dropbits Documentation

Install locally

Run the v8 kernel and the shipped minimal demo on your machine. PHP only — no Composer or npm for the CMS itself.

Requirements

  • PHP 8.2+ CLI with pdo_sqlite and zip
  • A checkout of the product repository (kernel under dropbits/) — see Get the kernel

Bootstrap the demo site

cd dropbits
./bin/site migrate
./bin/site seed-minimal   # shell home + main_nav — not a finished brochure
./bin/site boot

Greenfield sample content (optional, non-live only):

./bin/site pack-install playground && ./bin/site enable playground
./bin/site tool-run create_demo --role=admin --json='{"site_name":"Demo"}'

Do not run create_demo as part of a WordPress / WXR import — see WXR / WordPress migration.

Serve HTTP

# From dropbits/
php -S 127.0.0.1:8080 -t public
# open http://127.0.0.1:8080/home
# login http://127.0.0.1:8080/login

Default demo login is often admin / admin unless DROPBITS_ADMIN_PASSWORD is set. Live sites refuse that default — see Log in & roles.

For a non-default site id:

DROPBITS_SITE=<id> php -S 127.0.0.1:8080 -t public public/router-dev.php

Private site ids (dev)

Tracked sites.json ships the minimal demo only. Register private trees in gitignored dropbits/sites.local.json and keep files under sites/<id>/ on the host. See Site directory layout.

See also