Getting Started

Superlite is a lightweight content management system built for websites where the public site consists of static HTML files. You manage pages, articles, images, menus, SEO and settings through the administration interface, while visitors receive fast static pages directly from the web server.

This guide explains how Superlite works, how to install it and how to publish your first page.

What Superlite is

Superlite separates the content management system from the public website.

You use the administration interface to create and manage your content. When you publish something, Superlite generates the HTML files that visitors see.

There is no SQL database. Content, settings and other site data are stored as files.

The public website does not normally need to run PHP when someone visits a page. The web server can serve the generated HTML file directly.

This also means that already published pages continue to work even if the administration interface is temporarily unavailable.

How Superlite works

Content in Superlite is stored as structured data rather than as finished web pages.

When you create a page, Superlite stores information such as its title, URL, publication status, SEO settings and content blocks.

The active theme controls how that information is presented.

When you publish the page, Superlite combines the content with the theme and generates the final HTML file.

The basic process is simple:

You create content in the administration interface.

Superlite stores the content.

The active theme controls the layout and design.

Superlite generates the public HTML.

Visitors receive the static HTML file from the web server.

The generated HTML is not the original source of your content. Superlite keeps the structured content separately.

This makes it possible to rebuild the site later, for example after changing theme.

System requirements

Superlite is designed to run on standard web hosting.

The server should support PHP 8.2 or later.

Superlite does not require a SQL database, Composer, Node.js or SSH access on the production server.

The server also needs standard PHP support for JSON and ZIP files.

Image processing requires GD or another supported image library.

Apache is supported by the current version.

HTTPS is strongly recommended for production websites.

The installer checks the most important requirements before the installation is completed.

The file structure

A Superlite installation contains the CMS itself and the generated public website.

The CMS contains the administration interface, content files, configuration, media, themes, modules, revisions and other files used to manage the site.

The public part contains the files that visitors can access directly.

This normally includes generated HTML pages, images, CSS, sitemap.xml and robots.txt.

Some Superlite directories contain information that should not be publicly accessible, such as configuration files, source content, revisions and logs.

Where possible, these files should be stored outside the public web root.

If your hosting environment does not allow that, access to the relevant directories should be blocked through the web server configuration.

Installing Superlite

Superlite is distributed as a ZIP package.

Download the current version and extract the files on your computer.

Upload the extracted files to the location where you want to run the website.

This will normally be the directory connected to your domain or subdomain.

Once the files have been uploaded, open the administration directory in your browser.

For example:

example.com/admin/

If Superlite has not yet been configured, the installation guide starts automatically.

You do not need to create a database before starting the installation.

Using the installation guide

The installation guide first checks whether the server can run Superlite.

It checks items such as the PHP version, file permissions and required PHP functionality.

If something is missing, the installer displays an error explaining what needs to be corrected.

Once the system checks have passed, you enter the basic information for the website.

This includes the site name and the main URL.

The main URL is important because Superlite uses it when generating links, canonical URLs and other site information.

You also create the first administrator account and select the initial theme.

When the installation is complete, Superlite creates the necessary configuration and prepares the site for use.

Creating the administrator account

The first administrator account is created during installation.

Choose a username you can easily identify and use a strong password that you do not use for other services.

Passwords are stored as secure password hashes. Superlite does not store your password in readable form.

The administrator account gives you access to the Superlite administration interface.

Additional administrator accounts can be created later.

Logging in

Open the Superlite administration interface and enter your username and password.

The administration interface is separate from the public website.

Visitors do not need to log in and do not interact with the CMS when viewing published pages.

Your login session expires after a period of inactivity.

If that happens, log in again.

You should always log out when using Superlite on a shared computer.

The administration interface

After logging in, you arrive at the dashboard.

The main navigation gives you access to the different parts of Superlite.

Pages contains ordinary website pages such as About, Contact and Services.

Media contains uploaded images and other supported media files.

Navigation is used to manage menus and links.

Redirects lets you manage permanent redirects when URLs change.

Appearance contains themes and theme settings.

Modules contains optional functionality that can be installed separately from the Superlite core.

Settings contains the main website configuration.

Tools contains maintenance functions such as rebuilding the site, rebuilding indexes and creating backups.

The dashboard also provides an overview of the current website, including recently changed content, drafts, the active theme, active modules and system information.

Creating your first page

Open Pages and create a new page.

Enter a title and add content using the block editor.

Superlite uses a block based editor. Text, headings, images, lists, quotes, tables and other types of content are added as individual blocks.

You can save the page as a draft while you work on it.

Saving a draft does not make the page public.

When the page is ready, publish it.

Superlite then generates the public version of the page and makes it available at its URL.

What happens when you publish

Publishing does more than save the content.

Superlite first validates the page and determines which theme layout should be used.

The content blocks are converted into HTML.

SEO information and other metadata are prepared.

The active theme is then used to generate the complete page.

Superlite first writes the new page to a temporary file.

Only after the new version has been created successfully does it replace the existing public file.

This reduces the risk of visitors receiving an incomplete page if something goes wrong during publishing.

Superlite can also update other affected files, such as internal indexes and the sitemap.

Normal publishing only rebuilds the parts of the website affected by the change.

The entire site does not need to be rebuilt every time you edit a page.

Editing a published page

You can continue editing a page after it has been published.

Changes made in the editor do not immediately replace the public version.

The existing published page remains available to visitors while you work on the new version.

When you publish again, Superlite generates a new HTML file and replaces the previous public version.

This allows you to work on changes without exposing unfinished content.

The CMS and the public website

The Superlite administration system and the public website are two separate parts.

The CMS is where you create content, manage settings, upload media, install themes and modules and publish changes.

The public website is the result generated by Superlite.

It mainly consists of HTML, CSS, images and any JavaScript added by the active theme.

When a normal visitor opens a page, the web server serves the generated HTML file directly.