Learning path: administrator #

This path is for learners who will run an Exponential site: install it, decide who may do what, keep it fast and safe, and update it. Finish the editor path first. You need a terminal on the machine of your study installation.

Every command below is run from the root of the installation. The console is php bin/php/console; many installations add a shortcut so that ./console works too, and many help pages write it that way. When you work as root, add --allow-root-user where a script asks for it (Installing Exponential 6.0).

Contents #

1. The steps
2. Going further
3. Where the path leads next

The steps #

Step 1: Install from the command line (2 hours) #

• Read: Getting started: install Exponential, Installing Exponential 6.0 sections 1 to 4.
• Practice: install a study site with exp:install and serve it with the php engine (Installing a study site in one command).
• Check: what are the three siteaccesses every installation has? (site, admin and editor.)

Step 2: Settings and siteaccesses (2 hours) #

• Read: Understanding siteaccesses and settings, How INI settings work, exp:ini.
• Practice: run php bin/php/console exp:ini where site/DesignSettings/SiteDesign site and explain each line of the output.
• Check: why should you never edit settings/site.ini itself?

Step 3: Users, groups, roles and policies (3 hours) #

• Read: Roles, policies and unactivated users, How do I give a group edit rights on one section?.
• Practice: project 9.
• Check: what does a role do before it is assigned? (Nothing.)

Step 4: Sections and object states (1 hour) #

• Read: Sections, Object states.
• Practice: create a section and assign a subtree of your study site to it.

Step 5: Languages (2 hours) #

• Read: Content languages sections 1 to 5.
• Practice: project 5.
• Check: what does adding a language not do? (It translates nothing and changes no siteaccess.)

Step 6: Caches (1 hour) #

• Read: Understanding caches, Which cache do I clear?, Caches.
• Practice: publish an item, find it in a list, then clear only the content cache with --clear-tag=content.

Step 7: Cronjobs and workflows (1 hour) #

• Read: Cronjobs, Workflows.
• Practice: list the cronjob parts with php bin/php/console list cron.

Step 8: Logs, errors and the audit trail (1 hour) #

• Read: Reading logs and errors, How do I read the log files?, Security and audit.
• Practice: open var/log/error.log after a page with a deliberate template error, then fix it.

Step 9: Security (2 hours) #

• Read: Security hardening, Two-factor login, Change the admin password.
• Practice: turn on two-step sign-in for a test account (How do I turn on two-step sign-in?).

Step 10: Packages, extensions and updates (2 hours) #

• Read: Site packages for learners, Extensions sections 1 to 5, Update with Git, Upgrading.
• Practice: open Setup > Extensions and find three active extensions; read what each one does.
• Check: in an update, which comes first, Git or Composer? (Git first, then Composer, as Develop with Git says.)

Going further #

Where the path leads next #

• Study projects: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, capstone.
• With a trainer: Site administration, then Hosting and operations.
• Next path: developer.

Related pages #

• Choosing a learning path
• Understanding caches
• Student checklists
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.