Getting started for amateur

Hello, I just got Kirby license, but i couldn’t find the way to login,
I am sorry with my question, I am not familiar with coding and new to Kirby

I tried to follow this manual from Kirby site:

And also from it’s youtube chanel:

But both doesn’t work. Is there easiest manual to follow?

Thank you in advance

Hello Leo, maybe it’s your php version that need to be updated, PHP 7.4 is recommended
Otherwise the videos and the quickstart are good paths for sure.

Hey @leo Could you maybe provide more detailed information what exactly doesn’t work? If I get you right, then you cannot access Kirby’s backend?

Where did you install Kirby? In a local development setup or on a remote server?

Hello @KrsBee,

Thank you for your help. If so I will check my PHP, I actually just have the new domain and hosting for the website i am going to develop with Kirby, the hosting is not even activated yet so far

Hello @pixelijn,

I am sorry that my question was not clear.
What I mean is, I couldn’t get to point where I found window to activate my Kirby license, as I thought activating the license is the first step to start trying out the whole Kirby feature to build my website

No, you don’t have to activate the license to be able to test Kirby, and probably shouldn’t while just testing on a domain that is not your final target domain.

The link to register the domain can be found in the Panel, Kirby’s admin backend. You can reach the Panel at http(s)://yourdomain.com/panel, but note that when you are on a remote server, you have to allow installing the Panel on a remote server in your config.php file first, see

The two ways of registering are also described here:

I tried already. hold on, the ‘yourdoiman.com’ is changed to the name of my domain right? or its literally yourdomain.com/panel?

I am sorry I am very very lost really, I just don’t know how. I just upload starterkit-main to document roots of my hosting as well, but still i cant open the panel

I am sorry, is there tutorial for a real amateur? like step by step, like the terminal I open is not the same with the one in youtube tutorial. where to find this terminal on mac is not shown on youtube as well

Let’s see what you have tried first:
You have uploaded Kirby to a remote server and can access it at your domain but you can’t access the admin panel? (of course when you see yourdomain.com mentioned anywhere, it’s your actual domain, not the literal “yourdomain.com”)

What happens when you try to access yourdomain.com/panel? Do you get any error message?

I’m afraid there is no more basic documentation.

It doesn’t matter what your terminal looks like, it’s an application called Terminal on your Mac where you enter commands. People like to customize it for their purposes or use other shells.

yourdomain.com is only an example, if you work locally, it will be localhost with or without a port, like in the video.

If you put the complete folder into the web root of your remote hosting service, then you won’t be able to access it under your domain, but you would have to put the files and folders from inside the starterkit-main folder into your webroot, or add starterkit-main as path to the domain.

Yes, I uploaded the folder starterkit-main (with all files in it, and I already put the license file too, inside the file site/config, as instructed). when the folder is already uploaded, i tried to open mydomain.com/panel on a new browser tab, it says ‘server not found’

Thank you to let me know,

I just uploaded all folders and files inside starterkit-main to my webroot, not the folder starterkit-main. and then try to open mydoiman.com/panel, it says 404 not found, nginx/1.18.0 (Ubuntu). And weirdly the domain changes to my other domain.
How is the way to add starterkit-main as path to my domain? is it different way than uploading file to webroot?

by the way, is there a way to call or something to get a guide to install?

I think it would make sense if you go one step back and get the Starterkit to run locally first. If your hosting runs on nginx and not on an Apache server, then you would in any case need a different server configuration file, because the .htaccess file that comes with Kirby is for Apache webservers, not nginx.

On your Mac, first find out what php version is running:

  1. Open the Terminal application and type
php -v

The version that is shown as a result of that command (e.g PHP 7.4.14 on my computer), should be higher than 7.3
(see requirements in the documentation)

  1. The Starterkit should be somewhere in your home folder (/Users/yourname/), where yourname is a placeholder for your actual home folder name (so maybe the path is /Users/yourname/starterkit)
  2. Then in your terminal, change into the folder with the Starterkit, for example
cd /home/yourname/starterkit

And when you are there, type

php -S localhost:8080 kirby/router.php
  1. Then visit http://localhost:8080 in your browser

  2. The Panel will then be accessible at `http://localhost:8080/panel

An alternative to using PHP’s built-in server for local development is to install a software that provides what you need, examples can be found here: Local development environment | Kirby CMS

May I asked what it means that you are an amateur? Only regarding Kirby or you have never worked with HTML, CSS or PHP before?

It usually makes sense to buy a license once you are happy with Kirby. If it turns out it is not for you after all, then here are the terms of our refund policy: Kirby End User License Agreement | Kirby CMS

Hello, thanks so much for this detail explanation. Yes, what I mean with amateur is that I never work with any of html, php, css before. I did but I just trying out and playing without any guide, that I wouldn’t consider I know something. Following the suggestions I got here, I guess my problem is also the term used here, for example hosting is ‘remote server’, i was very confused with it.

Yes you are right about getting license, but so far honestly I feel very good with Kirby, I just need to understand the guideline.

I just checked PHP version on my computer, apparently mine is lower than 7.3, is there other way to install with lower PHP version?

I check my hosting, their server uses apache, it seems to upload starterkit-main to my hosting (remote server) is best way to me?, I set up its PHP version to 7. 4 already, but still doesn’t work

it says
Not Found
The requested URL was not found on this server.

strong text

Developing on a remote server is usually not such a great idea. It’s much more comfortable to do it locally and then upload the stuff when it’s ready.

If you are on a Mac, it’s probably a good idea to install MAMP and use that for local development, then you get a current PHP version and ease of use.

As regards the remote hosting on Apache, it should actually work out of the box in most cases. Did you upload the .htaccess file (it might be invisible in your Finder, so make sure you can see invisible files).

I see the problem now, it works indeed from my remote server, but it doesn’t show the panel yet since its a public server, as mentioned on the Kirby guidelines. i follow your suggestion, using MAMP.

I am using free trial MAMP now, and it already opens, but I don’t have password for Kirby, I am wondering where to make Kirby ID?

What do you mean, for the Panel? You “install” the Panel by creating a first account, where you then enter an email and a password.

I see, sorry I thought its a password to fill in. Finally all set now.

I am starting developing my web.

Thank you very much for your patient to guide @pixelijn