Need a fast, plug-and-play wiki, landing page, or README? No databases, no bloat.
CheapIndex offers
- PHP-based: works with older versions
- Create and update content effortlessly: one single markdown file
- Drag and drop setup: No installation
- Zero dependencies: no Composer, no libraries or frameworks required
- Responsive design: built with PicoCSS for a sleek, modern look on any device
- Lightweight and easy to deploy: open source
Download → Unzip → Drop files → Run
Settings "all what you need"
The most common settings and the style file are located in the CheapIndex Basic version’s index.php as PHP variables. Of course, you can edit the entire file freely. It’s a script and open source.
Set basics
Set the basic page information in the meta fields. These variables are also used to partly configure your social media visibility including Open Graph tags. The default template features 'Made with CheapIndex' branding.
$set_title = 'Made with CheapIndex - A script for landing page, wiki, readme';
$set_description = 'Grab it now and get to work';
$site_author = 'CheapIndex';
$site_name = 'CheapIndex';
$set_keywords = 'CheapIndex, markdown to HTML, landing page, static site, wiki, parser';
$site_language = 'en';
$favicon_url = 'https://anyplanet.org/cheapindex/assets/favicon.ico';
Set page typography and background color
You can use most of the fonts offered by GDPR friendly Bunny Fonts. Set your font by assigning its name (Ubuntu, Lato, Inter) to the $set_font variable. 'sans-serif' will be used by default. The page background color is changed using HTML color code.
$set_font = 'Lato';
$set_backgroundcolor = '#e6f2ff';
$set_dark_backgroundcolor = '#2d2d2d';
In dev mode it's set to a fixed value but adjustable
:root { --pico-font-family: sans-serif; }
Set time format and default timezone
The page footer shows the timestamp of when the content (index.md) was last updated. With these settings, you can override the Unix timestamp and set a custom timezone. For more information php.net/date
$dateFormat = 'd M Y H:i';
date_default_timezone_set('Europe/Helsinki');
Customize footer
By default, the footer is a sticky footer, defined within the CSS settings. You can configure the footer data by assigning values to variables or by commenting out specific lines. These variables allow you to modify the information shown in the footer
$print_timezone_footer = 'EEST, UTC+3';
$print_contact_footer = 'Your Info';
Social media sharing
Configure a stylish social media preview image. Use the Facebook Sharing Debugger or LinkedIn Post Inspector to ensure your preview looks perfect.
$set_social_media_preview = 'https://anyplanet.org/cheapindex/assets/Made-with-CheapIndex-social-media-preview.png';
Coder's delight. Code snippets you actually need
Use true for offline coding (local CSS), false for online deployment (CDN CSS).
$local_dev_mode = false;
Path to a local file
$local_pico_css = 'assets/pico.min.css';
You can enable line numbers for code blocks by setting true/false
$enable_line_numbers = true;
If you have a GitHub account, its data can be fetched and the page header can be used as a profile card.
$show_profile_header = true;
$github_username = 'CaseyCommit';
$set_realname = 'Casey Commit';
Markdown styling
The parser is inspired by Markdown and CommonMark but doesn't strictly follow their grammar - it works through regex-based replacement instead. It supports a practical subset of features and includes custom extensions like [NOTE] and [WARN]. Please note that full compatibility with CommonMark or GitHub Flavored Markdown is not guaranteed.
CheapIndex offers a variety of built-in features and snippets, making it incredibly easy to design and format beautiful web pages directly from your Markdown file.
File permissions
Finally, check that the permissions are correct
# Set permissions
chmod 644 index.php
# Set owner (replace 'youruser' with your username)
chown youruser:www-data index.md
# Give owner and group write permission
chmod 664 index.md
The current state and the future is bright
CheapIndex is a fast, write-drop-go tool for wikis, landing pages, READMEs, and portofolios. One file, no builds, no dependencies. Platform-independent, works on Linux, Windows, macOS or any system with PHP support. Just write your page with Markdown syntax and drop it into the folder.
Already today, you can use CheapIndex as a publishing tool that works seamlessly with manually exported .md files from Dropbox and Notion. This enables collaboration and teamwork within those platforms.
Open source and shared under the permissive MIT license. Stay tuned for more exciting features and enhancements in upcoming versions...
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