Quick start

Go live in about ten minutes, without writing a line of code. Everything on this page is done in a browser or a hosting control panel.

The first workspace and its owner. This is the account you will sign in with.

Choosing SQLite hides the host, port and account fields and asks for a file path instead. MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL are also supported.

This is the only required section. Everything under Optional integrations is exactly that — optional. Vantage collects reviews, scores them, writes reports and raises alerts with none of it configured.

Create an empty database In your hosting control panel, create a MySQL database and a user with full access to it. Write down the database name, user and password.
Expected: the control panel lists a new, empty database.
Upload Vantage Extract the download and upload it so that your domain's document root points at the public/ folder. On most shared hosts that means uploading the contents of public/ into public_html/ and the rest of the application one level above it.
Expected: visiting your domain shows the Vantage installer rather than a file listing or a 500 error.
Open your site in a browser You are redirected to /install automatically. The first screen checks your server and tells you exactly what to do about anything missing.
Expected: every line has a green check and the Continue button is enabled.
Enter your database details Vantage tests the connection before saving anything, then writes your settings and creates the tables.
Expected: you move straight to the account step. If the details are wrong you stay on the form and see the exact database error.
Create your account Your workspace name, your name, your email and a password of at least twelve characters.
Expected: you move to the license step.
Enter your purchase code It is on your Envato downloads page, beside this item, under “License certificate & purchase code”. You can also skip this and enter it later.
Expected: the code is accepted and you reach the final screen. See Your license if it is not.
Add the scheduler to cron This is the one step that is not in the browser, and Vantage does nothing on a schedule without it. In your control panel's cron section, add a job that runs every minute:
```
cd /path/to/vantage && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1
```
The final installer screen prints this line with your real path already filled in.
Expected: within an hour of connecting a store, its Connected Stores row shows a recent collection run.
Sign in and connect a store Follow Connecting your first store.
Expected: reviews start arriving within the hour. Your first weekly report is generated once there is a full week of reviews behind it.

What happens next

When	What Vantage does
Within the hour	Collects the first batch of reviews and scores their sentiment
Every few hours	Checks for sentiment drops, negative spikes and collection failures
Weekly	Writes a full report per store and emails it to you

Nothing to configure for email? Vantage uses whatever mail settings your host provides. To be sure it works, open Settings → Send a test email and check your inbox. See Email & notifications.