This tutorial will teach you How To Install WordPress on cPanel. Its a step by step guide on Installing WordPress Automatically with a software installer or Manually on your Hosting Server.
The tutorial is indented for Beginners. It is a beginners guide on how to install and run your first WordPress website in just minutes.
Before we install WordPress on your cPanel Server we need to understand WordPress and how it works.
So what is WordPress?
- So what is WordPress?
- Why WordPress
- WordPress Mode To Install.
- Installing WordPress on cPanel With Softaculous – Automated Installation.
- Installing WordPress on your cPanel Manually
- Why Install WordPress Manually On cPanel
- Step One: Get a Copy of WordPress.
- Step Two: Upload WordPress To Your Server Root
- Step Three: Create Database and User
Developed by Automattic, the company founded by Matt Mullenweg and part of the WordPress Foundation, WordPress is a community-supported CMS developed with a bias in blog and news publication. WordPress was started in 2002 in
WordPress depends on the core-engine developed by WordPress.org and thousands of Themes and Plugins from the community to power millions of websites in the world.
To date, WordPress is the most used Content Management System in the world and a CMS of choice to over 15 of the best 100 websites in the world.
Why WordPress
There are millions of reasons why you should consider installing WordPress as your Website Content Management System. These include:
- Its Open source – WordPress is free to install and use as you wish.
- Easy installation – Automated installation on most hosting control panels
- Scalability of your website – East to add more functions when needed with simple plugin install
- Extensive support available in many vibrant communities and forums.
- Many free and premium plugins to add any functionality you want.
- Thousands of themes to customize your website look and feel.
- Has stood the test of time and can be trusted to stay supported for long.
Consider Reading: Why You Should Choose WordPress For Your Website.
WordPress Mode To Install.
You have the option to install your website as a single site or a multisite WordPress installation. Before you begin to install decide how you will be using your website and which of the two installation options are best for you.
Read the difference between single site and Multisite WordPress installation if you are new to the concepts.
Choosing a Good WordPress Host
While WordPress can run on most shared hosting environments, having a specialized WordPress host to host your website may come with lots of dividends.
Some of the things to put into consideration while choosing a web hosting company for your WordPress website include:
- Security of the server
- Uptime reliability.
- Optimized for high performance for WordPress.
- Specialized WordPress Support.
Read more on: 12 Things to Consider When Choosing A WordPress Web Host.
Installing WordPress on cPanel With Softaculous – Automated Installation.
Softaculous a software installation script that runs on cPanel. You can use Softaculous to install PHP, PERL, JAVA, JavaScript applications to your domain in just a few clicks!
Using Softaculous, you will install WordPress on your cPanel shared hosting server in less than 2 minutes. Before you start the installation of WordPress on your domain, make sure your domain hosting has been set up and is working very well.
You will also need to have access to your hosting control panel. If you do not have access to your control panel, contact your hosting provider.
You might also need to confirm that your hosting environment meets the basic requirements for installing WordPress.
According to WordPress, your server needs the following to run WordPress:
- PHP version 7.3 or greater.
- MySQL version 5.6 or greater OR MariaDB version 10.1 or greater.
- HTTPS support
- At least 200MBs of HDD Disk space
If you have all that you need lets get the installation started:
Step One: Login To Your cPanel
On cPanel, the control panel login URL is normally yourdomain.com/cpanel or yourdomain.com:2083.
Step Two: Go to the Software section and choose Softaculous
Step Three: Select WordPress.
You Can now select to install WordPress by clicking on the WordPress logo as shown in the picture below.
Step Four: Follow The On-screen Instructions
The on-screen prompts will ask you to choose a domain, if you want to install your WordPress on HTTP or on HTTPS. You can also choose to install WordPress in a folder or in the root directory. Fill in your admin login details and email and click Install. It takes less than 30 seconds to complete your WordPress Installation.
That is all you need to install WordPress automatically on your server using Softaculous.
Installing WordPress on your cPanel Manually
While its very easy to install WordPress with Softaculous automatically, you may also opt to have your WordPress website installed manually on cPanel.
Why Install WordPress Manually On cPanel
You may install WordPress manually other than using Softaculous because Softaculous doesn’t install the latest version of WordPress.
While WordPress gets updated very often to address bugs and security patches, Softaculous my not update the version available for installation in a long period. To avoid vulnerabilities arising out of using an outdated version of WordPress, you may install the latest WordPress version manually.
Softaculous uses the default security settings when setting up WordPress, and these settings are well-known to hackers, thereby making it easier for them to attack your site. The good news is that the manual installation of WordPress is actually very easy to perform even if you are not an experienced developer.
So lets Get started with installing WordPress Manually on your cPanel Server.
Step One: Get a Copy of WordPress.
You can download a free copy of the most recent version of WordPress to your computer from WordPress.org
Step Two: Upload WordPress To Your Server Root
After downloading your copy of WordPress, Use your favorite FTP agent like Filezilla or the cPanel inbuilt file manager to upload the zip to your server.
Unpack the uploaded zip file to your server and rename the folder to a name you want or move the content to the root folder.
Step Three: Create Database and User
In your control panel section locate “MySQL Databases” and create a database. You can also create a database use and assign all rights from the same panel.
Step Four : Create and edit wp-config.php
WordPress comes with a file named wp-config-sample.php in the root directory. Rename it to wp-config.php. Using the inbuilt code editor open it and add details of the database you created.
Edit the code that says
“define(‘DB_NAME‘, ‘database_name_here‘);” and add your database name where it says database_name_here.
“define(‘DB_USER‘, ‘username_here‘);” replace username_here with your database username.
“define(‘DB_PASSWORD‘, ‘password_here‘);” and insert your database password where it says password_here.
Its now time to run the installation script for WordPress. in your browser navigate to “https://yourdomain.com/folder_name/wp-admin/install.php” remove “folder_name if you are installing in root directory.
Once you have arrived at the next screen, select the language of choice for your WordPress install and click “continue”.
You will then be brought to a page prompting you to enter all of your website’s pertinent information such as the site title, your username, your password, and email address.
POST INSTALLATION TIPS:
Choosing a WordPress Theme for your site
WordPress Plugins You Should Have on your website.
