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pitoncms/piton
==============

Designer Forward CMS

1.1.6(3mo ago)0141[2 issues](https://github.com/PitonCMS/Piton/issues)AGPL-3.0-or-laterSCSSPHP ^8.2

Since Dec 6Pushed 3mo ago1 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/PitonCMS/Piton)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/pitoncms/piton)[ Docs](https://github.com/PitonCMS/Piton)[ RSS](/packages/pitoncms-piton/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 3d ago

READMEChangelogDependencies (1)Versions (30)Used By (0)

PitonCMS
========

[](#pitoncms)

Friendly and Flexible Content Management System for Designers.

A Designer Friendly CMS
-----------------------

[](#a-designer-friendly-cms)

PitonCMS was designed to be designer friendly, giving great flexibility to the designer to build creative websites without requiring additional custom backend development.

Page structures, data fields, settings, are all easily extensible by modifying project JSON **Definition** files. These files can be checked into version control and pushed to other environments to promote layout and data changes without having to modify databases or push custom code.

PitonCMS is built on modern standards and packages:

- PHP 8.2+
- Runs on the [Slim](http://www.slimframework.com/) framework, fast and powerful
- Coded to PHP-FIG [PSR-12](https://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-12/) standards
- [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) for package management
- [Twig](https://twig.symfony.com/) to render HTML templates

Requirements
------------

[](#requirements)

- \*AMP environment with PHP 8.2+. PitonCMS comes with a [Docker Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/) image ready to run for local development
- [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) installed on your development environment

Install PitonCMS
----------------

[](#install-pitoncms)

To install PitonCMS using composer using the command line, change directories (`cd`) to where you want to create your new PitonCMS project directory, and run the composer `create-project` command, but update `` to the new project name (to use Docker ensure the project name is all lower case):

```
composer create-project pitoncms/piton
```

This will create a new instance of PitonCMS in the new directory. When composer asks if you wish to delete any version control files say yes.

Installing PitonCMS using composer will automatically set default configurations for your local development environment to get you started quickly!

Start PitonCMS in Docker Container
----------------------------------

[](#start-pitoncms-in-docker-container)

If you have a [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/) client installed on your computer, from the command line `cd` into the new project folder and run:

```
docker-compose build
```

to build the Docker images. This is a one time step.

To start the Docker container and webserver, run:

```
docker-compose up -d
```

To later stop your container, run:

```
docker-compose stop
```

If you do not have the Docker client, then run PitonCMS on your local \*AMP server.

After starting your development server open a browser and go to `http://localhost`. The first time you will be directed to the initial setup form. Enter your name and email address and click submit to add you as an administrative user. These values can be later changed in the PitonCMS administration console.

Login to PitonCMS
-----------------

[](#login-to-pitoncms)

PitonCMS does not store passwords. PitonCMS uses passwordless authentication by email.

To login, navigate to `/login` and enter the email address you used during the install. You will be sent a one-time use token with a login link that is good for 15 minutes.

Sessions are valid for the duration set in the `secondsUntilExpiration` session configuration item, which defaults to two hours from the last request. This can be increased to any session length.

Inside PitonCMS Administration
------------------------------

[](#inside-pitoncms-administration)

After logging in to the PitonCMS administration back end, go ahead and explore. A good first stop is under the **Tools** menu is to review the client controlled site settings. Also review the **Support** documentation for Designer and Client.

Backend Configuration Settings
------------------------------

[](#backend-configuration-settings)

After installing the project, inspect the `config/config.local.php` configuration file to ensure the configuration values are set for your environment.

**DO NOT** commit `config.local.php` to your version control system as it holds critical passwords and keys. For any instance of your PitonCMS project, you will need a local `config.local.php` file to manage local server settings.

When you push your instance of PitonCMS and your theme files to production, besure to create a `config/config.local.php` file on your production server with the appropriate settings.

### Configuration Setting Options

[](#configuration-setting-options)

#### Environment Settings

[](#environment-settings)

The `production` configuration setting flag should be set for your local environment. If set to `true` then error details are suppresed and sent to the server logs, not the screen.

When developing a website on PitonCMS with `production` set to `false`, the Twig cache will be automatically cleared when templates change, which helps the development process. However, this is not the case when set to `true`, in that environment the `cache/` directory will need to be manually cleared when releasing template changes.

This should always be set to `true` in production.

The `domain` setting can be set to the primary domain name of your environment. When developing locally it will likely be set to `localhost` (which is the default), and for production to your primary domain name. This will be used to set the cookie domain, and you do not need to include the subdomain such as `www`.

```
/**
 * Environment Flags
 *
 * - production: Boolean variable controls debug and environment modes. Always set to true in production.
 * - domain:     Set to domain name without subdomain like 'www'. Defaults to localhost for development, but for production set to web domain name.
 */
$config['environment']['production'] = true;
$config['environment']['domain'] = '';
```

#### Database

[](#database)

If using Docker for your local development environment the database connection credentials should have been set as part of the install process. For production, enter your production database credentials.

```
/**
 * Database
 */
$config['database']['host'] = 'localhost';
$config['database']['dbname'] = '';
$config['database']['username'] = '';
$config['database']['password'] = '';
```

If using Docker for your local development environment the session settings should have been set as part of the install process. For production, be sure to set your desired `cookieName` and a suitably long and complex `salt` hash.

