Deploy on PaaS (Render, Railway, Heroku)
A complete guide to deploying the NexWrite - Medium-style blogging platform script on popular PaaS providers, including setup, license activation, and database configuration.
Welcome to the NexWrite PaaS Deployment Guide. This step-by-step tutorial will help you deploy and configure the NexWrite script on popular Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) providers such as Render, Railway, and Heroku.
This guide assumes that your script is uploaded to a private GitHub repository. This is the recommended method to deploy on Render, Railway, and Heroku.
Prerequisites
Before proceeding, make sure you have:
- A private GitHub repository with the NexWrite script uploaded (unzip and push it to GitHub)
- An account on one of the supported PaaS platforms: Render, Railway, or Heroku
- Node.js version 18 or later
- A MongoDB database (e.g., via MongoDB Atlas)
- Your NexWrite license key
- Basic knowledge of working with Git and the terminal
Step 1: Upload Your Script to GitHub
- Unzip the NexWrite archive.
- Push the contents to a new private GitHub repository:
Make sure your GitHub repository is private if you’re distributing commercial code.
Step 2: Connect GitHub to Your PaaS Provider
📦 Render
- Go to your Render dashboard.
- Click New + → Web Service.
- Choose Deploy from GitHub and connect your GitHub account.
- Select your NexWrite private repo.
- Set the following values:
- Environment:
Node
- Build Command:
npm install
- Start Command:
npm start
- Environment:
- Click Advanced and add the following environment variables (optional — can also be entered during installation):
LICENSE_KEY
DOMAIN
MONGO_DB_URI
JWT_SECRET
- Click Create Web Service to deploy.
🚆 Railway
- Visit railway.app and log in.
- Click New Project → Deploy from GitHub Repo.
- Select your NexWrite repository.
- Add environment variables (optional — handled during install):
LICENSE_KEY
DOMAIN
MONGO_DB_URI
JWT_SECRET
- Click Deploy Project.
☁️ Heroku
- Go to heroku.com and log in.
- Create a new app.
- Connect your GitHub account under Deploy tab.
- Search for your NexWrite private repo and click Connect.
- Scroll to Manual Deploy and click Deploy Branch.
- Under Settings → Config Vars, you can add:
LICENSE_KEY
DOMAIN
MONGO_DB_URI
JWT_SECRET
Heroku no longer offers a free tier. You must upgrade your account to deploy successfully.
Step 3: Wait for Build to Finish
Once your platform finishes building and starts the server:
- Visit your live app URL
- You should see the NexWrite Installation Wizard
Step 4: Complete the Installation Wizard
License Activation
- Enter your NexWrite license key.
- If you’ve lost it, you can retrieve it from https://pay.jooj.us/ using your purchase email.
Database Configuration
-
Paste your MongoDB connection string.
A. MongoDB Atlas (recommended):
(Replace
<user>
,<pass>
,<cluster>
, and<db>
with your actual values.)B. Self-hosted MongoDB:
-
Generate or paste your JWT secret key.
Create Admin
- Set admin name, email, username, and password.
- After saving, the server will automatically restart and your admin panel will be ready.
After Deployment
Once the installation is complete, your site is live and ready.
-
Visit your site:
-
Log in with your administrator credentials.
Need to update the code? Push changes to GitHub and redeploy from your PaaS dashboard.
Need Help?
If you run into any issues:
- Check the Troubleshooting Guide
- Or contact us at support@jooj.us