How to Install Conference Organizing Distribution (COD) on Windows 11

Conference Organizing Distribution (COD) is an open-source web content and event management system designed specifically for conferences. Here's how to install COD on a Windows 11 operating system:

Prerequisites

Before installing COD, ensure that the following requirements are met:

  • Windows 11 operating system
  • PHP 7.3 or higher with the following extensions enabled: mbstring, dom, xml, and gd
  • MySQL 5.7 or higher
  • Composer package manager
  • Git version control system
  • Apache web server or Nginx web server

Installation Steps

  1. Download COD source code

Visit the official COD website at http://usecod.com/ and download the latest version of the software in ZIP format.

  1. Extract the ZIP file

Extract the contents of the ZIP file to a directory of your choice.

  1. Install dependencies using Composer

Open the command prompt and navigate to the directory where the COD source code was extracted. Run the following command to install dependencies using Composer:

composer install --no-dev

This command installs all required PHP packages and libraries needed to run COD.

  1. Create a MySQL database

Create a new MySQL database for COD. You can use a graphical tool such as PHPMyAdmin or execute the following SQL command:

CREATE DATABASE cod;

Make sure to replace 'cod' with the name of the database you want to create.

  1. Set up the database connection

Open the .env file in the COD source code directory using a text editor. Update the database connection properties to match your MySQL database settings:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=cod
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

Make sure to update the values with your MySQL credentials.

  1. Generate application key

From the command prompt, generate a unique application key for COD:

php artisan key:generate
  1. Run migrations

Migrations are the primary way to manage database changes in COD. Run the migration command to create database tables in your newly created database:

php artisan migrate
  1. Start the web server

You can use the built-in PHP web server or configure an Apache web server or Nginx web server. To start the built-in PHP web server, navigate to the COD installation directory and run:

php artisan serve

This command starts a local web server accessible at http://localhost:8000/

Conclusion

Once the installation is complete, you can log in to the COD administration dashboard using the default credentials: 'admin' for the username and 'password' for the password. From there, you can configure event details, attendees, and much more.