How to set up BookStack on Saplo (company knowledge base)

Confluence for a team of a dozen people can cost several hundred dollars a month, and the license is calculated by the number of users, so the bill grows with the team, even if you only use a fraction of the features. BookStack is an open source knowledge base that doesn't try to be Jira, a wiki, and a project management tool all at once, but rather does one thing well: it organizes documentation into a readable structure and provides a simple editor. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up BookStack on Saplo.

Why BookStack instead of Confluence

Confluence has two characteristics that are most troublesome for smaller teams and agencies:

• license based on the number of users - the more people have access to the documentation, the higher the monthly bill, regardless of how often they actually use it,
• extensive interface with features that most companies will never touch - integrations with Jira, macros, corporate templates, while the real need is often just a simple list of procedures and instructions.

BookStack arranges content in a simple hierarchy: a shelf groups books, a book is divided into chapters, and a chapter into pages. Such a structure in itself enforces order, so the documentation does not turn into a random collection of subpages without any logic over time, which is a common problem with regular wikis.

Requirements

To install BookStack on Saplo, you need:

• A Box with Docker running (the engine automatically enables it when installing from the catalog, container nesting is required, which Saplo has by default),
• A minimum of 512 MB of free RAM on the Box and 2 GB of disk space, which is already covered by the Box S plan ($29 per year),
• A domain or subdomain *.saploapp.pl included in the price of every plan, where the knowledge base will be hosted,
• A MySQL database; the engine automatically sets it up on Saplo's shared database and injects connection data into the container, so you don't have to configure anything manually.

Step-by-step installation

1. In the Saplo panel, go to the App catalog and select BookStack (category "Business").
2. Select a Box with at least 512 MB of free RAM, where BookStack will be installed, and the domain or subdomain where your knowledge base will operate.
3. Confirm the installation. The engine sets up a MySQL database, deploys a Docker container with the official lscr.io/linuxserver/bookstack image, exposes it exclusively on the Box's loopback, and connects it to nginx, which serves it under the specified domain with free SSL. Only port 443 is exposed externally, not the raw container port.
4. The engine waits for the container to actually start and verifies this after docker compose up completes, as the success of the command itself does not mean that the process inside did not crash a moment later.
5. After the installation is complete, the knowledge base is available under the specified domain.

First-time setup

BookStack has a built-in default administrator account, so unlike WordPress or Ghost, you don't go through an account creation wizard on your first visit.

1. Go to your domain address, for example, wiedza.saploapp.pl, and log in with the default credentials admin@admin.com / password.
2. Immediately after logging in, change the administrator password in Account Settings. The default login details are publicly known, so leaving them even for a few minutes is an open door.
3. Create your first Shelf, for example, "Company Procedures", and within it, your first Book, for example, "Employee Onboarding".
4. Inside the book, add Chapters and Pages with content. The editor works in WYSIWYG or Markdown mode, which you can switch in the page settings.
5. In Settings → Users & Roles, add other team members and assign them a role: viewer, editor, or administrator. Permissions can also be set separately for a single shelf or book.

BookStack on Saplo vs. Confluence

FAQ

Does BookStack have a user or page limit? No, the number of accounts and documents is limited only by your Box resources, not by the license, so adding another team member costs nothing.

Do I need to set up a separate database before installation? No, the Saplo engine automatically sets up a MySQL database and injects connection data into the container. You don't need any external configuration for the installation itself.

Can I migrate existing documentation from Confluence to BookStack? BookStack doesn't have a ready-made Confluence importer, but it supports importing individual pages from HTML and Markdown files. Migrating a larger database requires manual export and pasting of content.

Why does the first login use a default account instead of a wizard? This is how the official BookStack Docker image works. The admin@admin.com account is hardcoded into the image, so the first step after installation must always be to change this password.

Can I restrict access to a selected book for only part of the team? Yes, you can set permissions in BookStack not only globally through roles, but also separately for each shelf, book, chapter, or page.

If you have questions about setting up BookStack on your own Box or organizing your company's documentation, contact us. We'll help you with the initial configuration.