Configuration Guide

All configuration for MINI is stored in a single file: application/config/config.php. This guide explains every configuration option available.

Configuration File Overview

The config file uses PHP constants defined with define() for configuration values:

application/config/config.php

define('SETTING_NAME', 'value');

Constants are used instead of variables because they cannot be accidentally changed during runtime, making your application more secure and predictable.

Environment Settings

Error Reporting

Control how PHP errors are displayed:

application/config/config.php

define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');

if (ENVIRONMENT == 'development' || ENVIRONMENT == 'dev') {
    error_reporting(E_ALL);
    ini_set("display_errors", 1);
}

Development
Production

define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');

Behavior:

Shows all errors and warnings
Displays errors directly on the page
Useful for debugging during development

Never use development mode in production! It exposes sensitive information to users.

define('ENVIRONMENT', 'production');

Behavior:

Errors are not displayed to users
Only logged to server error logs
More secure for public-facing applications

In production, configure PHP error logging in php.ini to capture errors without displaying them to users.

Error Reporting Levels

// Show all errors (development)
error_reporting(E_ALL);

// Show only fatal errors (production)
error_reporting(E_ERROR | E_PARSE);

// Show errors but not notices
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

// Show no errors (not recommended)
error_reporting(0);

URL Configuration

MINI automatically detects your application’s URL structure:

application/config/config.php

define('URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER', 'public');
define('URL_PROTOCOL', '//');
define('URL_DOMAIN', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']);
define('URL_SUB_FOLDER', str_replace(URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER, '', dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'])));
define('URL', URL_PROTOCOL . URL_DOMAIN . URL_SUB_FOLDER);

Understanding URL Components

URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER

The name of the public folder that contains index.php.

define('URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER', 'public');

Default: publicChange if: You renamed the public folder

// If you renamed it to 'web'
define('URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER', 'web');

URL_PROTOCOL

The protocol part of the URL.

define('URL_PROTOCOL', '//');

Default: // (protocol-independent)The // notation automatically uses:

http:// for non-SSL connections
https:// for SSL connections

Manual configuration:

// Force HTTPS
define('URL_PROTOCOL', 'https://');

// Force HTTP (not recommended)
define('URL_PROTOCOL', 'http://');

URL_DOMAIN

The domain name from the HTTP request.

define('URL_DOMAIN', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']);

Auto-detected examples:

localhost
localhost:8000
example.com
www.example.com

Manual override:

// Use specific domain
define('URL_DOMAIN', 'www.example.com');

URL_SUB_FOLDER

Automatically detects if your app is in a subdirectory.

define('URL_SUB_FOLDER', str_replace(URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER, '', dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'])));

Examples:

Installation	URL_SUB_FOLDER
`http://localhost/`	`/`
`http://localhost/myapp/`	`/myapp/`
`http://example.com/`	`/`
`http://example.com/app/`	`/app/`

URL (Complete URL)

The final, complete base URL for your application.

define('URL', URL_PROTOCOL . URL_DOMAIN . URL_SUB_FOLDER);

Auto-generated examples:

//localhost/
//localhost/myapp/
//example.com/
//www.example.com/app/

Manual override (disables auto-detection):

// Override everything
define('URL', 'https://www.example.com/myapp/');

Using the URL Constant

The URL constant is used throughout MINI for creating links:

// In controllers - redirects
header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');

// In views - links
<a href="<?php echo URL; ?>songs/index">View Songs</a>

// In views - form actions
<form action="<?php echo URL; ?>songs/addsong" method="POST">

// In JavaScript (defined in footer.php)
var url = "<?php echo URL; ?>";
$.ajax(url + "/songs/ajaxGetStats");

Common URL Configurations

Local Development
Subdirectory Installation
Production (Auto)
Production (Manual)

// Usually works automatically
define('URL_PROTOCOL', '//');
define('URL_DOMAIN', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']);
// Results in: //localhost/ or //localhost:8000/

// Automatically detects subdirectory
// No changes needed!
// Results in: //localhost/myapp/

