Are you tired of WordPress like me? Same. It’s bloated, slow, and half the time you're just wrestling with plugins instead of building anything useful. I wanted something faster, cleaner, and more personal. Especially for a portfolio site I could actually use on my CV, share with clients, and fully control. So I built my own.
This project is a complete portfolio website with a built-in CMS and admin dashboard. It’s designed for anyone who wants a solid, modern site to showcase their work, run a blog, list services, or just look way more professional online. Everything is fully editable from the backend. No code. No hassle.

What’s Under the Hood (Tech Stack)

If you're curious about how this thing runs under the hood, here’s a quick breakdown of the stack that powers everything. Even if you’re not a dev, it’s always good to know what’s keeping your site fast, secure, and easy to manage.

Tool	What It’s For
PHP 8.2	Fast, secure backend support
Laravel 12	Powers the CMS and handles everything backend
Tailwind CSS	Clean, modern layout with responsive design
SEO Structure	Built-in meta tags, Open Graph, and more
CMS Dashboard	Edit content easily with no coding needed (Admin)

This stack is lightweight, fast, and made to scale. No bloated themes or clunky plugins here.

Before You Start, You’ll Need Two Things

To get this portfolio site running, you only need the basics. Nothing fancy or complicated.

1. A Hosting Account

This is where all your site files will live. I personally recommend Hostinger because it’s:

Fast and beginner-friendly
Super affordable (great for side projects)
Comes with solid customer support
Works perfectly with PHP 8.2 and MySQL (which this site uses)

2. A Domain Name

This is your website’s address, like yourname.com. You can either:

Register one through your hosting provider (easiest route)
Or buy one separately and link it to your hosting later

How to Install the Portfolio Site

Once you’ve got your hosting and domain ready, here’s how to get the site live from start to finish.

Step 1: Download the Files

Click the Download button at the top of this post
That link takes you to the GitHub repo
Download the ZIP file from there

Step 2: Upload to Your Hosting

Unzip the folder you just downloaded
Upload all the files into your public_html folder
If your hosting uses a different root directory, update the .htaccess file to match your setup

Step 3: Run the Installer

Open your domain in your browser
The setup screen will appear
Fill in your database info and complete the install

Step 4: Clean Up After Installation

Once everything is working, delete the following:

installer.php
The entire installer folder

These are only needed during the setup process

Want to Reinstall Later?

To run the setup again:

Delete the file located at storage/installer.lock
Make sure your database is empty before restarting the installer

That’s it. Your site is now ready.

What’s Included

This site comes ready with everything you need to manage your content, show off your work, and look professional online.

Features

Feature	Details
Homepage	Intro, skills, experience, and services
Portfolio	Add and edit projects with images and descriptions
Blog	Full blog with categories, tags, and meta settings
Services	List your offerings with optional pricing
Contact Page	Working form plus inbox in the Admin
Admin Dashboard	Edit everything without touching code
Responsive Layout	Works on mobile and desktop
SEO Structure	Meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, sitemap ready
Search Console Ready	Just drop your verification tag into the Admin
Clean Codebase	Laravel 12 with zero unnecessary extras

SEO and Performance

This site is fully optimized to run fast, follow best practices, and rank well on search engines.

Metric	Mobile	Desktop
Performance	99	95
Accessibility	96	100
Best Practices	100	92
SEO	92	92

These scores are from a real Lighthouse audit. No optimization plugins or extra setup required.

This ensures the site loads fast, ranks well on search engines, and offers a great experience across all devices.

Why I Built This

Most portfolio templates out there are either too basic or too bloated. You either get a pretty landing page with no real functionality or a complicated setup filled with plugins you do not need. I wanted to create something better. A clean, modern portfolio site that is fully editable, fast, and actually useful.

This script is built to be simple but powerful. You can manage your blog, projects, services, and SEO settings without touching any code. It works right away, and if you want to customize it further, I’ll be available for support and small changes during your first month.

I built it for people who want a real website, not just a placeholder.

Final Notes

If you have any questions or need support with this project, feel free to reach out. I’ll be glad to help. Thanks for checking it out.

Free Portfolio Website – PHP Script with CMS & Admin (2025)