Installation guide — Northbytra

DocumentationLast updated: Oct 29, 2026

This guide applies to every Northbytra website — the IT & Technical Service Website and all sector websites. A typical installation takes about 30 minutes. You need an FTP program (e.g. FileZilla) and the access data of your hosting.

1. Choose the right package

Website: the IT & Technical Service Website (computer repair, IT services, security cameras — with online repair tracking) or a sector website: Architecture Studio, Construction Company, Electrical Contractor, Interior Design Studio, Solar Installer, Furniture Store & Manufacturer, Auto Repair & Service, Tyre Centre, Towing & Roadside Assistance, Auto Body & Paint, Car Rental, Car Dealership, or Your Business Website for any other sector. Compare them on the products page and in the live demos.
Edition: Standard — orders with bank transfer, cash on delivery or payment in store. Pro — additionally online card payment via PayTR or Stripe. Both editions are installed the same way; you can upgrade from Standard to Pro later and your activation key stays the same.
One package = one sector: the design, menu, modules and sample content of a package are made for its sector. All texts, images and modules can be changed in the admin panel, but the sector of a package cannot be switched to another one.
After payment you receive an e-mail with the link to your order page: there you display your activation key and use your personal download link; after the right of withdrawal has ended, a copy of the key can also be sent to you by e-mail. The ZIP file contains the folder upload and the documentation (INSTALL.md / KURULUM.md).

2. Requirements

PHP 8.1 or newer with the extensions pdo_mysql, sodium, mbstring and fileinfo (gd and intl recommended) — standard on most hosting packages
MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
Apache or LiteSpeed with mod_rewrite — or Nginx with the rules in section 10
An SSL certificate for your domain (free with Let's Encrypt at most hosting providers)

The setup wizard checks every requirement before the installation starts.

3. Upload the files by FTP

Unpack the ZIP file on your computer.
Connect to your hosting by FTP — preferably SFTP or FTPS — and upload the contents of the folder upload to the web root of your domain (often public_html, httpdocs or htdocs), including the hidden .htaccess files.
In your hosting panel, create an empty MySQL database and a database user with all privileges on it. Note the database name, user name and password.

4. Run the setup wizard

Open your domain in the browser — the wizard starts automatically. You can switch its language at the top.
Enter the database details and your company information.
Choose the default language of the website and of the admin panel, the languages you want to offer and your country / region — time zone, currency, phone code and carriers are preset from it.
Create your admin account and enter your activation key (see section 5).
Sample content: leave the box ticked to start with a complete website — slider, services, projects, products, blog and FAQ in ten languages. The sector websites come with real photos (Pexels license, commercial use allowed), the IT website with original illustrations. Keep, edit or delete every item later in the admin panel — or untick the box to start with an empty website.
When the wizard has finished, delete the folder install from your server and keep a backup copy of app/config.php — it holds the key that encrypts personal data.

5. Activate your license

Online activation: during the installation the wizard sends your key, your domain and the software version to our license server. The key is then bound to the domain the website is installed on (with or without www; any other subdomain needs its own license).
Manual activation code: if your server cannot reach the internet (for example because a firewall blocks outgoing connections), the wizard shows the field "Manual activation code". Send us your order number and your domain via the contact form; you receive a code that is valid only for this key and this domain.
One domain per license: every license is valid for one domain only and cannot be transferred to another domain. For another website you need a new license.
The activation key is issued for the domain you give when ordering and works only there (with or without www). The website cannot be installed on localhost or other local addresses — install it directly on your domain.

6. First steps in the admin panel

Company details (legal notice), logo, brand colour and layout theme
Delivery options and your bank details for bank transfers
Legal page templates — check them and adapt them to your business
Replace the sample texts and photos with your own and switch off the modules you don't need

7. E-mail (SMTP) and two-step verification

Open Site Settings → E-mail, enter the SMTP server, port (587 with STARTTLS or 465 with SSL), user name, password and sender address of your mailbox, then click Send test to myself. Gmail and Microsoft 365 require an app password. Failed deliveries are listed with the error in the send log under E-mail Notifications.
As soon as test e-mails arrive, turn on two-step verification under My profile: every sign-in is then confirmed with a 6-digit code sent to your e-mail address. Keep the ten recovery codes, which are shown only once, in a safe place.