// Automatically detects domain
define('URL_PROTOCOL', '//');
define('URL_DOMAIN', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']);
// Results in: //www.example.com/

// Manual configuration for production
define('URL', 'https://www.example.com/');

// Or build it manually:
define('URL_PROTOCOL', 'https://');
define('URL_DOMAIN', 'www.example.com');
define('URL_SUB_FOLDER', '/');
define('URL', URL_PROTOCOL . URL_DOMAIN . URL_SUB_FOLDER);

Database Configuration

Database connection settings:

application/config/config.php

define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1');
define('DB_NAME', 'mini');
define('DB_USER', 'root');
define('DB_PASS', 'your_password');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');

Database Settings Explained

DB_TYPE - Database Type

The PDO driver to use for database connection.

define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');

Supported values:

mysql - MySQL or MariaDB (most common)
pgsql - PostgreSQL
sqlite - SQLite

Examples:

// PostgreSQL
define('DB_TYPE', 'pgsql');

// SQLite (also change DB_HOST)
define('DB_TYPE', 'sqlite');
define('DB_HOST', '/path/to/database.db');

DB_HOST - Database Server

The hostname or IP address of your database server.

define('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1');

Common values:

127.0.0.1 - Local MySQL server
localhost - Local MySQL server (socket connection)
mysql - Docker container name
db.example.com - Remote database server
192.168.1.100:3307 - Custom port

DB_NAME - Database Name

The name of the database to connect to.

define('DB_NAME', 'mini');

Must match the database you created during installation.

DB_USER - Database Username

The username for database authentication.

define('DB_USER', 'root');

Never use root in production! Create a dedicated user with limited permissions.

Production example:

define('DB_USER', 'mini_app_user');

DB_PASS - Database Password

The password for database authentication.

define('DB_PASS', 'your_password');

Use strong passwords in production and consider storing credentials in environment variables instead of the config file.

DB_CHARSET - Character Encoding

The character set for database communication.

define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');

Recommended values:

utf8 - Standard UTF-8 (good for most use cases)
utf8mb4 - Full UTF-8 support including emojis

// Support emojis and special characters
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');

Environment-Specific Database Config

Use different database settings for development vs production:

application/config/config.php

if (ENVIRONMENT == 'development') {
    define('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1');
    define('DB_NAME', 'mini_dev');
    define('DB_USER', 'root');
    define('DB_PASS', '');
} else {
    define('DB_HOST', 'production-db.example.com');
    define('DB_NAME', 'mini_prod');
    define('DB_USER', 'mini_app_user');
    define('DB_PASS', 'secure_production_password');
}

define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');

Complete Configuration Examples

Development Environment

application/config/config.php

<?php

// Development mode - show all errors
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');

if (ENVIRONMENT == 'development' || ENVIRONMENT == 'dev') {
    error_reporting(E_ALL);
    ini_set("display_errors", 1);
}

// URL - auto-detected
define('URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER', 'public');
define('URL_PROTOCOL', '//');
define('URL_DOMAIN', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']);
define('URL_SUB_FOLDER', str_replace(URL_PUBLIC_FOLDER, '', dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'])));
define('URL', URL_PROTOCOL . URL_DOMAIN . URL_SUB_FOLDER);

// Database - local development
define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1');
define('DB_NAME', 'mini');
define('DB_USER', 'root');
define('DB_PASS', '');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');

Production Environment

application/config/config.php

<?php

// Production mode - hide errors from users
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'production');

if (ENVIRONMENT == 'development' || ENVIRONMENT == 'dev') {
    error_reporting(E_ALL);
    ini_set("display_errors", 1);
}

// URL - manual for production
define('URL', 'https://www.example.com/');

// Database - production server
define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_HOST', 'db.example.com');
define('DB_NAME', 'mini_production');
define('DB_USER', 'mini_app_user');
define('DB_PASS', 'secure_production_password_here');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');

