From 52c4c5c3a4a3597ba75637ab172c18b9c744dcd7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: mystieneko <oivan2401@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2024 19:43:21 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] improved README instructions

---
 README.md | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 43 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 31cda5a..6057fb0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,24 +1,55 @@
 # CatAsk
 
-## Installation
+a work-in-progress minimal single-user q&a software
+
+## Install
 Clone this repository: `git clone https://git.gay/mst/catask.git`  
+
 ### VPS-specific
 Go into the cloned repository, create a virtual environment and activate it:  
-```python -m venv venv && . venv/bin/activate```  
-Install required packages:  
+
+#### Linux
+```python -m venv venv && . venv/bin/activate```
+
+#### Windows (PowerShell)
+```python -m venv venv; .\venv\Scripts\activate```  
+
+---
+
+After that, install required packages:  
 ```pip install -r requirements.txt```  
+
 ### Shared hosting-specific
 If your shared hosting provider supports [WSGI](https://w.wiki/_vTN2), [FastCGI](https://w.wiki/9EeQ), or something similar, use it (technically any CGI protocol could work)
 
-## Post-installation
-Create a MySQL/MariaDB database and connect MDFlare to it (in `.env` file)  
-Then init the database: `flask init-db`  
-If that doesn't work, try importing schema.sql into the created database manually  
+## Post-install
 
-Rename `.env.example` to `.env`, configure all values there, and edit variable `fullBaseUrl` in `config.py` file  
-Then run it:  
-`flask run` or `gunicorn -w 4 app:app` (if you have gunicorn installed) or `python3 app.py`    
-If you want it to be accessible on a specific host address, specify a `--host` option (e.g. `--host 0.0.0.0`) to `flask run`
+## Configuration
+
+First, rename `.env.example` to `.env`, then configure all the values below:
+
+### .env
+`DB_HOST` - database host (usually 127.0.0.1)  
+`DB_NAME` - database name  
+`DB_USER` - database user  
+`DB_PASS` - database password  
+`ADMIN_PASSWORD` - password to access admin panel  
+`APP_SECRET` - application secret, generate one with this command: `python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex())'`  
+
+### config.py
+`instanceTitle` - title of CatAsk instance  
+`instanceDesc` - description of CatAsk instance  
+`fullBaseUrl` - full base URL to CatAsk instance, e.g. `https://ask.example.com`  
+
+---
+
+After you're done configuring CatAsk, init the database: `flask init-db`  
+If that doesn't work (e.g. tables are missing), try importing schema.sql into the created database manually  
 
 ## Usage
-Works on `127.0.0.1:5000` (`flask run` or `python app.py`) or `127.0.0.1:8000` (`gunicorn -w 4 app:app`), may work in a production environment
\ No newline at end of file
+
+Use one of these commands to run CatAsk: `flask run` or `gunicorn -w 4 app:app` (if you have gunicorn installed) or `python app.py`  
+If you want CatAsk to be accessible on a specific host address, specify a `--host` option to `flask run` (e.g. `--host 0.0.0.0`)  
+
+Admin login page is located at `https://<your domain>/admin/login/`  
+Runs on `127.0.0.1:5000` (`flask run` or `python app.py`) or `127.0.0.1:8000` (`gunicorn -w 4 app:app`), may work in a production environment