RefractTrack Getting Started - Revision history

Nerdofepic at 22:32, 11 September 2026

2026-09-11T22:32:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:32, 11 September 2026
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	=== What you need ===		=== What you need ===

	RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who handles IT or hosting, this page is for them — everyone else can skip straight to [[RefractTrack_Projects\|Projects]] and [[RefractTrack_Tasks\|Tasks]] to start learning how to actually use the board.		RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP 8 and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who handles IT or hosting, this page is for them — everyone else can skip straight to [[RefractTrack_Projects\|Projects]] and [[RefractTrack_Tasks\|Tasks]] to start learning how to actually use the board.

	If you're setting up RefractTrack on a brand-new server from scratch (rather than an existing web host), there's a setup script that handles all of the server-level chores for you — installing the web server software, setting up a secure connection (https), and getting a database ready. It walks you through a few questions (what do you want to name your site? is your database on this same machine or somewhere else?) and takes care of the rest. See [[RefractTrack_Automated_Server_Setup\|Automated Server Setup]] for the full details, including exactly what to have ready before you run it.		If you're setting up RefractTrack on a brand-new server from scratch (rather than an existing web host), there's a setup script that handles all of the server-level chores for you — installing the web server software, setting up a secure connection (https), and getting a database ready. It walks you through a few questions (what do you want to name your site? is your database on this same machine or somewhere else?) and takes care of the rest. See [[RefractTrack_Automated_Server_Setup\|Automated Server Setup]] for the full details, including exactly what to have ready before you run it.
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	=== Nice URLs ===		=== Nice URLs ===

	RefractTrack can show clean, readable web addresses like ''yoursite.com/task/FE-12'' instead of longer ones full of question marks and numbers. The setup wizard detects whether your server supports this automatically and turns it on for you when it can. It's purely cosmetic — everything works exactly the same either way, so don't worry if your server can't do it.		RefractTrack can show clean, readable web addresses like ''yoursite.com/task/FE-12'' instead of longer ones full of question marks and numbers. The setup wizard detects whether your server supports this automatically and turns it on for you when it can. It's purely cosmetic — everything works exactly the same either way, so don't worry if your server can't do it. (This does need an Apache-style server with <code>.htaccess</code> support — nginx hosting won't show the clean version, but the app itself works identically.)

	=== Keeping RefractTrack up to date ===		=== Keeping RefractTrack up to date ===

	Updating RefractTrack to a newer version is just a matter of copying the new files onto your server — your projects, tasks, users, and uploaded attachments are always left untouched. If a new version needs any changes behind the scenes, RefractTrack notices on its own and walks an administrator through applying them with a single click the next time they log in; everyone else just sees a brief "please wait" message while that happens. There's nothing to plan around and nothing that can be forgotten.		Updating RefractTrack to a newer version is just a matter of copying the new files onto your server — your projects, tasks, users, and uploaded attachments are always left untouched. If a new version needs any changes behind the scenes, RefractTrack notices on its own and walks an administrator through applying them with a single click the next time they log in; everyone else just sees a brief "please wait" message while that happens. There's nothing to plan around and nothing that can be forgotten.

			There's also a guided script that handles the file-copying step itself, so an admin doesn't have to do it by hand. See [[RefractTrack_Upgrading\|Upgrading]] for the full walkthrough.

	=== Related pages ===		=== Related pages ===
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	* [[RefractTrack_Home\|Home]]		* [[RefractTrack_Home\|Home]]
	* [[RefractTrack_Automated_Server_Setup\|Automated Server Setup]]		* [[RefractTrack_Automated_Server_Setup\|Automated Server Setup]]
			* [[RefractTrack_Upgrading\|Upgrading]]
	* [[RefractTrack_Users\|Users]]		* [[RefractTrack_Users\|Users]]
	* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding\|Themes and Branding]]		* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding\|Themes and Branding]]

	[[Category:RefractTrack]]		[[Category:RefractTrack]]

Nerdofepic at 03:30, 3 September 2026

2026-09-03T03:30:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:30, 3 September 2026
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	* [[RefractTrack_Users\|Users]]		* [[RefractTrack_Users\|Users]]
	* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding\|Themes and Branding]]		* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding\|Themes and Branding]]

			[[Category:RefractTrack]]

Nerdofepic at 00:00, 29 August 2026

2026-08-29T00:00:32Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:00, 29 August 2026
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	RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who handles IT or hosting, this page is for them — everyone else can skip straight to [[RefractTrack_Projects\|Projects]] and [[RefractTrack_Tasks\|Tasks]] to start learning how to actually use the board.		RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who handles IT or hosting, this page is for them — everyone else can skip straight to [[RefractTrack_Projects\|Projects]] and [[RefractTrack_Tasks\|Tasks]] to start learning how to actually use the board.

