ExpressionEngine® 3 User Guide

Legacy Documentation

You are using the documentation for version 3.5.17. Go here for the latest version or check here for your available upgrades to the latest version.

System Requirements

Server Requirements

  • PHP 5.3.10 or newer, compiled with the GD (or GD 2) library

    Note

    PHP 5.3.10 can also be read as five-point-three-point-ten. That means 5.3.10 is greater than 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.3, and all the way up to 5.3.9.

  • MySQL 5.0.3 or newer

  • At least 32 MB memory allocated to PHP

  • At least 10 MB of available disk space for the ExpressionEngine software and modules

  • At least 2 MB of database space

    Note

    Disk space usage and the database size will increase as content is added.

  • The MySQL user connecting to the database must have the following privileges:

    • SELECT
    • INSERT
    • UPDATE
    • DELETE
    • CREATE
    • INDEX
    • ALTER
    • DROP
  • The File Information (fileinfo) PHP extension

Note

If you’re on MediaTemple you will need to create a phprc file that contains the following:

extension = fileinfo.so

Server Compatibility Wizard

If you’re not sure whether your server meets the minimum requirements, the server wizard will run some tests and give you an answer.

  • Download and unzip the archive.
  • Upload the folder to your server.
  • Point your web browser to the folder. For example: http://example.com/ee_wizard

CP Browser Requirements

ExpressionEngine’s Control Panel is tested extensively with the final-release versions of the web browsers listed here. Please note that these are the minimum browser requirements necessary to use the Control Panel. They will not apply to your site’s front-end pages.

  • Internet Explorer 8 and above
  • Firefox 13
  • Safari 5.1
  • Chrome 19
  • Opera 11.64

Note

JavaScript must be enabled to use the Control Panel.

Optional Requirements

Spell Check

To use the spell check feature, your server must have PHP compiled with pspell support or be able to contact remote servers though PHP. If you are unsure if your server is set up for this, ask your web host or server admin to check for you.

Multibyte Support

For full support of multibyte encodings, ask your web host or server admin to set mbstring.func_overload to 6 in your server configuration by editing php.ini as shown below:

; overload(replace) single byte functions by mbstring functions.
; mail(), ereg(), etc are overloaded by mb_send_mail(), mb_ereg(),
; etc. Possible values are 0,1,2,4 or combination of them.
; For example, 7 for overload everything.
; 0: No overload
; 1: Overload mail() function
; 2: Overload str*() functions
; 4: Overload ereg*() functions
mbstring.func_overload = 6

Notes

Apache Server

If you are hosted on an Apache server, the AcceptPathInfo option needs to be enabled for URLs to work properly. Most servers are configured this way by default, but if yours is not, you have a few options:

  • Include AcceptPathInfo On in your .htaccess file to enable it
  • Ask your web host or server admin to enable the option
  • Set your site’s URLs to use query strings

URL Segment Support

If the Server Compatibility Wizard lists URL Segment Support as Unsupported, you will need to set your site’s URLs to use query strings.