Before You Start

This guide installs MediaDesk on shared hosting with cPanel. You do not need SSH: you prepare the files on your computer, upload one zip, then finish in the browser.

Part 1: Create vendor and build on Your Computer

The download has no vendor/ folder (PHP packages) and no public/build/ folder (website styles and scripts). MediaDesk cannot start without them. You create both once, on your computer.

1. Install the tools

   Install PHP 8.3 or newer (on Windows the easiest way is Laragon or XAMPP), Composer 2 and Node.js 20 or newer. Then open a terminal and check them:

   php -v
   composer --version
   node -v

2. Open the project folder

   Unzip the download, then open a terminal inside Main_Files/WebSourceCode:

   cd path/to/Main_Files/WebSourceCode

3. Run the three commands

   Run them one at a time and let each one finish. You do not need a .env file or a database on your computer.

   composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
   npm ci
   npm run build

4. Delete node_modules

   Delete the node_modules folder that npm created. It is about 180 MB and the server does not need it.

5. Check the result

   These two files must now exist:

   File	Created by
   vendor/autoload.php	composer install
   public/build/manifest.json	npm run build

6. Make the upload zip

   Open WebSourceCode, select everything inside it, including .env.example and .htaccess, and compress that selection. The zip must not contain a WebSourceCode folder at its top level. Expect about 85 MB.

Part 2: Set PHP

1. Choose PHP 8.3

   In cPanel open MultiPHP Manager, tick your domain and apply PHP 8.3 or newer. Some hosts show Select PHP Version instead.

2. Turn on the extensions

   In Select PHP Version → Extensions, make sure these are on: curl, fileinfo, exif, mbstring, intl, pdo_mysql, openssl, xml, ctype, tokenizer, gd. If your cPanel has no such screen, the installer shows what is missing and your host can enable it.

3. Raise the limits

   In MultiPHP INI Editor, choose your domain and set:

   Setting	Value
   upload_max_filesize	256M
   post_max_size	256M
   memory_limit	512M
   max_execution_time	300

Part 3: Create the Database

1. Create it

   Open MySQL Database Wizard. Create a database, for example mediadesk, and a user with a strong password.

2. Give full rights

   Tick ALL PRIVILEGES for that user on that database.

3. Write down the full names

   cPanel adds your account name in front, and the installer needs these full names:

   You typed	The real name
   Database mediadesk	cpaneluser_mediadesk
   User mdadmin	cpaneluser_mdadmin

Part 4: Upload and Extract

Choose where the files go. Use Option A if your cPanel lets you change the document root.

1. Show hidden files

   Open File Manager and click Settings at the top right. Tick Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) and save. You need this to see .env and .htaccess.

2. Open the folder

   Option A: create the folder mediadesk in your home folder and open it. Option B: open public_html and delete the default index.html or default.html if there is one.

3. Upload the zip

   Click Upload and choose your zip. If the upload stops because of a size limit, upload it by FTP instead.

4. Extract it

   Right-click the zip, choose Extract, then delete the zip. You should now see app, public, vendor, artisan, .env.example and .htaccess directly in this folder. If you see a WebSourceCode folder instead, move its contents up one level.

Part 5: Point the Domain

Option A: open Domains, click Manage next to your domain (on older cPanel, use Addon Domains or Subdomains) and set the document root to:

mediadesk/public

Option B: nothing to do. The domain already opens public_html, and the included .htaccess sends visitors to the public folder.

Install on a domain or a subdomain. Do not install in a subfolder such as example.com/news.

Then turn on HTTPS: open SSL/TLS Status and click Run AutoSSL. Wait until your domain has a certificate before you continue.

Part 6: Create the .env File

.env is the settings file of your site. It holds the site address, database password and security key. You only rename one file here: the installer writes the correct values in Part 7.

1. Find the example file

   In File Manager, open your MediaDesk folder and find .env.example. If you cannot see it, turn on hidden files (Part 4, first step).

2. Rename it

   Right-click .env.example, choose Rename, type .env and save. The name starts with a dot and has nothing after env.

What the installer writes into .env

Editing .env later

Right-click .env, choose Edit, change the line, then Save Changes. The change applies straight away. Usually you only need this if your database password changes. Mail, payment and API keys are set in the admin panel under Settings → Integrations.

Part 7: Run the Installer

Open https://your-domain.com. It redirects to the installer.

You do not need to run migrate, db:seed or storage:link: the installer does all of this. If the host blocks symbolic links, images are still served correctly.

Part 8: Add the Cron Job

Scheduled articles, renewals, reminders, digests and social posts all depend on this one job.

1. Open Cron Jobs

   In cPanel open Cron Jobs. Under Common Settings, choose Once Per Minute (* * * * *).

2. Enter the command

   Replace cpaneluser with your account name. Option A:

   cd /home/cpaneluser/mediadesk && /usr/local/bin/php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

   Option B:

   cd /home/cpaneluser/public_html && /usr/local/bin/php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

3. Use the right PHP

   The command must use PHP 8.3 too. If /usr/local/bin/php is an older version on your host, use one of these paths:

   Hosting type	PHP path
   Standard cPanel (EasyApache)	/opt/cpanel/ea-php83/root/usr/bin/php
   CloudLinux	/opt/alt/php83/usr/bin/php

After a few minutes, open Platform → System health in the admin panel. The scheduler heartbeat should be OK. If it is not, ask your host to confirm the PHP path and that the PHP function proc_open is enabled, because the scheduler needs it.

Part 9: Check Everything

Next: After Installing for your site identity, time zone, mail and payment settings. Later versions install from System → System update, with no terminal needed (details).

If Something Goes Wrong

The log is at storage/logs/laravel.log; open it from File Manager. More answers are in the Troubleshooting FAQ.