How to use Aeon
A flat-file CMS that lets you edit your website directly on the page — like the old Netscape Gold days, but modern.
Core idea: after you sign in, the public page becomes the editor. No separate dashboard. Right-click on desktop or tap the hamburger on mobile to open the command menu.
1. Getting started
Install
Upload the aeon folder to your web server, or run locally with PHP. The first time you visit, the install wizard asks for a site title, default language, and admin password (minimum eight characters).
Sign in
Look for the small A button in the top-right corner. Click it and choose Sign in. After you sign in, the same button gives you quick access to Save and Sign out.
Tip: public visitors never receive cookies. Only editors get a session cookie.
2. Editing your site
Desktop
Right-click anywhere on the page to open the Aeon command menu. Select text to bring up a floating toolbar with bold, italic, lists, headings, and link. Double-click any text block to start editing directly.
Mobile
Tap the hamburger menu (three lines) in the top-left to open Aeon commands. Long-press text for native selection — the Aeon menu does not interfere. When text is selected, the floating toolbar appears automatically.
Right-click and hamburger menu
The menu is organized into sections: Undo and Redo at the top as compact icons, This page for changing template, style, or visibility on the current page, Site for the site-wide default style, Pages for navigating between pages and creating new ones, Menu for editing the site menu, Add block for inserting new content blocks, and Save now for an immediate save (autosave runs every 7 seconds).
3. Templates and styles
Templates (layout)
Default is a clean single column for articles and home pages. Sidebar adds a left navigation pane and is good for documentation. Gallery is a responsive grid for images and videos. Switch templates anytime from This page → Change template.
Styles (appearance)
Six built-in styles: Default follows system dark mode, Serif for a classical warm-paper look, Monospace for a technical feel, High contrast for maximum legibility, Sepia for a warm reading experience, and Night for a deep blue dark theme that ignores system preference. Set a site-wide default and override per page.
4. Public and private pages
Public pages are stored in data.json and visible to everyone. Private pages are stored in private.json.php and visible only after sign-in. Private pages disappear from public menus and are excluded from search results and exports.
5. Search
A search box ships on the home page. You can add a search block to other pages from Add block → Search. Search uses simple substring matching with title-and-heading priority. Multi-word queries match pages containing all terms; wrap a phrase in double quotes to match it literally.
6. Keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+S or Cmd+S to save now. Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z to undo. Ctrl+Shift+Z, Cmd+Shift+Z, or Ctrl+Y to redo. Enter inside a paragraph creates a visible line break, not a new block.
7. Mobile tips
Use the hamburger menu top-left for all Aeon commands. Native text selection works normally. The floating toolbar appears when you select text. Long-press on the page does not open the Aeon menu, so it does not interfere with native text selection.
8. Best practices
Write first, format later. Use headings for structure (better accessibility and SEO). Keep images under 2–3 MB for fast loading. Use private pages for drafts or internal content. Aeon is designed for sites with up to 100 pages — if you need more, create a sibling Aeon instance in another folder.
9. Page limits
Aeon caps total pages at 100 (public and private combined). This is a deliberate design choice: it keeps search fast, keeps the data file small, and keeps the mental model simple. For larger writing projects, run multiple Aeon instances on subfolders — for example, blog/, docs/, archive/.
10. Security
Aeon includes built-in protection against brute-force login attacks. After two incorrect password attempts, the system enforces an increasing wait time: 2 seconds → 4s → 8s → 16s → 32s → 60 seconds maximum. This makes automated attacks impractical while remaining transparent to legitimate users.
Best practices:
• Use a strong, unique password (12+ characters recommended)
• Never share your admin password
• Check errors.log regularly for "Admin login failed" entries
• Consider renaming the aeon/ folder on shared hosting for obscurity
Tip: The login protection is stored in private.json.php and resets automatically on successful login. No external services or configuration required.
Aeon CMS — a flat-file CMS that publishes across time. Built through human and multi-AI collaboration: Mark Culaj with Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini, Mistral, and Meta. This help page was authored by Grok.
You can edit this page like any other, make it private, or delete it. Right-click anywhere on your site after signing in to explore.