Deployment Without SEO

If you don't require SEO functionality, you can deploy your eDemand web application on a standard shared hosting server using this simplified approach.

Building Your Application

After making all necessary changes to your web application:

1. Open VS Code terminal by pressing CTRL+J in Windows/Linux or CMD+J in macOS
2. Make sure .env does not set NEXT_PUBLIC_SEO=true (unset, or false), then run the build:

npm run build

With SEO disabled, next.config.ts automatically sets output: "export", so this single command produces the static export.

Output Files

After the build process completes:

1. Navigate to the out folder in your project directory
2. This folder contains all the files needed for deployment
3. Important: Only upload files from the out folder to your server

Uploading to Your Server

You can use any FTP client (like FileZilla) or your hosting control panel to upload the files:

1. Connect to your hosting server
2. Navigate to the public directory (often named public_html, www, or htdocs)
3. Upload all files and folders from the out directory
4. Maintain the same folder structure as in the out directory

Adding the .htaccess File (Important for URL Rewriting)

You no longer need to write this file by hand — it's generated automatically.

npm run build runs generate:htaccess as part of its prebuild step (via scripts/generate-htaccess.mjs), which writes public/.htaccess for you based on your NEXT_PUBLIC_SEO setting. Since public/ is copied into out/ during export, the correct .htaccess is already included when you upload the out folder — no manual step needed.

See .htaccess Configuration for the exact rules it generates and how to customize them.

Configuring Your Domain

Once all files are uploaded:

1. Point your domain to the directory containing the uploaded files
2. If necessary, configure your DNS settings to point to your hosting server
3. Wait for DNS propagation (can take up to 24-48 hours)

Testing Your Deployment

After deployment:

1. Visit your website using your domain name
2. Verify that all pages load correctly
3. Test all functionality (search, user registration, login, etc.)
4. Check that all assets (images, styles, scripts) are loading properly

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

• Check your server error logs
• Verify that all files were uploaded correctly
• Ensure your hosting environment supports modern JavaScript applications
• Check if any server configuration is blocking your application (e.g., .htaccess rules)

Additional Resources

For more detailed information about Next.js deployment, refer to the official Next.js deployment documentation.