Version 1.7.0 - December 2014

Version 1.6.4 - October 2014

Version 1.6.0 - September 2014

Version 1.5.2 - June 2013

Version: 1.4.2 - November 20th 2010

Please visit the appropriate documentation page for the most up-to-date version of these instructions.

Instructions last updated: July 2013

Hotaru CMS has been tested using PHP 5.2.x~ and MySQL 5.0~.

1. Backup your database.
2. Download the latest version of Hotaru CMS.
3. Sign in as admin
4. Overwrite ALL the old files. If you've made any customizations, read up on the Hotaru File Organization
5. Go to /install/upgrade.php and follow the steps
6. When finished, delete the install folder.

1. Download the latest version of Hotaru CMS.
2. Create a database called hotaru in you MySQL (using phpMyAdmin or similar).
3. Rename /settings_default.php to /config/settings.php.
4. Open /config/settings.php and edit the top section with your database details and path to Hotaru, e.g. http://example.com/
5. Upload the contents of the hotaru folder to your server.
6. Files should have permissions set to 644 and folders should be set to 755, except...
7. Set /cache and its sub-folders to 777
8. Go to http://example.com/hotaru/install/install.php and follow the steps
9. When finished, delete the install folder.

1. Log into Admin and go to Admin -> Settings
2. Change the settings as appropriate, but leave DB_CACHE off for now.
3. Download plugins from the Plugin Downloads forum, unzip and upload them to the /content/plugins/ directory.
4. Go to Admin -> Plugin Management and install the plugins one by one.
5. Edit settings for each plugin listed in the sidebar under Plugin Settings.
6. Click the site title/banner to view your changes.
7. When finished, return to Admin -> Settings and set DB_CACHE to true.

If you want to use friendly urls, rename htaccess_default to .htaccess, and edit it according to the instructions within the htaccess file. Then go to Admin -> Settings and change the friendly urls setting to true.

If you're having trouble installing Hotaru, please post your questions with as much detail as possible in the forums. Thanks.