Documentation

Server Requirements

This application is built on Laravel 12 and requires the following server configuration:

Component	Requirement
PHP Version	>= 8.2
PHP Extensions	Ctype cURL DOM Fileinfo Filter Hash Mbstring OpenSSL PCRE PDO Session Tokenizer XML
Database	MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
Node.js	v14+ (for asset compilation)
Composer	v2.0+

Directory Permissions

Permission Requirements

The web server needs write permissions to these directories:

bootstrap/cache
storage
public/uploads (if used)

Recommended permissions: 775 for directories and 664 for files.

Installation Guide

Follow these steps to install ASKFM.pro on your server:

1

Prepare Database

Create a MySQL database and user with full privileges to the database.

CREATE DATABASE askfm_pro;
CREATE USER 'askfm_pro_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON askfm_pro.* TO 'askfm_pro_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

2

Upload Application Files

Download and extract the application archive to your web server's document root.

cd /var/www/html
unzip askfmpro.zip -d askfmpro

3

Install Dependencies

Install PHP and JavaScript dependencies:

composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
npm install
npm run production

4

Configure Environment

Set up the environment file and configure database settings:

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Update these values in the .env file:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_DATABASE=askfm_pro
DB_USERNAME=askfm_pro_user
DB_PASSWORD=secure_password

5

Run Setup Commands

Execute these commands to complete setup:

php artisan key:generate
php artisan storage:link
php artisan migrate
php artisan db:seed --class=AdminSeeder

The AdminSeeder creates an admin account with credentials: admin:password

6

Optional Demo Data

To populate the database with sample data:

composer require fakerphp/faker --dev
php artisan db:seed

7

Start Application

For development, you can use:

php artisan serve

For production, configure your web server (Nginx/Apache) to point to the public directory.

Configuration Settings

The application can be configured through the .env file. Below are all available options:

Application Settings

Variable	Description	Example Value
APP_NAME	Name of your application	ASKFM.pro
APP_ENV	Application environment (local, production, etc.)	production
APP_KEY	Encryption key (generated automatically)	base64:...
APP_DEBUG	Enable debugging (false in production)	false
APP_URL	Base URL of your application	https://askfm.pro
APP_DOMAIN	Primary domain for the application	askfm.pro
APP_LOGO_IMAGE_FILENAME	Custom logo filename in public folder	logo.png
APP_LOCALE	Default application language	en

Database Configuration

Variable	Description	Example Value
DB_CONNECTION	Database driver	mysql
DB_HOST	Database host	127.0.0.1
DB_PORT	Database port	3306
DB_DATABASE	Database name	askfmpro
DB_USERNAME	Database username	askfmpro_user
DB_PASSWORD	Database password	secure_password

Email Configuration

Variable	Description	Example Value
MAIL_MAILER	Mail driver (smtp, sendmail, etc.)	smtp
MAIL_HOST	SMTP server address	smtp.mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT	SMTP port	2525
MAIL_USERNAME	SMTP username	your_username
MAIL_PASSWORD	SMTP password	your_password
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS	Sender email address	[email protected]
MAIL_FROM_NAME	Sender name	${APP_NAME}

Application Behavior

Variable	Description	Default Value
MAX_RANDOM_QUESTIONS_PER_DAY_PER_USER	Max random questions a user can ask daily	50
MIN_FOLLOWERS_FOR_VERIFICATION	Minimum followers for verification	10000
MIN_LIKES_FOR_STREAM	Minimum likes for question to appear in stream	25
RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY	Google reCAPTCHA site key
RECAPTCHA_SECRET_KEY	Google reCAPTCHA secret key

Setting Up Email

1

Configure your email settings in the .env file as shown above.

2

Test email functionality with this command:

php artisan tinker
Mail::raw('Test email', function ($message) { 
    $message->to('[email protected]')->subject('Test'); 
});

Setting Up CAPTCHA

1

Register your site at the Google reCAPTCHA Admin Console.

2

Add your domain and select reCAPTCHA v3.

3

Add the provided keys to your .env file:

RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY=your_site_key
RECAPTCHA_SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key

Frequently Asked Questions

Access Admin panel

1

Admin account can access {project_url}/admin/dashboard page. Default admin account is admin:password

2

You can set any account as admin by setting 'is_admin' value to 1 in users table

Making CSS or JS Changes

1

Edit files in resources/css or resources/js directories.

2

Compile assets:

npm run dev       # For development
npm run build     # For production

3

Clear browser cache to see changes.

Troubleshooting

Ensure Node.js and npm are installed (node -v, npm -v)
Delete node_modules and run npm install if issues occur
Check webpack.mix.js for correct asset paths

Adding a New Language

1

Add the language to config/languages.php:

'nl' => 'Nederlands',

2

Create language directory and copy files:

mkdir lang/nl
cp -r lang/en/* lang/nl/

3

Translate the copied files in the lang/nl directory.

4

Optionally set as default in .env:

APP_LOCALE=nl

Adding Random Questions

1

Create or edit lang/[code]/questions.php for each language:

return [
    'What is your favorite hobby?',
    'If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?',
    // Add more questions...
];

Replacing Logo Text with Image

1

Place your logo image in the public folder.

2

Set in .env:

APP_LOGO_IMAGE_FILENAME=logo.png

3

Clear config cache:

php artisan config:clear

ASKFM.pro Documentation