Hosting requirements
phpRS runs on ordinary shared hosting. It needs no SSH access, Composer, Node.js or build step – you upload the files and open the installer.
What the hosting must provide
| What | Requirement |
|---|---|
| PHP | 8.4 or newer |
| Database | MySQL 8 or MariaDB 10.6 and newer |
| PHP extensions – required | pdo_mysql, mbstring; for working with images gd (the installation completes without it, but no thumbnails are created and System status reports it as an error) |
| PHP extensions – recommended | exif (correct rotation of photos from phones), intl (language-aware sorting), curl (notifying search engines about new content), zip and sodium (one-click updates), zlib (compressed backups) |
| Web server | Apache with .htaccess enabled, or nginx (see Operations → nginx) |
| HTTPS | strongly recommended; without it Web Push and the Claude connection do not work, and sign-in details travel unencrypted |
| Disk space | the system itself takes under 3 MB; plan mainly for photos |
Without the recommended extensions the system installs, but some features will not be available. After installation, Settings → System status shows exactly what is missing.
What to prepare before installation
- An empty database with its server name, database name, user and password. You create it in the hosting control panel.
- Access for uploading files – FTP, SFTP or the hosting file manager.
- A domain or subdomain where the site will run, preferably with an HTTPS certificate already in place.
- A newsroom mailbox, ideally on the same domain. The site will send e-mails from it and notifications will arrive there.
PHP limits worth checking
upload_max_filesizeandpost_max_size– the defaults of 2 MB and 8 MB are too low for today's photos. We recommend at least 16 MB and 32 MB.memory_limit– at least 256 MB for resizing large photos.max_execution_time– the default 30 seconds is enough; a longer time only helps when the assistant translates long articles.
On most hosting services you change the limits in the hosting control panel, in a section called something like “PHP settings”.