- How do I install Bootstrap CMS?
- Bootstrap CMS is a complete Laravel 5 application skeleton, not a package, so installation means cloning the BootstrapCMS/CMS repository, running composer install, copying and configuring the .env file, and running the migrations and seeders. You then serve the application normally through your web server or php artisan serve. Your environment must provide PHP in roughly the 5.4 to 7.0 range with Laravel 5.0 or 5.1 dependencies, otherwise Composer resolution fails before the app boots.
- Can I install Bootstrap CMS with composer require in an existing Laravel app?
- No. graham-campbell/bootstrap-cms has no composer require seam, no service provider to register, and no composable module boundary, because the deliverable is the whole application rather than a library. Adopting it means adopting its routing, schema, admin panel, theming layer and release cadence wholesale. If you need CMS features inside an existing Laravel codebase, treat this repository as a reference implementation and port the parts you need.
- Does Bootstrap CMS support Laravel 10, Laravel 11 or PHP 8?
- No. Composer constraints pin the project to Laravel 5.0 or 5.1 and PHP roughly 5.4 to 7.0, so dependency resolution fails outright on a modern PHP 8.1+ build image. That is a hard stop rather than a soft warning, and it is worth confirming in a short discovery spike before planning any delivery work around it. Running it in production would also mean running an end-of-life framework and interpreter with no upstream security support.
- What features does Bootstrap CMS include out of the box?
- It provides genuine commodity CMS scope: pages, blog posts, events, users, groups, permissions, settings, redirects, navigation and uploads. The public front end is rendered with Twig via TwigBridge over Bootstrap 3, while the admin area uses Blade views. Image handling comes from Intervention Image, and a set of graham-campbell helper packages fills in supporting functionality.
- Which authentication and permission system does Bootstrap CMS use?
- Authentication and access control are handled by Cartalyst Sentry, which is abandoned and was superseded by Cartalyst Sentinel. That makes auth and ACL the highest blast-radius part of the stack, since it is security-sensitive code with no maintainer. Any serious evaluation should ask whether Sentry is load-bearing or whether auth and permissions can move to native Laravel authentication plus a maintained package such as spatie/laravel-permission.
- Is Bootstrap CMS still maintained and safe to use in production?
- Every layer of the stack is end-of-life: Laravel 5.0/5.1, PHP 5.x/7.0, Cartalyst Sentry, Twig 1.x with TwigBridge, and Bootstrap 3. The aggregation is the real risk, because there is no vendor to escalate a security incident to and no upstream patching path. Zero stars and zero dependents also mean no ecosystem validation and no downstream bug fixes, so it should not be treated as an adoptable runtime dependency for a current platform.
- Can I use Bootstrap CMS as a headless CMS or REST API?
- No. Bootstrap CMS is a server-rendered application with a Twig public front end and a Blade admin panel, and it exposes no headless API or decoupled content layer. It does not fit API-first or headless requirements, SPA front ends, or container-native twelve-factor standards without substantial rework. If headless delivery is the requirement, this codebase is a domain-model reference rather than a backend.
- Can I use just the blog module or just the ACL from Bootstrap CMS?
- Not directly. There is no composable module boundary that lets you consume only the blog or only the access control layer, because the features are fused into one application skeleton with shared routing, schema and admin views. The practical alternative is to fork it read-only and harvest the domain model, meaning entities, schema, the permission taxonomy and the page, blog and event relationships, then reimplement those patterns in your own Laravel codebase. That approach carries the feature value without adopting the legacy runtime.
- How do I move Bootstrap CMS off Cartalyst Sentry?
- Plan the migration as an auth and ACL replacement: map Sentry users, groups and permission slugs onto native Laravel authentication plus a maintained permission package, then migrate data and rewrite the guards and middleware that depend on Sentry. Because permissions are woven through the admin panel and public routes, inventory every authorization check before cutting over. Verify behaviour with tests around login, group membership and permission-gated routes before removing Sentry from the dependency graph.
- What should I check before adopting Bootstrap CMS, and what are the alternatives?
- First establish whether the goal is a greenfield build, a replacement of an existing CMS, or pattern harvesting, because the recommendation diverges sharply across those three. Then confirm your target Laravel and PHP standard, decide whether Sentry is load-bearing, and name an owner accountable for security triage if you adopt. For new projects, maintained Laravel CMS packages or a custom build using current Laravel LTS are the realistic alternatives; use this repository as a read-only reference for entities, schema and admin UX rather than as a dependency.