README

Composer project starter and GitHub template for new WordPress websites in the SymPress ecosystem. The starter ships with a DDEV-ready local environment, Composer-managed WordPress core, a small base MU plugin package, SymPress kernel bootstrapping, and default quality tooling.

What is included

• WordPress generated into public/wp with content in public/wp-content
• SymPress kernel, Monolog bundle, WP-CLI console, and optional profiler
• Base MU plugins in packages/base-mu-plugins
• DDEV configuration for PHP 8.5, MariaDB 11.8, and nginx-fpm
• WPStarter orchestration for first install and repeatable local setup
• PHPCS, PHPStan, PHPUnit, Composer audit, Dependabot/Renovate, and DDEV smoke-test wiring

Requirements

• Docker or a compatible container runtime
• DDEV
• Git
• PHP 8.5 and Composer 2 for creating and bootstrapping the project

Project dependencies are installed inside DDEV. Host PHP/Composer are only needed for composer create-project and the lightweight bin/console setup bootstrap command.

Creating Projects

Create a new SymPress website project:

composer create-project sympress/starter my_project_directory --no-install
cd my_project_directory

Use a specific development line:

composer create-project sympress/starter:"1.0.x-dev" my_project_directory --no-install
cd my_project_directory

Until the package is published on Packagist, use the repository explicitly:

composer create-project sympress/starter my_project_directory --no-install \
  --repository='{"type":"vcs","url":"https://github.com/sympress/starter"}'
cd my_project_directory

Configure the local project name:

bin/console setup my-project

bin/console is the single public command surface for the starter. The starter commands work before vendor/autoload.php exists, so they can be used immediately after composer create-project --no-install.

Local setup

bin/console setup creates .env, updates the DDEV URL settings, starts DDEV, and installs dependencies inside the container.

The starter uses DDEV's ddev.site URLs by default so first setup works without editing /etc/hosts.

Manual setup is also possible:

cp .env.example .env
ddev config --project-name=my-project --project-tld=ddev.site --project-type=php --docroot=public --webserver-type=nginx-fpm
ddev start
ddev composer install

WPStarter runs through Composer and creates the generated WordPress files/configuration. On a fresh database it installs WordPress with these development credentials unless overridden via environment variables:

• Username: admin
• Password: generated during bin/console setup or set through WP_ADMIN_PASSWORD

WPStarter is intentionally part of the Composer install/update flow because it installs, syncs, and regenerates the WordPress project files and plugin/theme layout.

Open the site:

ddev launch

Admin URL:

https://my-project.ddev.site/wp-admin/

Common commands

ddev start
ddev stop
ddev restart
ddev composer install
ddev composer update
ddev composer qa
ddev composer cs
ddev composer static-analysis
ddev composer test
ddev composer audit
ddev exec wp --info
ddev exec wp db check
bin/console starter:help
bin/console setup my-project
bin/console check
bin/console doctor
bin/console perf
bin/console diagnose-login
bin/console reset --yes my-project

Optional Make targets are available when make is installed:

make setup PROJECT=my-project
make check
make doctor
make perf
make qa
make test
make audit

Use the login diagnostic when local admin redirects or cookies do not match the expected project URL:

bin/console diagnose-login
bin/console diagnose-login --env-file=.env.example

Project structure

.
├── .ddev/                     DDEV local environment
├── bin/console                Single starter command surface
├── config/                    SymPress and WordPress configuration
├── dev-ops/                   WPStarter and server support files
├── packages/base-mu-plugins/  Starter MU plugin package
├── public/                    Generated WordPress webroot, ignored by Git
├── composer.json              Root project dependencies
└── README.md

Documentation

• Installation
• Development tools
• Environment configuration
• Starter notes
• Customization
• Enterprise readiness
• Release process
• Security policy
• Changelog

License

GPL-2.0-or-later. See LICENSE.