LinkStack

#analytics #lang-php #self-hosting #web 

LinkStack is a highly customizable link sharing and landing page platform with an easy to use interface and acts as a free opensource alternative to Linktree, Shorby, bio.fm etc.

Note

For this guide you should be familiar with the basic concepts of

License

LinkStack is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. All relevant legal information can be found here:

Prerequisites

We’re using PHP in the stable version 8.1:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ uberspace tools version show php
Using 'PHP' version: '8.1'
[isabell@stardust ~]$

If you want to use LinkStack with your own domain you need to setup your domains first:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ uberspace web domain list
isabell.uber.space
[isabell@stardust ~]$

You’ll need your MySQL credentials. Get them with my_print_defaults:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ my_print_defaults client
--default-character-set=utf8mb4
--user=isabell
--password=MySuperSecretPassword
[isabell@stardust ~]$

Setup a new MySQL database for LinkStack:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ mysql -e "CREATE DATABASE ${USER}_linkstack"
[isabell@stardust ~]$

Installation

cd to your document root, then download the latest release of LinkStack and extract it:

[isabell@stardust ~]$ cd /var/www/virtual/$USER/
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ wget https://github.com/linkstackorg/linkstack/releases/latest/download/linkstack.zip
[...]
2023-01-06 18:48:51 (23.3 MB/s) - ‘linkstack.zip’ saved [24926989/24926989]
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ unzip linkstack.zip
[...]
extracting: linkstack/version.json
 inflating: linkstack/web.config
 inflating: linkstack/webpack.mix.js
 inflating: README.md
[isabell@stardust isabell]$

Delete the nocontent.html file, the empty /html directory and the downloaded zip file, then rename the linkstack directory to html :

[isabell@stardust isabell]$ rm html/nocontent.html; rmdir html/
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ rm linkstack.zip
[isabell@stardust isabell]$ mv linkstack html
[isabell@stardust isabell]$

Configuration

Open your webbrowser and go to https://isabell.uber.space/, then click trough the setup process. It’s recommend using MySQL as the database backend. Fill in the database credentials:

Database host:     localhost
Database port:     3306
Database name:     isabell_linkstack
Database username: isabell
Database password: MySuperSecretPassword

During the setup process you have to create the default login admin@admin.com with password 12345678. Don’t forget to fill in the Handle and Name fields also.

Warning

Change the default password of the default administrator account now!

On the Admin Panel, click on the Account Settings section located on the sidebar on the left-hand side of your screen. There you can enter a new and secure password.

Maybe you want to edit the Terms, Privacy and Contact pages. You’ll find them on the Admin Panel in the Footer Pages section.

If you’re going to allow registrations, you may want to edit the SMTP settings for outgoing mails. Click on Config on the Admin Panel and edit the SMTP server settings according to your requirements.

For more configuration options please have a look to the LinkStack documentation.

Updates

Note

Check the update feed regularly to stay informed about the newest version.

When a new version is released, you will also get an update notification on your Admin Panel. The easiest way to update your installation is to use the web updater by clicking on the update notification.

Tested with LinkStack v4.0.3, Uberspace 7.15.1

Written by: Jan Klomp <https://jan.klomp.de>