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how to install

Sitecake is a PHP, flat-file CMS — there’s no database to set up. Adapt your markup, upload two things, and you’re editing live.

Requirements

Sitecake runs on the same hosting you already use for static sites. All you need is:

  • A web server — Apache (with mod_rewrite) or NGINX
  • PHP 7.4 or newer (8.x recommended), with the openssl, gd, curl, fileinfo and mbstring extensions
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No database, no build step, no Node. Sitecake reads and writes your HTML files directly on the server.

Step 1 — Adapt your website

Add the sc-content class to any <div> you want to be editable. Everything inside that block — headings, text, images — becomes editable; everything else stays locked.

<div class="sc-content">
  <h1>Fine looking heading</h1>
  <img src="feature.jpg">
  <p>Some text</p>
</div>
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Don’t nest sc-content divs inside one another — it isn’t supported.

If you want the same content repeated on several pages — for sidebars, footers, or anything else — just name the class with a specific suffix, e.g. sc-content-footer.

Step 2 — Upload to your host

Upload your website and Sitecake into the same folder on your host. You should end up with a structure like this:

/css
/images
/js
/sitecake          ← the CMS files
index.html
sitecake.php      ← login entry point

Don’t have Sitecake yet? Get it from the pricing page, or start from one of the free HTML templates.

Extract archives with cPanel File Manager or use a tool like Akeeba Kickstart.

Upload sitecake.php and the sitecake/ folder alongside your HTML files.

Step 3 — Start editing

Point your browser to sitecake.php on your domain and log in with the admin password to start editing.

http://domain.com/sitecake.php

That’s it — you’re editing live, right on the page. If you haven’t tried the live demo yet, it gives you a feel for editing in seconds.

You can also watch a 2-minute video showing basic editing capabilities.

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Change the default admin password before handing the site to a client — Settings → Change password in the toolbar.