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. Just PHP 7.1+.
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 together, or arranged your way with an optional _order.txt.
Just your .md files and folders. Headings, lists, tables, code blocks — rendered in-file, no CDN or dependency. Drop in a .html file and it renders in a sandboxed iframe, scripts and all.
Light, Dark, and Sepia built in — plus any number of your own drop-in _theme-NAME.css palettes. Readers switch with a one-click cycle or a right-click picker; their choice is saved.
Optional. One .htaccess snippet and pages serve as /my-page instead of ?page=my-page.
Optional _header.md / _footer.html (your choice of format). A {{home}} token wires up the home link automatically.
Simple by default, never boxed in. Drop in a _theme.css or _theme.js and OwnShip auto-loads it — restyle or extend anything, no build step.
Find a page by its title or by something in its text — the nav tree narrows to just the matches, with the hits highlighted. Toggle it off for single-page sites.
Walk the nav tree, open pages, and expand or collapse folders entirely from the keyboard. Esc toggles focus between nav and content.
Public by default — add an optional password to gate the whole site for client previews or private drafts. For sensitive data, use your host's directory protection.
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# title, theme, clean URLs, search, password, nav layout_order.txt# control nav order per folder_theme.css# override colors with plain CSS_theme-NAME.css# add named drop-in themes_theme.js# custom JavaScript, auto-loaded_header.md, _footer.md# custom header and footerSimple setup instructions in the Guide →
All files are standalone — no installer, no dependencies to manage.
Requires PHP 7.1 or newer on your host — standard on virtually all shared hosting.
.md files.
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.
Optional — local preview only, not required to run OwnShip
localhost:8080.
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.