Getting Started

Requirements

• PHP 8.2+ with common extensions (curl, mbstring, openssl, pdo_mysql)
• MySQL or PostgreSQL database (SQLite works for a local trial)
• Composer (PHP dependency manager)
• Node.js 18+ (optional - prebuilt assets ship in public/build/)
• Any VPS or shared host with SSH access

Recommended: A flat-rate VPS like Hetzner CX22 (~$6/month). No hourly billing needed.

Quick Install

# Install PHP dependencies (npm only needed if you customize the frontend)
composer install

# Environment setup: .env.local.example for a local trial,
# .env.example for production
cp .env.local.example .env
php artisan key:generate

# Configure database + APP_URL in .env, then:
php artisan migrate
php artisan db:seed
php artisan storage:link

# Create your admin (Creator) account
php artisan admin:create --email=you@example.com --username=admin --password=changeme

# Second seed pass: sample content needs an owning user to exist
php artisan db:seed

Notes

• If storage:link reports the link already exists but uploaded images 404, delete the public/storage folder and re-run the command.
• The production environment asks for confirmation on migrate and db:seed; pass --force in scripted deploys.

First Steps After Install

1. Log into the admin panel at /admin with the account from php artisan admin:create (it is already Creator rank; an existing account can be promoted with php artisan ecp:promote-admin)
2. Configure theme and branding under Settings
3. Set up your store categories and first products
4. Create CMS pages for your community content
5. If your build includes the admin setup checklist, work through it from the dashboard; if the coming-soon privacy mode is enabled, keep the site hidden until setup is complete