Your first project

Studio creates a FloCMS project in four steps: Project, Database, First admin and Create. In the last step it runs the same composer and php flo commands you would type yourself, one after the other, and shows each command and its output.

Download the tools#

Studio needs PHP and Composer to create and run projects. When it can't find them, the welcome page says "Studio could not find PHP or Composer on this computer, so projects can't run yet." The sidebar lists the tools under This computer, with a Download… button when one is missing.

Download… opens the Download the tools Studio needs dialog, with one tab for each tool:

• PHP: choose a version, or No PHP to keep the PHP this computer has. Windows downloads come from windows.php.net; macOS and Linux downloads come from static-php-cli (static-php.dev). On Windows, Studio adds a php.ini that turns on the extensions FloCMS needs.
• Composer: from getcomposer.org. When this computer has an older Composer, Studio offers its own copy and leaves the other one as it is.
• MariaDB: optional. Only projects that use MySQL need one; SQLite needs nothing. Windows and Linux downloads come from archive.mariadb.org. MariaDB makes no builds for macOS: install it with brew install mariadb, and Studio uses that one.

The tools go into Studio's own folder for your user. Nothing else on the computer changes, and no administrator rights are needed. Studio downloads only the files in the list built into it, and checks each file's SHA-256 and size before it uses it. A file that doesn't match is deleted.

To use a PHP you already have, choose Choose my own PHP…. It opens Settings > PHP and tools.

Start a new project#

Click New project on the welcome page or in the sidebar. The New FloCMS project page opens. Cancel closes it.

Step 1: Project#

• Project name: lower case, used for the folder and the database. Studio turns what you type into a folder name: "My Shop" becomes my-shop. Letters, digits, - and _ are allowed.
• Folder: where the project folder is made. It starts as the first folder in Settings > Project folders, or Sites in your home folder. Browse… chooses another one.
• Languages: click a language to add it. Click a chosen language again to make it the default. This sets LANGUAGES and DEFAULT_LANG in .env. The choices are English, Arabic, Kurdish, Greek, Turkish, Persian, German and French.
• What are you building?: one of five setups. You can add the admin panel or the API later from Packages.

For the two website setups, Also add the JSON API adds the API too.

Step 2: Database#

Choose SQLite: a file in the project or MySQL / MariaDB.

With SQLite, the database is the file storage/database.sqlite, made by the first migration. Nothing else is asked.

With MySQL or MariaDB, what you see depends on the server in Settings > Database server:

• On Studio's MariaDB: Studio shows its server, its address and its state. Under The project's database, choose:
  • Studio makes a new database and a user for this project. You set the Database name and the User. Studio makes a password, writes it into the project's .env and keeps it in the system's secure store. The user can only reach this database.
  • Use a database that exists already. You give the name, user and password.
• On another server (XAMPP, Laragon, or one you set), you give the Database name (it must exist already), the Server and Port, the User and the Password. The password is written to DB_PASSWORD in .env. Leave it empty for XAMPP's root. Remember the password in… saves it in the system's secure store for your next project on the same server, and Use saved fills it in.

Step 3: First admin#

This step is only for setups with the admin panel. It asks for the Name, Email (also the login name) and Password (at least 8 characters) of the first user of the admin panel. This user has every right (super admin).

Studio passes the password to FloCMS on the command's input. It never puts it on a command line or in a log.

Step 4: Create#

The Create step lists what Studio will do. Click Create the project to start. Studio runs these steps in order; the steps that don't apply to your choices are left out:

Studio adds --no-interaction and --no-ansi to every command, so no command stops on a question. Composer's create-project and require also get --no-progress.

The .env values Studio writes:

Stop stops the step that is running.

When every step is done, Studio says the project is ready. Click Open the project, then start its server. See The server and the database.

When a step fails#

The step shows why it failed: Studio's own message, or what the command printed. Then:

• Fix what it says. Back leads to the database and admin settings, which you can still change.
• Click Try again. Studio continues from the step that failed. If create-project stopped halfway, Studio deletes the half-made folder and runs it again.
• Or click Start over. Studio deletes the folder it made, and everything in it, and the form starts empty.

See Troubleshooting for common causes.

Next steps#

• Open an existing project
• Migrations and seeding
• Studio and the command line