In this tutorial, we will create a social network website with a PHP web hosting.

Download Jcow

Go to https://www.jcow.net/download/ and select an Edition. After order completed, go to https://community.jcow.net, register an account with the Email address that was used in the order. After login, click “Client Area”, then you can find download link.

Upload Jcow to your server

In previous step, you got a zip file. Unzip it and you get a folder with the following structure:

• web
• mobile

Ignore the “mobile” folder. Upload all files&folders under the “web” folder to web folder. In many web hosting like Bluehost/Hostgator the web folder is “public_html/www”. Structure should be like:

• public_html/www/modules
• public_html/www/index.php
• public_html/www/install.php
• …

Run Installation

Using web browser open YOUR_DOMAIN/install.php, fill in database info and account info. This account is Admin account, please use a strong password. After installation completed, delete the file “install.php” from your server.

Basic Setup

Login to your new created website using the admin account. Go to “Admin CP” -> “Site configuration”. Here you need to complete some basic setup:
Site Slogan: this is a short text that will be displayed to guests in landing page.
Site Keywords: this is your site keywords. Good for SEO.
Footer message: here you can insert some HTML code (usually Google analytics codes) to page footers.