GETTING STARTED

Installation

Install Hoster on the site that will serve your plugin and theme updates. Your customers' sites never need Hoster: they only get a small updater file inside your product.

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.0 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer.
  • A permalink structure other than Plain (Settings → Permalinks). Package links (/hoster-secure-download/) and the update URLs under /wp-json/ rely on it.
  • The WordPress REST API must be reachable for visitors who aren't logged in. Client sites call /wp-json/hoster/v1/… without logging in, so a security plugin or firewall must not block it.
  • The PHP zip extension (ZipArchive), used to read the version from uploaded zips and to rebuild zips from private GitHub repositories.

After the setup, open Tools → Site Health: Hoster adds its own checks there and tells you if any of this is missing.

Step 1: Install the plugin

  1. In WP Admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
  2. Click Upload Plugin.
  3. Choose the Hoster zip file and click Install Now.
  4. Click Activate Plugin.

Step 2: Activate Hoster's licence

  1. After activation, a new Hoster menu appears in the admin menu.
  2. Open it, enter your licence key in the Enter licence field and click Submit.
  3. When the page shows License is valid, the Downloads menu appears.

From then on the licence page lives at Downloads → License. The Deactivate button there frees this site's activation, for example before you move Hoster to another domain.

Info
Without an active licence, Hoster hides its Downloads, Licenses, GitHub and Resources screens, so you can't add or edit Downloads. Your customers aren't affected: client sites keep getting update checks, packages and licence checks from your site.

What's in the Downloads menu

  • All Downloads and Add New Download — your plugins and themes.
  • Tags — Download Tags, see Downloads Screen.
  • Hoster Licenses — the licences you give to customers.
  • GitHub Settings — GitHub account connection and the release webhook.
  • Resources — the generated files that go into your plugin or theme.
  • License — Hoster's own licence, and the Client updates setting for older client sites.

Next steps