FICTBASE
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FICTBASE Documentation

Installation

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.3+
  • PHP 8.1+
  • MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.4+

Step 1 — Download the plugin

Download the latest fictbase.zip from the WordPress.org plugin directory or from your customer portal.

Step 2 — Upload and activate

  1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin
  2. Click Upload Plugin and select the zip file
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate

FICTBASE creates its database tables automatically on activation.

Step 3 — Start writing

After activation, the FICTBASE menu appears in your WordPress admin sidebar. Go to FICTBASE → Stories → Add New to create your first story.

Create a Story

  1. Go to FICTBASE → Stories → Add New
  2. Enter the Title
  3. Write a Description (shown on the story landing page)
  4. Upload a Cover Image (optional, but recommended)
  5. Choose a Genre and Status (Draft / Ongoing / Completed / Hiatus)
  6. Click Create Story

Your story is now accessible at /story/your-story-slug/. Readers can discover it via the [fictbase_list] shortcode.

Add Chapters

  1. Open a story and click Manage Chapters
  2. Click Add Chapter
  3. Enter a Title
  4. Write the Content using the full TinyMCE editor
  5. Set Status to Published when ready to go live
  6. Click Add Chapter

Word count and estimated read time are calculated automatically. Chapters are numbered in order of creation. Drag-and-drop reordering coming in a future update.

Reader URLs

FICTBASE creates clean URLs automatically — no page setup needed:

URLWhat it shows
/story/my-story/Story landing page (cover, description, chapter list)
/story/my-story/chapter/1/Chapter 1 reader
/story/my-story/chapter/2/Chapter 2 reader

If the URLs return 404, go to Settings → Permalinks in WordPress and click Save Changesto flush rewrite rules.

Shortcodes

Use these shortcodes on any WordPress page or post:

ShortcodeOutput
[fictbase_list]Grid of all your stories with covers and descriptions
[fictbase_story id="5"]Single story landing page embedded inline
[fictbase_chapters story_id="5"]Chapter list for a story

Find a story's ID in the URL when editing it: ?page=fictbase&action=edit&id=5.

Settings

Go to FICTBASE → Settings to customize the reading experience:

  • Font Size — Small / Medium / Large
  • Reading Width — Narrow (600px) / Medium (740px) / Wide (900px)
  • Theme — Light / Dark / Auto (follows system preference)
  • Custom CSS — Add CSS that applies only to the reader pages

Pro License

  1. Purchase a Pro license at fictbase.io/pricing
  2. Check your email for the license key (format: FB-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)
  3. In WordPress, go to FICTBASE → License
  4. Paste your license key and click Save License Key
  5. Pro features activate automatically

Your license is valid for one WordPress installation for one year. Renew via the customer portal.

Changelog

v1.0.0

  • Initial release
  • Story and chapter CRUD
  • TinyMCE chapter editor
  • Clean reader URLs
  • Reading progress bar
  • Prev/next navigation
  • Author bio block
  • REST API (5 endpoints)
  • Light/dark/auto themes
  • Font size, reading width, custom CSS settings
  • Shortcodes: fictbase_list, fictbase_story, fictbase_chapters