How to Install Thredded on Windows 11

Thredded is an open-source forum software that enables you to build a community platform quickly and easily. In this tutorial, we'll guide you through the process of installing Thredded on Windows 11 using a local development environment.

Prerequisites

• Windows 11 operating system
• Ruby version 3.0.2 or later
• Git version 2.0 or later
• Bundler

Step 1 - Install Ruby

First, you'll need to install Ruby on your Windows 11 machine. You can download the latest version of Ruby from the official website:

https://rubyinstaller.org/downloads/

Once the download completes, you can run the installer and follow the instructions to install Ruby on your machine.

Step 2 - Install Git

Thredded is hosted on GitHub, and you'll need Git to download the source code. You can download Git from the official website:

https://git-scm.com/downloads

Once the download completes, you can run the installer and follow the instructions to install Git on your machine.

Step 3 - Download Thredded

Now that you have Ruby and Git installed, you can download Thredded from the GitHub repository. Open a command prompt or PowerShell window and use the following command to download the source code:

git clone https://github.com/thredded/thredded.git

This command will create a new directory called thredded in your current working directory, containing the source code of Thredded.

Step 4 - Install Dependencies

Thredded requires several dependencies to run, and we use Bundler to manage them. Navigate to the directory where you downloaded Thredded, and run the following command to install the dependencies:

bundle install

Bundler will download and install all the required dependencies, and it may take a few minutes.

Step 5 - Create the Database

Thredded uses a PostgreSQL database to store the forum data, so you'll need to install PostgreSQL on your machine. You can download PostgreSQL from the official website:

https://www.postgresql.org/download/

Once you install PostgreSQL, you can create a new database using the following command:

createdb thredded_dev

This command creates a new database called thredded_dev. You can change the name of the database to whatever you prefer.

Step 6 - Configure the Database

You'll also need to configure the database settings in the Thredded configuration file. Open the config/database.yml file in your favorite editor, and change the settings to match your PostgreSQL database:

default: &default
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: thredded_dev
  pool: <%= ENV.fetch("RAILS_MAX_THREADS") { 5 } %>
  host: localhost
  username: postgres
  password: 

development:
  <<: *default

In this example, we're using the default settings for the development environment. You can modify these settings if you want to use a different database name, username, or password.

Step 7 - Migrate the Database

Now that the database is configured, you can create the database structure using the following command:

rails db:migrate

This command creates the necessary tables and indexes in the database.

Step 8 - Start the Server

Finally, it's time to start the Thredded server. Use the following command to start the server:

rails server

This command starts the server on http://localhost:3000/. Open a web browser and go to this URL to see Thredded in action.

Congratulations! You've successfully installed Thredded on your Windows 11 machine. Feel free to explore Thredded and customize it to your liking.

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