	If you're setting up RefractTrack on a brand-new server from scratch (rather than an existing web host), there's a setup script that handles all of the server-level chores for you — installing the web server software, setting up a secure connection (https), and getting a database ready. It walks you through a few questions (what do you want to name your site? is your database on this same machine or somewhere else?) and takes care of the rest.		If you're setting up RefractTrack on a brand-new server from scratch (rather than an existing web host), there's a setup script that handles all of the server-level chores for you — installing the web server software, setting up a secure connection (https), and getting a database ready. It walks you through a few questions (what do you want to name your site? is your database on this same machine or somewhere else?) and takes care of the rest. See [[RefractTrack_Automated_Server_Setup\|Automated Server Setup]] for the full details, including exactly what to have ready before you run it.

	=== Running the setup wizard ===		=== Running the setup wizard ===
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	* [[RefractTrack_Home\|Home]]		* [[RefractTrack_Home\|Home]]
			* [[RefractTrack_Automated_Server_Setup\|Automated Server Setup]]
	* [[RefractTrack_Users\|Users]]		* [[RefractTrack_Users\|Users]]
	* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding\|Themes and Branding]]		* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding\|Themes and Branding]]

Nerdofepic: Created page with "== Getting Started == RefractTrack is self-hosted, which means it runs on a web server your team controls rather than someone else's cloud. That sounds like more work than it is — there's a guided setup wizard that does almost everything for you. === What you need === RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who..."

2026-08-28T13:40:05Z

Created page with "== Getting Started == RefractTrack is self-hosted, which means it runs on a web server your team controls rather than someone else's cloud. That sounds like more work than it is — there's a guided setup wizard that does almost everything for you. === What you need === RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who..."

New page

== Getting Started ==

RefractTrack is self-hosted, which means it runs on a web server your team controls rather than someone else's cloud. That sounds like more work than it is — there's a guided setup wizard that does almost everything for you.

=== What you need ===

RefractTrack needs a fairly ordinary web server: something that can run PHP and talk to a MySQL (or MariaDB) database. Most affordable web hosting plans already have both. If your team has someone who handles IT or hosting, this page is for them — everyone else can skip straight to [[RefractTrack_Projects|Projects]] and [[RefractTrack_Tasks|Tasks]] to start learning how to actually use the board.

If you're setting up RefractTrack on a brand-new server from scratch (rather than an existing web host), there's a setup script that handles all of the server-level chores for you — installing the web server software, setting up a secure connection (https), and getting a database ready. It walks you through a few questions (what do you want to name your site? is your database on this same machine or somewhere else?) and takes care of the rest.

=== Running the setup wizard ===

Once the files are in place on your server, open the site in a browser and you'll land on a step-by-step setup wizard. It will:

# Check that your server has everything RefractTrack needs, and explain clearly if something's missing.
# Create the database tables it needs.
# Let you pick a starting color theme and give your instance a name.
# Walk you through creating your very first project and your first user account.

Once that's done, you're in — no command-line work required for day-to-day setup. (The one exception is your very first login: because RefractTrack has no public sign-up page, someone needs to create that first account. The setup wizard handles this for you automatically.)

For security, the setup wizard should only be run once — after it finishes, it locks itself out and can't be re-run against a live site by accident.

=== Nice URLs ===

RefractTrack can show clean, readable web addresses like ''yoursite.com/task/FE-12'' instead of longer ones full of question marks and numbers. The setup wizard detects whether your server supports this automatically and turns it on for you when it can. It's purely cosmetic — everything works exactly the same either way, so don't worry if your server can't do it.

=== Keeping RefractTrack up to date ===

Updating RefractTrack to a newer version is just a matter of copying the new files onto your server — your projects, tasks, users, and uploaded attachments are always left untouched. If a new version needs any changes behind the scenes, RefractTrack notices on its own and walks an administrator through applying them with a single click the next time they log in; everyone else just sees a brief "please wait" message while that happens. There's nothing to plan around and nothing that can be forgotten.

=== Related pages ===

* [[RefractTrack_Home|Home]]
* [[RefractTrack_Users|Users]]
* [[RefractTrack_Themes_and_Branding|Themes and Branding]]