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Start a site you run yourself

This page is the short path to a site that runs on your own server or your own Cloudflare account. It is written for the person organising it for the choir, who may hand the technical steps to someone else. There are no commands here: each step links to the page that has them.

If you would rather not look after a server, see Hosted or self-hosted?.

What your choir needs first​

  • A domain name, served over HTTPS, such as www.example.org. The site's emailed login links are built from this address, and a licence key is tied to it.
  • A way to send email. Members, and optionally admins, log in with a link that is emailed to them, so the site needs an email-sending service. Email: what the site sends and how to choose a provider lists the choices.
  • A licence key. The Community edition's key is free. Without one the site runs, but it cannot tell you when a new version is out.
  • Somewhere to run it, and someone who can look after it: a server with Node.js 22.13 or newer, a machine that runs Docker, or a Cloudflare account. Requirements has the detail.

1. Get a licence key and the download​

Sign in to the account portal at account.choirmastercms.com. Under Self-hosted, enter your site's domain name in The website it is for and press Get the Community edition. Your licence key is shown once: copy it somewhere safe straight away. The Download version button then gives you the software. A key is for one website.

Full instructions: Get a licence key and the download. For the Standard edition, which we install and support, see Community and Standard editions.

2. Choose where to run it​

There are three ways to run the software: directly with Node.js on a Linux server, in Docker, or on Cloudflare Workers. They differ in cost, in upkeep and in whether the site can update itself with one click. Choose where to run it compares them.

If you only want to see it working first, Try it on your own computer.

3. Install it​

Follow the page for the place you chose:

4. Give it the essential settings​

A self-hosted site is configured with settings on the server, not in the admin panel. A handful are needed before anyone can use the site: the site's address, the licence key, the admin username and password, and how to send email. The settings every site needs lists them, and Check your configuration shows how to find mistakes before you go live.

Later decisions, each with its own page: Choose a database, How files are stored and Admin sign-in: one password or a login for each admin.

5. Log in to the admin panel​

Go to your site's address followed by /admin and log in with the Username and Password that were set on the server. (If whoever installed it chose a login for each admin instead, you are asked for an email address and sent a login link.) Log in to the admin panel describes the login page.

6. Run the guided setup​

A new site shows a sample choir called Harmony Community Choir. The first time you log in you are taken to Set up your site, which replaces the sample choir's name, look, words and contact details with yours. Set up your site step by step describes every step.

7. Before you tell anyone​

Work through After installing: first login and go-live checklist. In particular, make sure email really arrives and that backups are running: see What to back up.

Then carry on with After setup: a checklist.