Anyone install with success on a shared host

[RebicycleLI]

I'm familiar running the more old school setup forums like vB but NodeBB is light years beyond!

Not really sure how to setup the javascript parts, node.js, etc. and after digging around on Google only seemed to dig myself in a deeper hole!

Anyone setup their forums on a shared host and want to write up a walkthrough? I'd love to help test, early adopt, get an active community going to break things and all that fun stuff but I'm wondering if it's just beyond my more basic php/html/mysql/css type of older forum knowledge.

[julian]

Hi @rebicycleli!

Thanks for the interest in integrating NodeBB!

As of yet, we haven't talked to any shared hosting providers re: integration/one-click install, but it is one avenue we may possibly consider going down at a later date.

For the present time, you'll have to submit a support ticket to your shared host, but unless your host can give you command line access, then it is probably out-of-the-question.

For reference, we build NodeBBs on VPS systems like Linode

[psychobunny]

We've also managed to get NodeBB running on DigitalOcean, and for $5 a month it beats prices of most decent shared hosting anyways.

Heroku is another option, which would allow you to run a very small forum (I'd estimate around 100 users?) for free.

[RebicycleLI]

Thanks guys, appreciate the direction. I have a dedicated server but I just don't want to mess with it until I know the platform at a comfortable level, so my cheapo shared account is what I have to test..

I'll give Heroku a shot for free for the sake of getting things up and running so I can learn.

Not worried about 1-click install as much as general compatibility and without command-line I realized quick last night it wasn't going to happen

[psychobunny]

I felt like heroku was a bit of a pain in the ass to develop on (that's just me).

If you were just looking to mess about for a little while then you can google for a one month free coupon on digitalocean (no purchase necessary)

If you're sticking with heroku, have a look at our wiki for an installation guide:)

[Hitakashi]

I felt like heroku was a bit of a pain in the ass to develop on (that's just me).

If you were just looking to mess about for a little while then you can google for a one month free coupon on digitalocean (no purchase necessary)

If you're sticking with heroku, have a look at our wiki for an installation guide:)

is a free development VM (Only running when logged in) I did manage to get a NodeBB instance running just by running the commands in GitHub.

[RebicycleLI]

I was messing around on Heroku last night and it's more that I want to get involved with. If I was a hardcore coder/techie ok I can see it but for a more casual forum guy it's more than I want to be involved in. At that level I'd wait for funding and just pay a pro to do the dirty work and hand me the keys to a link w/ username/password to run the site lol..

I might try digital ocean next w/ a coupon and for 5 bux a month i have no problem doing that until i am comfortable and moving it to my dedicated server.

[RebicycleLI]

IMO that's one of the sticking points with a lot of newer forum systems. A more casual / light techie / designer type has a lot more trouble installing these systems without help, the right server setup, etc. That other new one using Ruby on Rails is similar with the increased level of difficulty.

Car guy sites and a lot of the "common man" catered forums will have a lot harder time adopting to the newer standards until the install process for self-hosted becomes easier..

Not a knock on you guys at all. This isn't even official release stuff, etc.. just an opinion from a guy who is 100% proficient on the look and design side and 25% proficient on the hardcore coding and server side of things

[psychobunny]

I'd like to write you a digital ocean tutorial - I'm pretty confident that I can make it as straightforward as possible. You can let me know how it was and what we could do to make things even easier

Getting heroku up is definitely hard mode though, so I don't blame you for giving in

[RebicycleLI]

I'm 100% onboard with that psychobunny and glad to help / review / post up my results.

[psychobunny]

here we go:

Setting up a NodeBB Forum “for Dummies” | Burn after compiling

I tried to be as concise as possible... let me know if anything is even slightly confusing and I'll try to fix it up:)

[RebicycleLI]

here we go:

Setting up a NodeBB Forum “for Dummies” | Burn after compiling

I tried to be as concise as possible... let me know if anything is even slightly confusing and I'll try to fix it up:)

Looks great.. The command line reminds me of DOS from back in the day but I'm 20+ years removed from that now lol.. I'm going to give it a go during the week and will post up a thread with my experience / results here for the rest to enjoy / laugh at / etc..

[RebicycleLI]

BTW I was digging around Hostgator support and found this link: http://support.hostgator.com/articles/hosting-guide/lets-get-started/how-do-i-get-and-use-ssh-access

You can enable shell access on your own through your online account. I'm going to try that first so if it works I can provide an addendum for your guide to help people with this shared hosting solution. If it doesn't work, I'm going to Digital Ocean.

Just finished going through the guide front to back and feel completely comfortable with it all.. Really just a lack of 'being in the game' on my part more than anything and not knowing the new commands but the principals are all the same really. Get services up and running, access them, then once running admin via web, etc..

I'd like to see people at my level or below able to utilize this forum so I'm all-in for helping the cause from the end-user perspective.

[psychobunny]

great!

the latest code as of last night had a breaking issue with themes (we just released the first version of our theme manager)

so if you're half way through installing, just run

git pull

npm install

at the very end, to update to the latest code.

[RebicycleLI]

Hoping to install tomorrow. Family stuff the past few days keeping me away from the computer more than usual. Just time for emails and quick forum scans. I'll be back in action tomorrow/weds to get this cracking.

[psychobunny]

good luck

[tart2000]

@psychobunny Thanks for the walkthrough for n00bs... I think I'm gonna get started... @RebicycleLI any luck with your install?

[psychobunny]

no prob, good luck

[Dehbuff]

Hi guys, i'm new here.

Why can't install nodebb on shared host?, I have a shared hosting account (with cloudlinux) and i can install perfectly Ghost from softacolous

I really like nodebb , but do not want to invest time in managing a virtual server.

[Hägar]

@Dehbuff said:

Why can't install nodebb on shared host?, I have a shared hosting account (with cloudlinux) and i can install perfectly Ghost from softacolous
I really like nodebb , but do not want to invest time in managing a virtual server.

I installed an earlier version on a shared host.