SparkServer Lite
A simple blog management and hosting platform built on SQLite and ASP.NET Core MVC (.NET 6).
About
Blogs posts are written with Markdown.
Setup
To set up SparkServer Lite:
1) Ensure a .NET 6 runtime is installed.
2) Run SQL build scripts (from a terminal) to create the SQLite database (includes test data for local development).
- Windows:
/SQLScripts/RunAllCreate.bat
- MacOS:
sh /SQLScripts/RunAllCreateMacOS
3) Run dotnet build then dotnet run to start the local server.
Authentication
SparkServer Lite is configured to use a custom-built SSO system. The AccountController can be updated to use your login system of choice.
For local development and testing, enabling debug mode (see App Settings descriptors) will automatically log UserID 1 into the system. WARNING: do not enable debug mode on production deployments.
Technical Information
Standard Media Sizes
- Blog Image Banner: 2000px x 1000px @ 96dpi
- Blog Banner Thumb: 600px x 300px @ 96dpi
Default Blog Banners
Blog posts can have default images configured. The "Get Next Banner" button on the Blog Edit page will automatically pull the next unused default image, returning to the first image once reaching the last.
Images to be used as default blog banners should be placed in the following folder and named with sequential integers (01, 02, 03... 22, 23, etc.):
/images/banner-images/xx.jpg
/images/banner-images/xx-thumb.jpg
There should a numbered file and a thumbnail version.
App Settings descriptors
System configuration
- Debug: enables additional debug messages; also skips SSO login (use with caution!).
- DatabaseConnectionString: connection string to a SQLite database file.
- SiteURL: resolvable URL of the site, including protocal and hostname (
https://www.myblog.com).
- BlogItemsPerPage: number of blog posts to display on each list page.
Backend server configuration
- ServerWWWRoot: path to the website content folder; usually 'wwwroot'
- MediaFolderServerPath: relative path to the media folder as viewed from the app directory.
- BlogBannerServerPath: relative path to the default blog banners folder as viewed from the app directory.
- LibraryMediaServerPath: relative path to the library image folder as viewed from the app directory.
- DefaultBlogBannerPath: absolute addressable path to the default blog banner image.
- DefaultBlogBannerThumbnailPath: absolute addressable path to the default blog banner thumbnail image.
SSO configuration
These settings are only used with the QuickSSO system.
- SSOSigningKey: signing key from the QuickSSO system.
- SSOSiteID: siteID value provided by the QuickSSO system.
- SSOLoginURL: should be set to
http://sso.brandonbruno.com/Authenticate/
- SSOLogoutURL: should be set to
http://sso.brandonbruno.com/Logout/
Content Settings descriptors
Site-wide content
- SiteTitle: displayable name of the website.
- SiteSubtitle: displayable description of the website. Used in metadata fields, under main logo, and footer.
- SiteLogoURL: URL of the site logo image.
Footer content
- Copyright: copyright string (copyright mark and year are already provided).
- Description: description of the website.
- Blurb: message, summary, overview, or other text about the website. Appears in right column of footer.
Contact The Author
For questions / comments / issues, contact me: