Installing WordPress is easy at most web hosts. In fact, it takes a click of a button, answering a few questions, then pressing Install. It can be done in less than 5 minutes.
This post is an excerpt from How to Build a Website in 8 Hours or Less. The next automated, self-study class starts Saturday June 4 and the next live session with support is June 6. To learn more, join me for a free webinar Friday June 3 at 10:00 AM ET.
In this first session of the class, we’ll complete a quick installation of WordPress. Most web hosts offer what’s called a one-click install. In this video and the corresponding text, I’ll demonstrate using it to get your site started.
The following instructions are designed for website hosts that support 1 click installs using scripts such as Softaculous, Fantastico Deluxe and Simple Scripts. These are automated install scripts that allow you to easily install software from your control panel.
Installing WordPress from cPanel
- Login to your cpanel account. This information should be provided by your web hosting provider.
- Scroll down to the installation tool used by your provider. My host has it set with the WordPress logo and text that says Install WordPress.
- Double-click on the option for WordPress.
- This opens the initial Install screen that shows you the version of WordPress and the space requirements for your install. Click on the Install button.
- This will open the Software Setup screen.
Many of the options for the Software Setup should be left as the default. If your screen looks slightly different, follow along entering the fields as required.
- For our purposes, leave the default protocol as http. If you are configuring a secure site with an SSL certificate, select https.
- The domain name should reflect your domain name.
- In Directory – if you want to put WordPress into a subdirectory, enter the name here. The directory should not already exist because the installation will create the directory. If you want to install WordPress into the home directory, remove any text from this box and leave it empty.
Note that in the video, I did not change the database and table prefixes. I am going to do this when I configure the security plugin. You may do it here, or with the security plugin.
- Database Name – Change the first two letters of the default. For example, it will probably be wpXXX where XXX= a random number. Change the wp to two other letters. You’ll learn more about this in the security chapter.
- Table Prefix – Change the default. It can be any two letters you want followed by the underscore. You’ll learn more about this in the security chapter.
- Site Name – Enter the name of your site. We are going to remove this after installation, but since some installers require a name and description, I have you enter them in this step. You may leave the defaults if you wish, because you can easily change them after installation.
- Site Description – Enter a subtitle or description for your site. For some installers, this is required. Note that you can remove this later.
- Enable Multisite – Leave this blank. Multi-site is not a beginner topic. It allows you to enable multiple blog sites on a single domain similar to what you would see at WordPress.com.
- Admin username – Enter the name you want for your administrator. If your install shows a default username of admin, CHANGE this!! Do not use the default admin username because it is a security weakness.
- Admin password – Enter the administrator password
- Admin email – Enter the email account for your administrator.
- Select Language – For our purposes leave English. If you are installing in a different language, select it here.
- Email installation details to: This is optional, but I highly recommend emailing the details to yourself then keeping this in a file for future reference.
- Click the Install button to Install the software.
Once the installation is complete, you will receive a Success Message.
You are now ready to Login to WordPress and get started building your niche website.
VERY IMPORTANT – Make Sure You Finish the Next TWO Steps of this Course – NOW.
Quick Steps for Part 2 Follow
For the full explanation, see the next lesson. Login to your new WordPress installation, and do the following two steps. The Dashboard is the area where you will be once you login. You will see a menu down the left side.
Discourage Search Engines
- From the Dashboard, select Settings>Reading.
- Next to Search Engine Visibility, Click the checkbox, Discourage Search Engines from Indexing this Site.
- Click Save Changes.
Set Permalinks
Your Permalinks settings allow you to name pages and posts that make sense. By default, content management systems like WordPress name posts and pages with characters that have no relation to the subject of the post like =? and numbers.
- From the Dashboard, select Settings > Permalinks.
- This opens the Permalinks Settings configuration page.
- Select the format you desire, then click the Save Changes button.
It is recommended to use the Post Name as your setting. Permalinks are very important for SEO and usability.
Next Steps
That’s all it takes to install a WordPress website with most web hosts. Now it’s time to start building out the site in order to blog, make a business, or whatever else you want to do with your brand new WordPress site. Join me June 2, 2016 for a webinar to learn what to do next.