#### Session

[](#session)

```
/**
 * Sessions
 *
 * Set 'salt' to a long hash.
 */
$config['session']['cookieName'] = 'pitoncms';
$config['session']['checkIpAddress'] = true;
$config['session']['checkUserAgent'] = true;
$config['session']['salt'] = '';
$config['session']['secureCookie'] = false;
$config['session']['secondsUntilExpiration'] = 7200;
```

#### Email

[](#email)

PitonCMS relies by default on your local `mail` client, but if that is not installed or your local ISP blocks port 25 then add your SMTP credentials.

```
/**
 * Email
 *
 * from:     Send-from email address
 * protocol: 'mail' (default) or 'smtp'
 *
 * These settings below only apply for SMTP connections
 * smtpHost: SMTP server name
 * smtpUser: User name
 * smtpPass: Password
 * smtpPort: Port to use, likely 465
 */
$config['email']['from'] = 'pitoncms@localhost.com';
$config['email']['protocol'] = 'mail';
$config['email']['smtpHost'] = '';
$config['email']['smtpUser'] = '';
$config['email']['smtpPass'] = '';
$config['email']['smtpPort'] = '';
```

#### Pagination Links

[](#pagination-links)

If you have many pages or media files, pagination controls will appear to manage the number of records on screen.

```
/**
 * Pagination Row Limits
 */
$config['pagination']['adminPagePagination']['resultsPerPage'] = 6;
$config['pagination']['adminMediaPagination']['resultsPerPage'] = 10;
```

#### Response Headers

[](#response-headers)

You can set, modify, or exclude response headers using the `header` option. To exlude a default header, set it to `false`. For local development, it may be helpful to comment out the `$config['header']['Content-Security-Policy']` header.

```
/**
 * Response Headers
 *
 * Sets response headers dynamically at application runtime
 * Define any standard or custom headers as a key:value, in the $config['header'] array in config.local.php
 *
 * Notes
 * - Strict-Transport-Security is *only* sent when not on localhost
 */
$config['header']['X-Content-Type-Options'] = 'nosniff';
$config['header']['Referrer-Policy'] = 'no-referrer-when-downgrade';
$config['header']['X-XSS-Protection'] = '1; mode=block';
$config['header']['Strict-Transport-Security'] = 'max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains';
$config['header']['Content-Security-Policy'] = "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'nonce' 'strict-dynamic' 'unsafe-inline'; connect-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com https://fonts.googleapis.com; font-src 'self' https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com https://fonts.gstatic.com; img-src 'self'; base-uri 'none'; frame-ancestors 'none'";
```

Updating PitonCMS
-----------------

[](#updating-pitoncms)

The PitonCMS system relies on a vendor package named `pitoncms/engine` which has the core PitonCMS code and files. To update PitonCMS, from the terminal in the root of your project run:

```
composer update pitoncms/engine
```

to get the latest version, and then commit the `composer.lock` file.

**Note**: You should run the update command from inside your production webserver or inside the Docker container, as the update executes a script to set the Engine release number in the database, which needs to be running. To access the Docker container:

```
docker exec -it piton_web_1 bash
cd /var/www/piton
composer update pitoncms/engine
```

Where you replace `piton` with your project name.

The PitonCMS frontend project files above the `vendor` folder are never updated, so your custom files are never touched.

License
-------

[](#license)

PitonCMS is licensed under AGPLv3 with an additional permission for themes and plugins.

This means:

- Core modifications must be open-sourced under AGPLv3
- Custom themes and plugins can remain proprietary
- See the LICENSE file for full details

###  Health Score

48

—

FairBetter than 94% of packages

Maintenance82

Actively maintained with recent releases

Popularity10

Limited adoption so far

Community9

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity77

Established project with proven stability

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 70.3% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Every ~72 days

Recently: every ~5 days

Total

27

Last Release

96d ago

Major Versions

0.8.1 → 1.0.02026-01-13

PHP version history (4 changes)0.1.0PHP >=7.1

0.2.0PHP >=7.3

1.0.0PHP >=8.3

1.1.3PHP ^8.2

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/39494878?v=4)[PitonCMS](/maintainers/PitonCMS)[@PitonCMS](https://github.com/PitonCMS)

---

Top Contributors

[![wolfmoritz](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2895080?v=4)](https://github.com/wolfmoritz "wolfmoritz (398 commits)")[![peareye](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/11490640?v=4)](https://github.com/peareye "peareye (168 commits)")

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![Health badge](/badges/pitoncms-piton/health.svg)

```
[![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/pitoncms-piton/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/pitoncms-piton)
```

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