define('SITE_NAME', 'jobberBase');
   

5. Upload all the content to your hosting space (need not upload __db folder).
6. Create a directory named _cache in _templates/ directory. CHMOD 777 uploads and /_templates/_cache.
7. If your host doesn’t offer the mysqli PHP extension (find out from phpinfo()): Open config.php and replace <require_once ‘_includes/class.Db.php’> with <require_once ‘_includes/class.Db.MySql.php’>.
8. Visit the URL of your installation. Example: http://www.scriptful.com/sri-addons/scripts/jobberbase/.

Conclusion:

jobberBase is a decent and simple script to get you started with a job site. While it might not have the bells and whistles of a full fledged job portal that you are used to (monster.com, dice.com), it’s a step in the right direction for an open source job script. If the developer(s) continue adding features, it will be a big hit.