Installing on Digital Ocean

One of the best ways to host Writebook is to use a cloud provider like Digital Ocean. It's inexpensive and relatively easy to set up if you have a little technical know-how.

Once you've signed up for a Digital Ocean account, just follow these steps to get set up. It should take less than 10 minutes.

  1. Choose Create > Droplets from the menu in your default project and pick a plan to get the server set up. DO-create.png Minimum requirements are 2GB RAM/1CPU. We recommend the following setup: DO-plan.png

  2. Next, create a password for connecting to the server. DO-password.png

  3. Accept the rest of the defaults and hit "Create Droplet" at the bottom of the screen. It will take just a few minutes for your droplet to be created. Once it's ready, click it to expand. DO-droplet.png

  4. Next, copy the ipv4 address which we'll use to point your domain name to your new cloud server. DO-ip.png

  5. Now head over to wherever your domain is managed. Some common registrars are GoDaddy, namecheap or Squarespace. Sign in and look for a link to manage your domain. You need to add an A record that points to the IP you copied above. It'll look something like this: DO-a-record.png

  6. Next, head back over to your Digital Ocean Droplet and open the Console to connect to your server. DO-console.png

  7. Finally, find the install command in the confirmation email we sent you and paste it into the command line: do-cli.png

  8. You'll be asked which domain name you will be using. That needs to be the same as the A record you set up in your domain manager. Type it in and ONCE will handle the rest. A few minutes later you'll see something like this: installation.png

  9. You're done! Open the URL in your web browser and set up your Writebook account.