System Requirements

What your server and WordPress install need to run Deskuss reliably — WordPress, PHP, MySQL, server config, and browser support.

WordPress & PHP

Component	Minimum	Recommended
WordPress	5.5	6.0 or newer
PHP	7.4	8.0, 8.1, or 8.2
PHP `memory_limit`	128 MB	256 MB or higher
PHP `max_execution_time`	60 s	120 s (for cron and large imports)
PHP `upload_max_filesize`	20 MB	50 MB+ if you accept large attachments
PHP `post_max_size`	20 MB	Match `upload_max_filesize`

Database

Component	Minimum	Recommended
MySQL	5.7	8.0 or newer
MariaDB	10.3	10.6 or newer
Storage engine	InnoDB (default)	InnoDB for everything
FULLTEXT support	Built-in since MySQL 5.6 / MariaDB 10.0.5	—
DB user privileges	`CREATE`, `ALTER`, `INDEX`, `SELECT`, `INSERT`, `UPDATE`, `DELETE`	—

Database privileges: Your WordPress database user must be able to create, alter, and index tables. On most managed hosts this is the default. If you see "permission denied" errors during activation, contact your host and ask them to grant the privileges listed above to your WordPress DB user.

PHP Extensions

Deskuss uses a standard set of PHP extensions. Almost every PHP install includes these by default.

Extension	Purpose	Required?
`mysqli` or `pdo_mysql`	Database access	Required
`mbstring`	UTF-8 string handling	Required
`json`	API responses	Required
`openssl`	HTTPS, signed auth tokens	Required
`curl`	HTTP client used by the API	Required
`zip`	Attachment handling, export bundles	Required
`intl`	Locale-aware formatting (currency, dates)	Recommended
`gettext`	Translation strings	Recommended

Server

Deskuss runs on any host that supports WordPress. The only requirement is working URL rewriting.

Permalinks

Set Settings → Permalinks to anything except Plain (e.g., Post name). Plain permalinks break the Deskuss routing layer.

Apache

Ensure mod_rewrite is enabled and .htaccess is honored. Most shared hosts support this out of the box.

NGINX

Add the following to your site config. Replace deskuss with your actual slug if you've changed it.

location /deskuss/ {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

Then reload NGINX: sudo nginx -s reload.

WP-Cron

Deskuss uses WordPress's built-in cron for scheduled tasks (overdue checks, mail polling, log cleanup). For low-traffic sites the default WP-Cron is fine. For high-traffic or production deployments, set up a real system cron that hits /wp-cron.php every 5 minutes:

*/5 * * * * curl -s https://example.com/wp-cron.php > /dev/null 2>&1

Browser Support

Deskuss's staff and client UIs target the last two major versions of every evergreen browser:

Chrome / Edge / Brave (Chromium) — last 2 versions
Firefox — last 2 versions
Safari — last 2 versions (macOS & iOS)

JavaScript is required for the rich-text editor, file uploads, and live search. The site degrades gracefully when JS is disabled.

Pre-flight Checklist

Before installing, run through this quick check:

WordPress version & permalinks

Dashboard → Updates shows WP 5.5+ (preferably 6.0+). Settings → Permalinks is set to anything except "Plain".

PHP version & extensions

Tools → Site Health → Info → Server shows PHP 7.4+ and all required extensions are present. Site Health flags missing ones as "Should be improved".

Database privileges

Your DB_USER can CREATE, ALTER, and INDEX tables. If you're on a managed host, this is almost always the case.

Outbound HTTPS

If you plan to use the API or Kanbanz integration, your server can make outbound HTTPS calls. Most hosts allow this by default; some restrictive managed hosts block port 443.

Disk space

At least 50 MB free for Deskuss itself, plus room for ticket attachments. Plan roughly 5 MB per 1000 tickets of overhead on top of attachments.