8. Pro only: online card payment

Open Admin → Online Payment, choose PayTR or Stripe and enter the API keys from your provider account (they are stored encrypted). Keep test mode on for now.
PayTR: enter the notification URL shown on that page in your PayTR merchant panel. Stripe: add the webhook URL shown there and paste the signing secret (whsec_…).
Under Delivery options, tick "Online card payment" for the options where customers may pay by card.
Place a test order, then switch test mode off and enter your live keys. Card data is entered only on the provider's secure page and never reaches your website.

9. Updating to a new version

Your content, settings, translations, orders and your activation key are stored in the database and in app/config.php — an update replaces only the program files. Your license stays the same; no new activation is needed.

Before you start

In the admin panel, open License: the line *Software version* shows the version installed now. Read "What's new" in INSTALL.md / KURULUM.md of the new package.
Download the new package with your personal download link. If the link has expired, send us your order number via the contact form and you will receive a new link. Always use the same website (same sector) and the same edition (Standard or Pro) — or the Pro package for an upgrade from Standard to Pro.
Make a backup: export the database (phpMyAdmin → Export, or the backup function of your hosting) and download the file app/config.php and the folder uploads by FTP. app/config.php contains the key that encrypts personal data — without it this data cannot be read again. A full copy of the website folder is even better.
If you changed program files yourself, write down which ones: the new version overwrites them, and you need to apply your changes again afterwards.

Update

Unpack the new ZIP file on your computer.
Upload the contents of the folder upload by FTP into the same folder as before and allow the FTP program to overwrite existing files (including the hidden .htaccess files). Do not delete anything on the server first. The package contains no app/config.php and none of your images, so your settings and the folder uploads stay as they are.
Delete the folder install from the server again.
Open your website and log in to the admin panel: the database is updated automatically on the first visit (this takes a few seconds). Under License the new version number is now shown.

Check afterwards

Open the home page and a few pages in each active language; send the contact form once.
Pro: make a test payment in the test mode of your payment provider, or check the payment settings.
Does the layout look old or broken? Reload the page with Ctrl + F5 and empty the cache of your hosting or CDN (e.g. LiteSpeed Cache, Cloudflare).
New languages of an update are added switched off — switch them on in the admin panel under Languages if you want them.

If something goes wrong

White page or error 500: look at the newest file in storage/logs — the error is described there.
To go back to the previous version, restore both the files and the database from your backup. Never use old program files with an already updated database.

10. Nginx

Apache and LiteSpeed use the included .htaccess files. On Nginx, add these rules to the server block of your domain (adjust the PHP-FPM socket to your server):

location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; }
location ~ ^/(app|storage)(/|$) { deny all; }
location ~ ^/install/(?!index\.php$).+\.php$ { deny all; }
location ~ ^/uploads/.*\.(php|phtml|phar|pl|py|cgi|sh)$ { deny all; }
location ~ /\. { deny all; }
location ~* \.(sql|md|log|lock|ini|bak|old|orig|sh|dist|env|json|yml|yaml|key|pem|zip|tar|gz)$ { deny all; }
location ~ \.php$ { include fastcgi_params; fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name; fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock; }

11. Demo mode

To present the website to clients or colleagues without any risk, set 'demo' => true in app/config.php. Visitors can then explore the complete admin panel with a demo account, but nothing is saved, two-step verification is hidden and the content resets itself automatically (interval: demo_reset_minutes). The documentation in the package lists all demo settings.

12. Troubleshooting

Every page except the home page shows 404: the .htaccess file was not uploaded or mod_rewrite is switched off.
The website redirects to another address: correct base_url in app/config.php.
No e-mails arrive: check the SMTP settings and read the error in the send log.
White page or error 500: look at the files in storage/logs.

Having trouble with installation? Help with the installation is available as our paid installation service: order it on the pricing page — or add it at checkout — and we install the website on your hosting for you.