How to Install Schnack on FreeBSD Latest

Schnack is a lightweight and open-source commenting system that can be easily added to static websites. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to install Schnack on FreeBSD Latest.

Prerequisites Before we begin, make sure you have the following requirements:

• A FreeBSD Latest server
• SSH access and sudo or root privileges
• Basic knowledge of FreeBSD command line

Step 1: Install Node.js

To run Schnack, you will need to have Node.js installed on your FreeBSD server. Run the following command to update your package repository and install Node.js:

sudo pkg update
sudo pkg install node

Verify the installation by checking the Node.js version:

node -v

Step 2: Clone Schnack Repository

Next, we will clone the Schnack repository from GitHub using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/schn4ck/schnack.git

Step 3: Install Dependencies

After cloning the repository, navigate to the Schnack directory and install the dependencies:

cd schnack
npm install

Step 4: Configure Schnack

Schnack is configured using a JSON file named config.json. You can create the file manually or generate it using the following command:

cp config.default.json config.json

Open the config.json file using your favorite text editor and update the following fields:

• "base_url": The URL of your website where Schnack will be installed.
• "moderation": Set it to true if you want the comments to be moderated before appearing on the website.
• "google_recaptcha_site_key": If you want to use Google reCAPTCHA for spam protection, enter your site key. Otherwise, delete this field.

Step 5: Start Schnack server

To start the Schnack server, run the following command:

npm start

The Schnack server will now be running on the default port 3000. You can access it by navigating to http://<server_ip>:3000 in your web browser.

Step 6: Integrate Schnack with your website

To integrate Schnack with your website, you will need to add the following code snippet to your website's HTML page:

<div id="comments">
  <div id="schnack-thread" data-schnack-public-url="http://<server_ip>:3000" data-schnack-target-url="http://<your_website_url>"></div>
  <script async src="http://<server_ip>:3000/static/schnack.js"></script>
</div>

Replace <server_ip> with the IP address of your FreeBSD server and <your_website_url> with the URL of your website.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed and configured Schnack on your FreeBSD Latest server. Your static website visitors can now start commenting on your website using Schnack.

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