Welcome

Welcome to October CMS, a content management framework for building websites that are as simple or as powerful as you need them to be. Whether you are here to launch a personal blog, a business site, or something entirely custom, you are in the right place.

# What is October CMS?

Think of October CMS as a content management framework. It takes care of the things every website needs, like content management, user accounts, file storage, and backend administration, so you can focus on what makes your site yours. You manage it through a browser-based backend panel or directly from your code editor.

Under the hood, it extends the Laravel framework (opens new window) with its own library that simplifies common tasks so you never have to reinvent the wheel. Everything Laravel offers is still there, plus a layer on top that makes it even easier to use.

# What Can It Do?

October CMS is a one-stop shop. Everything you need to build and manage a professional website is included out of the box:

• Custom content types. Use blueprints to define blog posts, team members, product listings, or anything else in simple YAML files. October CMS generates the backend forms, database, and admin navigation for you.
• Ready-made admin interfaces. Lists, forms, dashboards, import/export, and relation management are all built in. Define them in configuration and skip the boilerplate.
• A built-in AJAX framework. Build interactive pages using HTML attributes alone, no JavaScript required. Add a single meta tag and your site gets SPA-like page transitions out of the box.
• Total frontend freedom. October CMS ships with vanilla JS and CSS, but never forces that choice on you. Use Tailwind, Bootstrap, React, Vue, Astro, or go fully headless. No mystery markup, no locked-down templates. It is your canvas.
• Multisite from the ground up. Run multiple sites and languages from a single installation with per-site themes, plugins, and permissions.
• An escape hatch when you need it. Blueprints and custom plugins share the same architecture, so when you need more control, you can switch to the familiar MVC pattern without starting over.
• A plugin ecosystem for when you need something extra (contact forms, SEO tools, e-commerce) without bloating your project from day one.

# What Does "October CMS" Stand For?

The name comes from the month the project launched, capturing the spirit of a fresh start and a new season. The guiding philosophy aligns with a well-known principle from Albert Einstein:

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Websites are simple by nature, and building them should be too. You own your code, your data, and your infrastructure.

# Getting Started

The next few pages will get you set up and building:

• Terminal Basics: a quick introduction to the command line. Skip ahead if you are already comfortable.
• Text Editor: setting up VS Code with the October Code extension.
• Install October CMS: getting October CMS running using the Wizard Installer, DDEV, or Composer.

After that, we will tour the backend panel, create your first page, and start building real features.