Source: Craft CMS Documentation - Install Craft
Step 5: Create Your First Content Structure
After installing, log into your Craft control panel (e.g., http://your-project-name.test/admin). Go to Settings > Sections and click "New section." Give your section a name, like "Pages" or "Blog Posts."
Choose a section type: "Singles" for one-off pages (like "About Us"). Use "Channels" for repeatable content (like "Blog Posts"). Select "Structures" for content that needs to be in a hierarchy (like services with sub-services). Set how your website addresses will look for these pages (e.g., {slug}).
Next, go to Settings > Fields and click "New field." Give your field a name, like "Body Text" or "Featured Image." Choose a "Field Type," such as Rich Text, Assets, or Plain Text. After creating fields, go back to your section settings. There, click on "Field Layout" and drag your new fields into the appropriate tabs.
Step 6: Create Your First Templates (Twig)
Craft uses Twig for building how your website looks. Your templates go in the templates/ folder inside your project. First, create a _layout.twig file in templates/. This file will hold your website's common parts, like the header, navigation, and footer.
Then, create templates for your sections. For a "Pages" section (a Single), you might create templates/pages/index.twig. For a "Blog Posts" channel, you'd make templates/blog/_entry.twig for individual posts. These templates will use the _layout.twig for the overall structure. Remember to map your template path in the Section settings.
Step 7: Add Content
Now, in the control panel, navigate to the section you created (e.g., "Pages" or "Blog Posts"). Click "New Entry." Fill in your content using the fields you defined earlier.
Use the "Live Preview" feature to see your changes as you type. Once you're happy, click "Save" or "Save & Publish."
Step 8: Explore Add-ons (Plugins)
Craft's abilities can be expanded with plugins. You can install them using Composer (composer require vendor/plugin-name) or directly from the Plugin Store in the Control Panel (Settings > Plugins). Popular plugins help with things like SEO, richer text editing, or extra field types. Always check that plugins are well-supported and compatible.
Step 9: Launch Your Website (Deployment)
When you're ready to put your website live: Transfer your project files to your web server. Export your database from your local computer and import it onto your live server. Update your .env file on the live server with the correct database details and website address.
Run composer install --no-dev on the live server to get all the necessary files for the live site. Also, run php craft migrate/all to apply any pending database changes. Finally, set up your web server (Apache or Nginx) to point to your web directory and handle friendly web addresses. By following these steps, you'll be well on your way to building powerful websites with Craft CMS.
Tips for Making the Most of Craft CMS
Once your Craft CMS site is up and running, here are ways to make it even better, faster, and troubleshoot any issues.
1. Use Caching
Craft's cache tag in your website templates (Twig) is powerful. It speeds up parts of your site that don't change often, like headers or footers. For very busy sites, consider using Redis or Memcached for even faster caching. You can configure this in Craft's settings.
Also, use a CDN (Content Delivery Network) like Cloudflare or a tool like Varnish. They store copies of your website's static files (images, CSS, JavaScript) closer to your visitors worldwide. This drastically reduces server load and improves loading speeds for everyone.
2. Optimize Images
Craft has fantastic built-in tools for image transforms. You can define different sizes for your images, and Craft will create optimized versions on demand. Always use these smaller, optimized versions in your website design, not the full-size originals. You can also implement "lazy loading" so images only load when a visitor scrolls to them, improving initial page speed.
3. Optimize Your Database
Make sure your database is regularly backed up and well-maintained. Running OPTIMIZE TABLE in MariaDB/MySQL can help keep it efficient. When building your site, be mindful of complex or excessive database queries in your templates. Use features like eager loading (.with()) to reduce the number of queries.
4. Combine and Shrink Files
Use build tools like Gulp or Webpack to minify (shrink) and combine your CSS and JavaScript files. This reduces the number of HTTP requests and makes file sizes smaller. This leads to faster loading times for your website visitors.
5. Server Settings
Use PHP-FPM instead of older PHP setups for better performance and resource management. Enable Gzip compression on your web server. This compresses text-based assets (HTML, CSS, JS) before sending them to the browser, making them load faster. Finally, ensure your hosting environment has enough power (CPU, RAM) to handle your site's traffic.