How to Install FlatPress on Manjaro

FlatPress is a free, open source, lightweight blog engine created for those who want an easy to use platform for their website. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing FlatPress on Manjaro, a Linux based Operating System.

Prerequisites

Before starting, you should have the following:

A Manjaro Linux machine
A browser to download FlatPress from the official website
Basic knowledge of Linux command-line interface (CLI)

Step 1: Download FlatPress

First, open your browser and go to the FlatPress website (https://flatpress.org/). Then, click on the "Download" button to download the latest version of the software. Alternatively, you can download it with the following command in the terminal:

wget https://github.com/FlatPress/flatpress/releases/download/v1.1.2/flatpress-1.1.2.tar.gz

Step 2: Install Apache and PHP

FlatPress runs on a web server, and in this case, we will use the Apache HTTP Server with PHP. To install both packages, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo pacman -S apache php php-apache

Step 3: Configure Apache

After the installation process is complete, open the Apache configuration file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf in your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Add the following lines in the Virtual Host section to allow the use of .htaccess files:

<Directory "/srv/http">
    AllowOverride All
</Directory>

Also, make sure that the mod_rewrite module is enabled:

sudo ln -s /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf /etc/httpd/conf/extra/httpd-rewrite.conf
sudo systemctl restart httpd.service

Step 4: Install FlatPress

Next, extract the downloaded FlatPress archive to the Apache server directory /srv/http/:

sudo tar -xvf flatpress-1.1.2.tar.gz -C /srv/http/

Then, rename the FlatPress directory to something simpler and more memorable:

sudo mv /srv/http/flatpress /srv/http/blog

Step 5: Configure FlatPress

FlatPress comes with a configuration file that needs to be modified to set up your website. First, make a copy of the distribution file:

sudo cp /srv/http/blog/fp-config-dist.php /srv/http/blog/fp-config.php

Then, edit the configuration file with your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /srv/http/blog/fp-config.php

Set the following variables:

$fp_config['db_type'] = "sqlite"; // FlatPress stores its data in an SQLite database by default
$fp_config['db_sqlite_path'] = "/srv/http/blog/data/flatpress.db"; // Specify the location of the database file
$fp_config['path'] = "/blog/"; // Set the base URL for your website

Save and close the file.

Step 6: Make the Data Directory Writable

FlatPress needs to be able to write to the data/ directory to store pages, blog posts, and comments. To enable write permissions, run the following command:

sudo chmod 777 /srv/http/blog/data

Step 7: Access FlatPress

Finally, restart the Apache web server:

sudo systemctl restart httpd.service

Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/blog/ to access your new FlatPress site!

Conclusion

Installing FlatPress on Manjaro is a simple process that can be done in less than 10 minutes. After following this tutorial, you should have a fully functional blog engine running on your Manjaro Linux server.