System Requirements

To install SocialEngine, your server must meet the following basic requirements:

• Your server must have PHP 4.3.0 (or newer) installed with Safe Mode OFF.
• You must have one available MySQL database (version 4.1 or newer).
• You must have GD 2.0 installed.
• For optional subdirectory-style URLs (shorter URLs for users' albums, profiles, blogs, and groups), your server must be able to use .htaccess files and have mod_rewrite installed.

• We do not recommend using this plugin without a dedicated server; the chat plugin uses AJAX to refresh its content which can lead to a large server demand.

• The Video plugin supports YouTube embedding - however if you want users to able to upload videos to your site, PHP must be configured to work with FFMPEG. If you're not sure if FFMPEG is available or working on your server, you can download our test script. Unzip the archive, upload the PHP script to your server, and run it in your browser to test if PHP is configured to work with FFMPEG. You can also ask your hosting provider for assistance with installing FFMPEG.
• Uploaded videos must be processed and can therefore consume large amounts of server resources. We strongly recommend that you use this plugin on a dedicated server (not a shared hosting account). If you need help finding a dedicated hosting provider, check our recommended hosts.
• Important Note: Our installation service includes installing the Video plugin, but not FFMPEG.

SocialEngine is designed to run natively on a Linux/Unix server with an Apache web server. However, SocialEngine will also work on most Windows servers provided that you have access to set file permissions on your server.

If you're not sure if your server meets these requirements, ask your hosting provider. If you don't yet have a host, we can recommend hosts that have everything you need to run SocialEngine.

While not explicit requirements, we also detail suggested PHP.INI configurations for file uploads.