Docker Environment

application/config/config.php

<?php

define('ENVIRONMENT', getenv('APP_ENV') ?: 'production');

if (ENVIRONMENT == 'development' || ENVIRONMENT == 'dev') {
    error_reporting(E_ALL);
    ini_set("display_errors", 1);
}

// URL from environment variable
define('URL', getenv('APP_URL') ?: '//localhost/');

// Database from Docker environment variables
define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_HOST', getenv('DB_HOST') ?: 'mysql');
define('DB_NAME', getenv('DB_NAME') ?: 'mini');
define('DB_USER', getenv('DB_USER') ?: 'root');
define('DB_PASS', getenv('DB_PASS') ?: 'root');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');

Security Best Practices

Don't commit credentials to version control

Add config.php to .gitignore:

.gitignore

application/config/config.php

Create a template file instead:

application/config/config.example.php

<?php
// Copy this file to config.php and update with your settings

define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name_here');
define('DB_USER', 'username_here');
define('DB_PASS', 'password_here');

Use environment variables

Store sensitive data in environment variables:

application/config/config.php

define('DB_PASS', getenv('DB_PASSWORD'));

Set in your server environment:

export DB_PASSWORD="your_secure_password"

Restrict file permissions

Make config.php readable only by the web server:

chmod 600 application/config/config.php
chown www-data:www-data application/config/config.php

Use strong database passwords

Generate secure passwords:

# Generate a random password
openssl rand -base64 32

Accessing Configuration Values

Configuration constants are available throughout your application:

// In controllers
class MyController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        // Access URL constant
        header('location: ' . URL . 'home/index');
        
        // Check environment
        if (ENVIRONMENT == 'development') {
            // Development-only code
        }
    }
}

// In views
<a href="<?php echo URL; ?>songs/index">Songs</a>

// In JavaScript (footer.php)
var url = "<?php echo URL; ?>";

Database constants (DB_HOST, DB_USER, etc.) are only used in application/core/controller.php for the PDO connection. You typically don’t access them elsewhere.

Troubleshooting

Links don't work / 404 errors

Problem: URLs are incorrect or missing the base path.Solution: Check URL configuration:

// Debug: Add to config.php temporarily
echo "URL: " . URL . "<br>";
echo "URL_SUB_FOLDER: " . URL_SUB_FOLDER . "<br>";
exit();

Verify .htaccess is present in the public folder.

Database connection fails

Problem: Cannot connect to database.Solution: Verify credentials:

// Test connection in config.php
try {
    $test = new PDO(
        DB_TYPE . ':host=' . DB_HOST . ';dbname=' . DB_NAME,
        DB_USER,
        DB_PASS
    );
    echo "Database connection successful!";
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}
exit();

Errors not showing in development

Problem: Error reporting not working.Solution: Check php.ini settings:

// Force error display
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Deployment

Configuration Guide

Configuration File Overview

Environment Settings

Error Reporting

Error Reporting Levels

URL Configuration

Understanding URL Components

Using the URL Constant

Common URL Configurations

Database Configuration

Database Settings Explained

Environment-Specific Database Config

Complete Configuration Examples

Development Environment

Production Environment

Docker Environment

Security Best Practices

Accessing Configuration Values

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Database Setup

CRUD Operations

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Deployment

​Configuration File Overview

​Environment Settings

​Error Reporting

​Error Reporting Levels

​URL Configuration

​Understanding URL Components

​Using the URL Constant

​Common URL Configurations

​Database Configuration

​Database Settings Explained

​Environment-Specific Database Config

​Complete Configuration Examples

​Development Environment

​Production Environment

​Docker Environment

​Security Best Practices

​Accessing Configuration Values

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Database Setup

CRUD Operations

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Configuration File Overview

Environment Settings

Error Reporting

Error Reporting Levels

URL Configuration

Understanding URL Components

Using the URL Constant

Common URL Configurations

Database Configuration

Database Settings Explained

Environment-Specific Database Config

Complete Configuration Examples

Development Environment

Production Environment

Docker Environment

Security Best Practices

Accessing Configuration Values

Troubleshooting

Next Steps