What Is ProcessWire and How Do You Install It?

What is ProcessWire?

A CMS (content management system) is a program that lets you make and change a website without much code. ProcessWire is a CMS written in PHP. PHP is a programming language that many web servers understand.

ProcessWire is known for being simple to learn. It stores information in fields. A field is one piece of data, like a title, a date or a picture. You put fields together into templates. A template is a pattern for a type of page.

Think of it like building with blocks. You choose the blocks, and ProcessWire builds the page.

What you need

• A hosting account with PHP and MySQL. MySQL is a database system. A database stores your site's content.
• The ProcessWire ZIP file from its official website.
• Your cPanel login from your welcome email.

Steps to install

1. Download the latest ProcessWire ZIP from the official site.
2. Log in to cPanel and open MySQL Databases.
3. Create a new database and a new user.
4. Add the user to the database and give All Privileges. Write down the three details.
5. Open File Manager and go to public_html.
6. Click Upload and add the ZIP file.
7. Right-click it and choose Extract.
8. If the files landed in a subfolder, move them up into public_html.
9. Open your domain in a browser. The installer starts.
10. Pick a site profile. A profile is a starting design. The blank one is the simplest.
11. Check that all requirements show a green tick.
12. Enter the database name, user and password.
13. Set an admin user name and a strong password.
14. Click Continue.

After the install

1. Delete the file install.php and the site/install folder when the installer asks. This is important for safety.
2. Log in at yourdomain.com/processwire/. If you renamed the admin folder in the installer, use that name.
3. Click Pages to add and edit pages.

Warning: Leaving installer files on the server is a security risk. Remove them.

Quick recap

• ProcessWire is a simple, flexible CMS.
• Pages are made from fields and templates.
• Make a database, upload and extract the ZIP, then run the installer.
• Remove the installer files after setup.