Articulate - Modern News Blog with auto SEO

This system is a full-featured Content Management System (CMS) built with PHP PDO and MySQL, featuring a modern, responsive frontend and a powerful admin panel. It provides everything needed to run a blog or news website including ADSENSE provisions.

Features

Core Architecture

· PHP PDO for secure database interaction · MySQL database with tables for articles, categories, users, comments, media, and settings · Session-based authentication with role-based access control · CSRF protection on forms · Auto-installation and database setup via setup.php or admin/reset.php

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User Roles & Permissions

Role Capabilities Admin Full access: manage articles, categories, users, comments, media, site settings Editor Manage articles, categories, media, comments (cannot manage users or settings) Author Create and manage their own articles Subscriber Can only comment on articles (self-registered)

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Frontend (Public Pages)

· Homepage (index.php) – Multiple layout options: hero, boxed, magazine-style grid, full-width category filters, trending sidebar, pagination. · Article Page (article.php) – Clean layout with hero, breadcrumbs, metadata, featured image, table of contents (auto-generated), reading progress bar, share buttons, author bio, related articles, and a comment section (with admin toggle). · Category Page (category.php) – Lists articles by category, search sidebar, trending widget, pagination. · Search Page (search.php) – Large search bar, result cards with highlighted terms, sorting options. · User Authentication – Separate login.php (subscribers) and register.php with auto-login. · About & Contact Pages – Static info and contact form.

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Admin Panel (/admin)

· Dashboard – Stats (articles, categories, users, views), recent articles, quick actions. · Article Management – Full CRUD with multiple text editors (TinyMCE, CKEditor 5, Summernote, Quill, Markdown/SimpleMDE), image upload, tags, SEO meta, featured toggle, auto-save. · Category Management – Add/edit/delete categories, subcategories. · Media Library – Upload, preview, copy URL, delete images. · Comments – Moderate (approve/spam/delete) with pending count badges. · User Management (admin only) – Add/edit/delete users, assign roles. · Site Settings (admin only) – Site name, description, posts per page, enable/disable comments, maintenance mode. · Profile – Update name, email, password. · Navigation – Sidebar or horizontal topbar with mobile responsiveness.

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Key Features

· Responsive Design – Mobile-first, uses Bootstrap 5, CSS Grid, Flexbox, and custom styles. · Dark Mode – Toggle with localStorage persistence. · Advanced Article Editor – Choose between 5 editors; editor preference saved in cookies. · Image Upload – Secure upload with validation, default image generation. · Comments System – With admin moderation, CSRF protection, and subscriber-only posting. · Search & Filters – Instant category filtering, search with term highlighting. · SEO – Meta title/description, clean slugs, Google preview. · Security – Password hashing, role checks, CSRF tokens, XSS prevention.

Requirements

PDO Enabled Web Server/cPanel

PHP 7.4 and above

Instructions

• Upload files to root or sub-directory of your web server
• Create new database and obtain credentials
• Run script installer or
• Edit database.php with your database credentials
• Upload the database file contained in the package.