Subdomain on shared hosting

This guide covers ElmapiCMS on a subdomain (for example cms.your-domain.com) when you use shared hosting—same ZIP workflow as the primary domain, with a few extra path steps.

cPanel is used as an example for creating the subdomain and document root. On Plesk, DirectAdmin, or other panels, create the subdomain there and note the document root path your host shows you—that path is what you will mirror in the steps below.

1. Create the Subdomain

Example (cPanel): open Domains → Create A New Domain (or your host’s subdomain tool).

Enter the subdomain. The panel will show a document root (public directory). You need that path next. Common layouts:

• /home/your_username/cms.your-domain.com (subdomain at account root)
• /home/your_username/public_html/cms.your-domain.com (subdomain under public_html)

2. Upload and extract files

1. Open the File Manager (or equivalent).
2. Go to your home directory (e.g., /home/your_username).
3. Upload Elmapi3Cpanel.zip.
4. Extract it to get Elmapi3 and public.

3. Move public files

1. Open the extracted public folder.
2. Move everything into the subdomain’s document root from step 1.

4. Update application paths

The ZIP assumes a primary-domain layout. On a subdomain you must fix bootstrap paths in the document root.

• index.php: In the subdomain document root, edit index.php and adjust these lines if Elmapi3 is not one level up:

  // Find these lines (around lines 22 and 37)
  require __DIR__.'/../Elmapi3/bootstrap/autoload.php';
  $app = require_once __DIR__.'/../Elmapi3/bootstrap/app.php';

  • Document root /home/username/cms.example.com → ../Elmapi3 is often correct.
  • Document root /home/username/public_html/cms → use ../../Elmapi3.

• key_generator.php: If you rely on it without shell access, fix the same depth:

  require __DIR__ . '/../Elmapi3/bootstrap/app.php';

5. Configure public path in Laravel

Tell Laravel where the subdomain’s public files live.

1. Open the Elmapi3 directory.

2. Edit bootstrap/app.php.

3. Find:

   if (is_dir($app->basePath('../public_html'))) {
       $app->usePublicPath($app->basePath('../public_html'));
   }

4. Replace public_html with your subdomain document root relative to Elmapi3 (folder name or path segment).

• Document root folder cms.your-domain.com next to Elmapi3:

  if (is_dir($app->basePath('../cms.your-domain.com'))) {
      $app->usePublicPath($app->basePath('../cms.your-domain.com'));
  }

• Document root inside public_html:

  if (is_dir($app->basePath('../public_html/cms.your-domain.com'))) {
      $app->usePublicPath($app->basePath('../public_html/cms.your-domain.com'));
  }

6. Final steps

Continue from Set up the database in the main shared-hosting guide.

• Return to shared hosting guide — set up the database

Set APP_URL in .env to your full subdomain URL (e.g. https://cms.your-domain.com).