Drop index.php into any folder on shared hosting alongside your .md files. That's it.
No composer. No npm. No build step. No database.
Shared hosting is underrated. You already have PHP, a domain, and a directory full of notes or docs. OwnShip turns that directory into a browsable site — with navigation, themes, and clean URLs — without touching your server config or installing anything.
Nav tree built from your file structure. Files and folders sorted alphabetically, intermixed.
Headings, lists, tables, code blocks, blockquotes, inline formatting. No CDN, no Parsedown dependency — it's all in the file.
Light, Dark, and Sepia. Default set in site.ini; readers can switch and their preference is saved.
Optional. One .htaccess snippet and pages serve as /my-page instead of ?page=my-page.
Drop in a .html file and it renders inside a sandboxed iframe — scripts and all, safely isolated.
Optional _header.md / _footer.html (your choice of format). A {{home}} token wires up the home link automatically.
index.phpGrab it from ownship.cc. The entire app is one file.
Write .md, .html, or .txt files in any editor, on your own machine. Organize them in folders, or not. Then upload everything — your content and index.php — to your host. OwnShip builds the navigation from whatever it finds.
Create a site.ini next to index.php to set your site title, default theme, and whether to use clean URLs.
The guide at ownship.cc/guide/ is itself served by OwnShip — same index.php, live on shared hosting. See exactly what you'll get.
OwnMark is a free local Markdown editor built as a companion to OwnShip. Write and organise on your own machine — when you're ready, upload the folder and OwnShip serves it instantly.
Learn about OwnMark →All optional. Drop in only what you need.
site.ini# site title, theme, clean URLs, toggles_order.txt# control nav order per folder_theme.css# override colors with plain CSS_header.md, _footer.md# custom header and footerSimple setup instructions in the Guide →
All files are standalone — no installer, no dependencies to manage.
localhost:8080.
Updating? Download the new index.php and replace the one on your server. Your content, site.ini, and custom headers and footers are never touched.
Preview scripts require PHP installed and on PATH. Set clean_urls = false in site.ini for local use — PHP's built-in server does not process .htaccess.