One of the most common questions that we get is – how to install WordPress on my website? This article will guide you through the entire process. WordPress is a simplified content management and blogging platform, which is easy to install on servers and hosts. There are several ways of installing the platform, as well as various helper tools that make it easy for you to install WordPress on different hosts and servers.
Things to Do Before WordPress Installation
Before embarking on the installation of WordPress, several factors ought to be considered. You must have access to a web server via shell or FTP. Similarly, you must build MySQL databases besides having a text editor. You must also have a suitable web hosting provider.
Many hosting companies offer specialised hosting for WordPress. Some can even install and maintain a WordPress site on your behalf. Therefore, you must choose a unique domain name and a suitable web hosting company that is well-versed with WordPress.
How to Install WordPress on My Website
Step 1: Downloading and Unzipping the WordPress Package
You should begin the installation process by ensuring that you and your chosen web host meet the minimal requirements to run WordPress. After that find the most updated version of WordPress before downloading and unzipping it. In case you will upload WordPress to remote web servers, the package should be downloaded to your PC before it gets unzipped.
Figure 1: Downloading WordPress
If your browser has shell access and you understand how to use console based applications, you can directly download WordPress to a web server via lynx. This is a suitable option particularly if you wish to evade FTPing. To unzip the WordPress package to a folder, you should use tar-xzvf latest.tar.gz. The package will automatically extract to a folder called wordpress.
Step 2: Creating a Database and User
In case you choose hosting providers, you probably have a WordPress database that is designed for you. Likewise, there might be an automatic setup solution for creating a database. You should check out your control panel features or the support pages of your hosting provider to determine whether you will have to create a WordPress database yourself.
If you need to create a database manually, you should follow instructions for Using Plesk, Using phpMyAdmin, Using cPanel, or accessing phpMyAdmin on different servers. In case you have your web server where you can easily install WordPress, you should follow the Using the MySQL Client or Using phpMyAdmin guidelines. These will help you create a username and database.
Creating a Database Using Plesk
Plesk recommends that all users should install and run WordPress accounts using the WordPress toolkit. Nevertheless, if you want to install WordPress manually, you first need to log into Plesk. After that, click on the Databases icon at the upper right corner of your screen. You should then click on Add databases to enable you create or manage your existing databases.
If you are creating a new database, type in your preferred database name, the username and password before clicking OK to create your database. To check out the information that you will require o access your database, click on the Connection Info icon. This information includes the database name, server port and hostname, and database username.
Figure 2: Creating a Database Using Plesk
Creating a Database Using cPanel
In case your hosting provider provides the cPanel hosting control panel, you can use it to create a database. Log in to your cPanel and click on the MySQL Database Wizard icon at the Databases section. Thereafter, create a database by entering the name before clicking on the Next Step icon. To create Database Users, enter the username of the database and password before clicking on Create User.
You should then add the User to the database that you created earlier by clicking on the All Privileges checkbox. After that, note down the database name and user, and the hostname, username, and password that you chose. Here, you should keep in mind the fact that the hostname ought to be localhost.
Step 3: Setting up wp-config .php
After creating a database and user, you should set up wp-config.php. You may do this by either creating and editing the wp-config.php document or skipping the step so that WordPress creates the file when the script is run. Even so, you will still be required to avail your database info to WordPress.
To set up wp-config.php file, go back to where the WordPress setup was extracted in Step 1. The file should be renamed wp-config-sample. php to wp-config.php, and opened in the text editor. You should then enter the database information that you created in Step 2 in the section named // ** MySQL settings – You can get this information from your web host ** //. After that, key in your secret values at the * Authentication Unique Keys part before saving the file.
Figure 3: Setting up wp-config.php
Step 4: Uploading Files
In this step, the most crucial decision that you should make is deciding the position within your domain where you prefer your WordPress-powered website to appear. The domain can either in your website’s core directory (for instance, or within the website’s subdirectory (for example, .
Generally, your core web directory’s location in the file system on the web server varies according to the operating systems and hosting providers that you are using. Therefore, you need to consult your system administrator or hosting provider if you are not sure about where it is.
If your WordPress site appears in the root directory of your domain, you may be required to upload files to the web server that you are using. FTP clients can help you upload all contents of a WordPress directory into your website’s root directory.
In case your files already exist on the web server and you use shell access when installing WordPress, you should move all WordPress directory contents into your website’s root directory.
If your files need to be uploaded to the web server, re-name the WordPress directory with your preferred name before using an FTP client to upload the directory to the preferred location in your website’s root directory.
