Artistier Docs

1. Requirements

• PHP 7.4+ with SQLite3 (PDO) and cURL extensions
• Apache with mod_rewrite enabled
• Any standard shared hosting, VPS, or dedicated server

Optional for NFT storefront:

• Sui CLI for deploying the smart contract
• A Sui wallet (like Sui Wallet) for minting and managing NFTs

2. Installation

Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/AleBlom/artistier.git
cd artistier

Directory structure

artistier/
├── config/          ← configuration
├── contract/        ← Sui Move smart contract
├── cron/            ← email drip cron script
├── logs/            ← log files (auto-created)
└── public/          ← web root
    ├── api/         ← JSON API endpoints
    ├── css/         ← stylesheets
    ├── db/          ← SQLite database + init script
    ├── js/          ← frontend scripts
    └── img/         ← favicon + uploads

Option A: VPS / Dedicated Server

Point your Apache DocumentRoot to the public/ directory:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/artistier/public
    <Directory /var/www/artistier/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

With this setup, config/, cron/, and logs/ are outside the web root entirely — no web access possible.

Option B: Shared Hosting

On shared hosting you typically can't change the document root. Copy everything into your web root:

public_html/          ← your web root
├── config/           ← protected by .htaccess
├── cron/             ← protected by .htaccess
├── logs/             ← protected by .htaccess
├── .htaccess
├── bootstrap.php
├── index.php
├── api/
├── css/
├── db/
├── js/
└── img/

Copy config files

cp config/site.example.php config/site.php
cp config/email.example.php config/email.php
cp config/nft.example.php config/nft.php
cp config/homepage.example.php config/homepage.php

Add your profile picture

Place a square image at public/img/pfp.jpg (or public_html/img/pfp.jpg on shared hosting).

Add favicon files

Replace the files in public/img/:

• favicon.ico
• favicon-32x32.png
• apple-touch-icon.png (180x180)
• android-chrome-192x192.png

3. Configuration

All configuration lives in four PHP files using define() constants.

config/site.php

Core site identity and social links.

config/email.php

ElasticEmail API credentials for the newsletter.

config/nft.php

Sui blockchain and Walrus storage settings. Leave defaults until you deploy the contract.

config/homepage.php

Optional HTML sections appended to the homepage between the Art section and the Blog. Use this for commissions, exhibitions, project links, or anything else. See the example file for the card format.

4. Database

The database is a single SQLite file at db/blog.db. Initialize it by running:

php public/db/init.php        # Option A (VPS)
php db/init.php               # Option B (shared hosting)

This creates the tables:

The .htaccess blocks direct access to .db files, but placing the database outside the web root is even safer if your hosting allows it.

5. NFT Storefront Setup

The NFT storefront is optional. Skip this section if you only need blog + newsletter.

Deploy the smart contract

Install the Sui CLI, then:

cd contract
sui client publish --gas-budget 100000000

The output contains the IDs you need. Look for:

• Package ID — the published package object
• Marketplace — the shared object created by init()
• AdminCap — the admin capability object sent to your wallet

Copy these into config/nft.php.

Walrus image storage

NFT images are uploaded to Walrus decentralized storage from the admin dashboard. The default config points to testnet. For mainnet:

define('WALRUS_PUBLISHER_URL', 'https://publisher.walrus.space');
define('WALRUS_AGGREGATOR_URL', 'https://aggregator.walrus.space');

Wallet connection

Buyers connect their Sui wallet (browser extension) to purchase NFTs with USDC. The storefront handles wallet detection, transaction building, and purchase confirmation automatically.

Going to mainnet

1. Redeploy the contract on mainnet: sui client switch --env mainnet
2. Update SUI_NETWORK to mainnet in config/nft.php
3. Update SUI_RPC_URL to the mainnet endpoint
4. Update Walrus URLs to mainnet endpoints
5. Update the contract IDs with the new mainnet values

6. Newsletter & Cron

ElasticEmail setup

1. Sign up at elasticemail.com
2. Get your API key from Settings → API
3. Verify your sender domain
4. Add your API key and sender info to config/email.php

Cron job

The drip sequence sends one email per subscriber per day. Set up a daily cron:

# Run at 9 AM daily
0 9 * * * php /path/to/cron/email-sequence.php

On shared hosting, use your host's cron job manager (cPanel → Cron Jobs).

How the drip works

1. New subscriber signs up → status pending, sequence position 0
2. Subscriber confirms via email link → status active
3. Cron runs daily → sends the email at the subscriber's current position
4. After sending, position advances by 1
5. When position exceeds the last email, nothing more is sent

Email template

The email wrapper template is at cron/email-template.php. Edit it to match your branding.

7. Admin Dashboard

Access the admin at /admin after logging in on the homepage.

The admin has four tabs:

• Email Sequence — Create and reorder drip emails. Preview renders. Send test emails to your address.
• Subscribers — View all subscribers, their status, and drip position.
• Collections — Create NFT collections with cover images (uploaded to Walrus), descriptions, and royalty settings.
• NFTs — Add NFTs to collections with images, pricing, and edition info. Mint and list on Sui from the dashboard.

8. Customization

Homepage sections

Edit config/homepage.php to add custom sections between the Art grid and the Blog. Use the card format from the example file:

<section class="section">
    <h2 class="section-title">Commissions</h2>
    <div class="projects-grid">
        <a href="/art" class="project-card">
            <div class="project-logo" style="...">...</div>
            <div>
                <h3>Custom Portraits</h3>
                <p>Starting at $200.</p>
            </div>
        </a>
    </div>
</section>

CSS

All styles are in css/style.css (public site) and css/admin.css (admin dashboard). The design uses CSS custom properties where applicable.

Favicon

Replace the files in img/. The HTML references favicon.ico, favicon-32x32.png, apple-touch-icon.png, and android-chrome-192x192.png.

Blog post images

Posts support image uploads via the post editor. Images are stored in img/uploads/.

9. Security

Artistier uses layered protection for sensitive files, especially important on shared hosting where config/ (containing API keys) is inside the web root.

Directory protection

Each sensitive directory has its own .htaccess with Require all denied. The main .htaccess also has rewrite rules blocking /config/, /cron/, and /logs/ as a second layer.

Admin authentication

Passwords are hashed with PHP's password_hash() (bcrypt). Sessions are server-side. The default password is changeme — change it immediately after first login.

Recommendations

• Change the default admin password before doing anything else
• Use HTTPS (most shared hosts provide free SSL via Let's Encrypt)
• Keep your config/*.php files out of version control (they're in .gitignore)
• If your host supports it, prefer Option A (VPS) to keep secrets outside the web root

10. FAQ

Do I need the NFT storefront?

No. The blog and newsletter work independently. Leave config/nft.php with empty IDs and the art sections won't appear.

Can I use a different email provider?

The cron script sends via a simple HTTP POST to ElasticEmail's API. You could swap it for any transactional email API (SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.) by editing cron/email-sequence.php and the subscribe/confirm endpoints in api/.

Is the admin password secure?

Passwords are hashed with PHP's password_hash() (bcrypt). The default is changeme — change it after first login. Sessions are server-side.

Can I run this on Nginx?

Yes, but you'll need to convert the .htaccess rewrite rules to Nginx config. The key rules route /post/slug, /art/collection/piece, /admin, and a few other clean URLs to their PHP files.

How do I back up?

Copy db/blog.db and img/uploads/. That's everything. Config files don't change at runtime.

Where are the logs?

Email sequence logs go to logs/email-sequence.log and logs/email-sequence-error.log. The logs/ directory is created automatically.