🇬🇧 English | 🇷🇺 Русский
Open-source Medium-style platform for authors and readers
Publish articles, discuss, follow authors — no ads, no algorithmic traps.
Demo · Installation · Structure · Contributing
W3A is an independent platform where authors publish in-depth articles, share experience, and engage in meaningful discussions.
The project focuses on:
- 🎯 Content quality over virality
- 👤 Reader control over their own feed
- 🔒 Privacy without trackers and data selling
- 🏗️ Open source and extensible architecture
- Smart feed with four sections: recommendations, trending, staff picks, new publications
- Personalization through subscriptions to authors and tags
- Bookmarks and reading history
- Dark theme with automatic system preference detection
- RSS feeds for any section
- Block editor based on Editor.js (headings, lists, quotes, code, images)
- Paywall — hide part of an article for subscribers only
- Statistics on views and reading time
- Subscribers and notifications about new comments
- Threaded comments sorted by Wilson Score
- Voting on articles and comments
- Karma system and moderation
- Reports and edit suggestions
- Staff Picks — curated collections
- Flag system for reports
- Moderation log with full history
- Edit suggestions from the community
The project is built on a custom MVC framework w3a-core with a modular architecture.
| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend | PHP 8.1+ |
| Framework | w3a-core (custom, PSR-compliant) |
| Database | MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.3+ |
| Frontend | Vanilla JS (no heavy libraries) |
| Editor | Editor.js 2.30+ |
| Caching | FileCache (custom, no Redis) |
| Styles | Custom CSS framework (Medium-style) |
app/Modules/
├── Stories/ # Articles: CRUD, recommendations, trending, Staff Picks
├── Comments/ # Comments: tree, Wilson Score, editing
├── Votes/ # Voting for articles and comments
├── Users/ # Profiles, settings, karma
├── Auth/ # Registration, login, password recovery
├── Subscriptions/ # Subscriptions to authors and tags
├── Notifications/ # Real-time notifications
├── Messages/ # Private messages
├── Saved/ # Bookmarks
├── Muted/ # Mute lists
├── Flags/ # Content reports
├── Suggestions/ # Edit suggestions
├── Tags/ # Tags and categories
├── Wiki/ # Wiki pages for tags
├── Search/ # Full-text search
├── Stats/ # Statistics
├── Mod/ # Moderation tools
├── Admin/ # Admin panel
├── Invitations/ # Invitation system
├── Rss/ # RSS feeds
└── Common/ # Common components (Layout, CacheHelper)
- PHP 8.1+ with extensions:
pdo_mysql,mbstring,json,fileinfo - MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
- Composer
- Web server (Apache/Nginx)
1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/w3a.git
cd w3a2. Install dependencies
composer install3. Configure the environment
cp .env.example .envEdit .env:
APP_NAME=W3AAPP_URL=http://localhostAPP_ENV=developmentDB_HOST=127.0.0.1DB_NAME=w3aDB_USER=rootDB_PASS=INVITATIONS_ENABLED=false4. Create the database
CREATEDATABASEw3a CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;5. Import the schema
mysql -u root -p w3a < database/schema.sql6. Create required directories
mkdir -p storage/cache/data
mkdir -p storage/logs
mkdir -p public/uploads/avatars
chmod -R 755 storage public/uploads7. Configure the web server
The document root should point to public/:
Nginx:
server{listen80;server_name w3a.local;root /path/to/w3a/public;indexindex.php;location / {try_files$uri$uri/ /index.php?$query_string;}location~\.php$ {fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;include fastcgi_params;fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;}}8. Open the website
Go to http://localhost and register the first user — they will automatically receive administrator privileges.
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
app/Config/app.php | General application settings |
app/Config/database.php | Database connection |
app/Config/cache.php | Caching settings |
app/Config/storage.php | File storage disks |
app/Config/security.php | Rate limiting, CSRF |
app/Config/invitations.php | Invitation system |
Spam protection is enabled by default:
- Global: 100 requests/min per IP
- For authenticated users: 300 requests/min
- Registration: 5 attempts/hour
- Comments: 30/min
Settings in app/Config/security.php.
- Log in to your account
- Click "➕ Create" in the header
- Start with a heading (H1 or H2)
- Add content via the block editor:
/— block menuCtrl+Shift+C— inline codeCtrl+Shift+K— code block
- Select tags
- Click "Publish"
- In the editor, add a "🔒 Lock" block
- Everything below the lock will only be available to:
- Authenticated users (
members) - Or only the author's subscribers (
subscribers)
- Authenticated users (
Administrators can feature the best articles:
- Open an article
- Menu ⋯ → "⭐ Add to Staff Picks"
- The article will appear in the sidebar on the home page
- Editor.js block editor
- Karma and voting system
- Subscriptions to authors and tags
- Staff Picks (editorial selection)
- Paywall for restricted content
- Recommendations and trending
- Dark theme
- Caching
- Email digest of the best articles
- PWA support
- Push notifications
- Two-factor authentication
- Export articles to Markdown/PDF
- Collaborative editing
We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch:
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature - Commit your changes:
git commit -m 'feat: add amazing feature' - Push to the branch:
git push origin feature/amazing-feature - Open a Pull Request
- PSR-12 for PHP
- Comments in Russian or English
- Tests for new features (PHPUnit)
If you find a vulnerability, do not create a public Issue. Write to budo@narod.ru — we will respond within 48 hours.
Distributed under the MIT license.
- Editor.js — block editor
- Medium — design inspiration
- Lobste.rs — open architecture
- The PHP community for great tools
Made with ❤️ for the community