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Getting Started

Installation & Setup - ContentMK Docs

How to install ContentMK on macOS and Windows, and get started with your first site.

This guide walks you through installing ContentMK, launching it for the first time, and setting up your first site.

Download and Install

Download the latest version of ContentMK from the official website. Installers are available for macOS (.dmg) and Windows (.exe).

  • macOS: Open the .dmg file and drag ContentMK to your Applications folder. Requires macOS 12 (Monterey) or later.
  • Windows: Run the .exe installer and follow the prompts. Requires Windows 10 or later.

The application needs approximately 200MB of disk space. Updates are delivered automatically via Electron’s built-in auto-updater — database migrations run automatically with a silent backup before each migration.

First Launch

When you open ContentMK for the first time, you’ll be prompted to create your first site. The app creates a local SQLite database at ~/ContentMK/data.db to store all your data. No cloud account is required.

Adding Your First Site

To add a site, provide three pieces of information:

  1. Site name — A label for the site (e.g., “My Travel Blog”)
  2. URL — The site’s web address (e.g., https://mytravelblog.com)
  3. Color — Pick a color for visual identification throughout the app

Each site gets its own independent workspace with a dashboard, article list, sync configuration, and module settings.

Importing Content

Once your site is created, you can import existing content using any of three methods:

  • WordPress REST API — Connect to your WordPress site to pull posts automatically. Public posts work without credentials. For drafts and private posts, use a WordPress Application Password.
  • Sitemap crawl — Paste a sitemap URL to import all articles listed in it. ContentMK auto-detects sitemaps from robots.txt and common paths.
  • CSV upload — Drag and drop a CSV file. ContentMK auto-detects column mappings with fuzzy header matching and shows a preview before importing.

All methods include URL-based duplicate detection to prevent double entries. Import history is tracked, and imports can be undone.

Understanding the Sidebar

The sidebar is your main navigation tool. It has two views:

  • All Sites overview — A global view showing article stats, sync status, and recent activity across all your sites.
  • Per-site hub — Select a site to access its six sections:
    • Dashboard — Article stats, health overview, and recent activity for the site
    • Articles — Full article list with sorting, filtering, and search
    • Planning — Content ideas, clusters, scheduling, and briefs (requires Content Planning module)
    • Sync — WordPress connection and sync management
    • Backups — Snapshots, restore, and changelog
    • Settings — Site-specific configuration, module activation, and freshness thresholds