📖 Setup & Documentation

Edit config.php

Open config.php and update your database credentials, site URL, and site name.

define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_USER', 'your_cpanel_db_username');
define('DB_PASS', 'your_db_password');
define('DB_NAME', 'portfolioforge');
define('SITE_URL', 'https://yourdomain.com');

Upload All Files

Upload the entire folder content to your cPanel's public_html directory using FileZilla or cPanel File Manager.

Run the Installer

Visit https://yourdomain.com/install.php in your browser and click "Run Installation". Then delete install.php!

Using FileZilla (FTP)

1. Download FileZilla from filezilla-project.org
2. In cPanel, create an FTP account under FTP Accounts
3. Connect using: Host: yourdomain.com | Port: 21
4. Navigate to public_html on the right panel
5. Drag and drop all files from the left (local) panel
6. Wait for upload to complete

Using cPanel File Manager

1. Log into cPanel → File Manager → public_html
2. Click Upload button
3. ZIP all files first, then upload the ZIP
4. Right-click ZIP → Extract
5. Move extracted files to root if needed

Step 1: Create Template Folder

Create a new folder in templates/ with your template name (lowercase, no spaces):

templates/
  └── mytemplate/       ← your new template folder
      ├── template.php  ← required: the template HTML/PHP
      ├── meta.json     ← required: template metadata
      ├── preview.jpg   ← recommended: 800×500 preview image
      └── style.css     ← optional: additional styles

Step 2: Create meta.json

{
  "id": "mytemplate",
  "name": "My Awesome Template",
  "description": "A beautiful template for creative professionals.",
  "tags": ["modern", "creative", "colorful"]
}

Step 3: Create template.php

The template receives a $data array with these fields:

$data = [
  'full_name'     => 'John Doe',
  'title'         => 'Developer',
  'about'         => 'Bio text...',
  'email'         => 'john@example.com',
  'phone'         => '+1234567890',
  'location'      => 'New York, USA',
  'exp_years'     => '5+ years',
  'skills'        => ['PHP', 'React', 'MySQL'],
  'experience'    => [['title'=>'...','company'=>'...','start'=>'...','end'=>'...','desc'=>'...']],
  'projects'      => [['name'=>'...','tech'=>'...','desc'=>'...','url'=>'...','github'=>'...']],
  'profile_image' => 'https://yourdomain.com/uploads/profile_xxx.jpg',
  'accent_color'  => '#667eea',
  'social'        => ['linkedin'=>'...','github'=>'...','twitter'=>'...','website'=>'...'],
];

Change Site Name & Tagline

Edit these lines in config.php:

define('SITE_NAME', 'YourBrandName');
define('SITE_TAGLINE', 'Your Custom Tagline Here');

Change Logo Icon

In index.php and create.php, find the .logo-icon element and replace the ⚡ emoji with your preferred icon or replace it with an <img> tag:

<div class="logo-icon">
  <img src="assets/img/logo.png" alt="Logo" width="36" height="36">
</div>

Change Colors

In assets/css/style.css, edit the :root variables at the top:

:root {
  --primary: #667eea;    ← Change to your brand color
  --secondary: #764ba2;  ← Change secondary color
}

Root Domain Setup (yourdomain.com)

Upload files to public_html/ and set:

define('SITE_URL', 'https://yourdomain.com');

Subdirectory Setup (yourdomain.com/portfolio)

Upload files to public_html/portfolio/ and set:

define('SITE_URL', 'https://yourdomain.com/portfolio');

Also update the RewriteBase in .htaccess:

RewriteBase /portfolio/

📊 View Database

Go to cPanel → phpMyAdmin → Select your database → Browse the portfolios table to view all generated portfolios.

🗑 Delete Old Portfolios

In phpMyAdmin, run:

-- Delete portfolios older than 90 days
DELETE FROM portfolios WHERE created_at < DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL 90 DAY);

📁 Clean Upload Files

Uploaded images are stored in uploads/. Use cPanel File Manager to delete old ones or add this SQL query to find orphaned records:

SELECT id, slug, created_at FROM portfolios ORDER BY created_at DESC;

💾 Database Backup

cPanel → Backup Wizard → Select your database → Download. Schedule automatic backups in cPanel → Backup if available.

Q: Portfolios show 404 after upload?

Make sure your hosting has mod_rewrite enabled. Check cPanel → Apache Modules. Also verify .htaccess was uploaded correctly (some FTP clients hide dotfiles).

Q: Images not uploading?

Check that the uploads/ folder exists and has write permissions (755 or 777). In cPanel File Manager, right-click → Change Permissions.

Q: How to add password protection?

Use cPanel → Directory Privacy to add HTTP basic auth to your site, or add a session-based admin panel.

Q: Can I use this on localhost?

Yes! Use XAMPP or Laragon. Set SITE_URL to http://localhost/portfolioforge and enable mod_rewrite in Apache.

Q: How to limit or disable public portfolio creation?

In generate.php, add a secret key check or comment out the form submission handling. You can redirect unauthorized requests to a login page.