WonderCMS is a fast, responsive, single flat file CMS (Content Management System) built with PHP and jQuery, allowing users to create websites without the need of a separate database. It offers features that may not be available to other PHP based CMS, like WordPress Joomla or Drupal.
For one, it doesn’t need a database server, call it database-less CMS. It also provides native markdown WYSIWYG support, SEO friendly, flexible CSS framework with no installation required.
For more about WonderCMS, please check it homepage.
This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install WonderCMS on Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.10 / 18.04 LTS with Apache2 and PHP 7.2 support.
When you’re ready to get WonderCMS working, continue with the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. so install it, since WonderCMS needs it.
To install Apache2 HTTP on Ubuntu server, run the commands below.
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.
sudo systemctl stop apache2.service sudo systemctl start apache2.service sudo systemctl enable apache2.service
To test Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.
Step 2: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories for some systems. if you need it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.
Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2
sudo apt update
Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-sqlite3 php7.2-soap php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-curl php7.2-zip
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default config file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below are great settings to apply in your environments.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
After making the change above, save the file and close out.
Step 3: Restart Apache2
After installing PHP and related modules, all you have to do is restart Apache2 to reload PHP configurations.
To restart Apache2, run the commands below
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in Apache2 root directory by running the commands below
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Save the file. then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php
/phpinfo.php
You should see PHP default test page.
Step 4: Download WonderCMS Latest Release
Next, visit WonderCMS site and download the latest package. or run the commands below to download WonderCMS pckages from github.
After downloading, run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and move it into a new WonderCMS root directory. After that, change into WonderCMS root directory to install PHP required packages.
cd /var/www/html/ sudo apt install git sudo git clone
Then run the commands below to set the correct permissions for WonderCMS to function properly.
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wondercms/ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/wondercms/
Step 5: Configure Apache2 WonderCMS Site
Finally, configure Apache2 configuration file for WonderCMS. This file will control how users access WonderCMS content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called wondercms.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/wondercms.conf
Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your own domain name and directory root location.
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin [email protected]
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/wondercms/
ServerName example.com
ServerAlias www.example.com
<Directory /var/www/html/wondercms/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
Save the file and exit.
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below
Step 6: Enable the WonderCMS Site and Rewrite Module
After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below, then restart Apache2 server.
sudo a2ensite wondercms.conf sudo a2enmod rewrite
Restart Apache2
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
Next, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see WonderCMS page. Login and change your password.
Enjoy!
WonderCMS is a databaseless flat file content management system. Its structure allowed you to have just the amount of functionality you needed in a flat file CMS solution, adding extensions (blade packs) for further functionality, whilst allowing setup on simple servers with no database.