In case your files exist on the web server, and currently use shell access in the installation of WordPress, you should shift the WordPress directly to your preferred location in your website’s root directory. Thereafter, rename the directory with your preferred name.
In Step 4, you have to keep in mind the fact that if your FTP client comes with the option of converting file names to a lower case, this option must be disabled.
Figure 4: Uploading Files to WordPress
Step 5: Running and Installing Script
To run and install script, you should instruct a web browser so that installation script starts. If your WordPress files were placed in the root directory, visit . Likewise, if your WordPress files were placed in a subdirectory called blog, for instance, go to .
Figure 5: Running and Instaling Script During WordPress Installation
Creating Configuration Files
Sometimes, WordPress can fail to locate your wp-config.php file. When this happens, it might tell you to try creating and editing the file yourself. This can be done by loading wp-admin/setup–config. php directly on your web browser.
You will be asked by WordPress to provide database details before copying them to another wp-config.php file. In case this works, proceed with the installation. If it doesn’t, go back to Step 3 to build, edit, and upload your wp- config.php file.
Completing Installation
After you have run and installed script, you need to complete the installation of WordPress by entering the site title, the preferred username and password, and your email address. A checkbox will be displayed inquiring whether or not you want your newly-created site to appear on search engines such as Google.
If you like the site to be seen by all Internet users, search engines included, you should leave the box unchecked. If you prefer the site to be invisible to search engines and only allow regular visitors, you should check the box. These preferences can be altered in future in your Administration Screen. Once you have successfully installed WordPress, a login dialogue box will be automatically displayed.
Figure 6: How Your WordPress Site Should Appear Before Customisation
Common WordPress Installation Issues
During the installation of WordPress for your website, there are several installation problems, which may arise.
Common installation problems include:
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Seeing Directory Listings Instead of Web Pages
When installing WordPress, the web server ought to be instructed to view index.php. In Apache, you should use the DirectoryIndex index.php command. The easiest option is creating a file with the label .htaccess within the installed directory before placing the direction there. You may also choose to add this directive to your web server’s configuration files.
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Frequent “Error Connecting to Server” Messages
If you experience this problem during WordPress Installation, you should manually reset your MySQL/MariaDB password. If you can access MySQL/MariaDB using shell, you should try issuing this command: SET PASSWORD FOR ‘wordpressusername’@’hostname’ = OLD_PASSWORD(‘password’);
Figure 7: Typical “Error Connecting” Message during WordPress Installation
In case you are using a MySQL version that was released prior to 4.1, you should use PASSWORD rather than OLD_PASSWORD. If you don’t have access to shell, you can enter the SET PASSWORD FOR ‘wordpressusername’@’hostname’ = OLD_PASSWORD(‘password’); command into an SQL query. Similarly, you can reset your database user’s password by using your host’s control panel.
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Image Uploads Failing to Work
If you are using a Rich Text Editor on a WordPress site that is installed in the subdirectory and you drag newly-uploaded images to the editor field, they may vanish. This typically occurs when TinyMCE, which is a rich text editor, doesn’t get enough info during a drag operation.
As a result, it is likely to fail to correctly construct a path to either your images or other files. The solution to this problem is to avoid dragging the uploaded images to the editor field. Instead, you should click and cling onto the images before selecting “Send to Editor.”
Is it Possible to Automatically Install WordPress?
Some hosting companies provide auto-installers, which you can use to install WordPress automatically. The most common WordPress auto-installers include Cloudron, WordPress Toolkit, Softaculous, and Fantastico. These tools not only allow you to install but also manage your WordPress site.
Auto-installers typically give users two installation options. The quick installation option often involves a three-click operation, which delivers a fully-functional WordPress installation in less than a minute. This installation uses the latest WordPress versions and is configured with default settings.
Figure 8: Quick and Custom Auto Installation
The custom installation option allows you to select your preferred WordPress version as well as tinker with the installation settings. It similarly takes care of all intricacies involved in WordPress installation.
Even if you choose to install WordPress automatically, you will still be responsible for ensuring that the selected domain meets the conditions of WordPress Installation. For instance, you must ensure that only a recommended PHP version is configured.
Personalising Your WordPress
Once WordPress has been installed successfully to your domain, you will have a clean and basic site. Definitely, you want your site to be customised so that it doesn’t look like everyone else’s. Therefore, you will need a theme, which is a design template that instructs WordPress how your site should look like.
There are more than 1500 professionally designed themes to choose from. You can also customise them to match your preferences. To access these themes, log into your WordPress dashboard by typing in on your browser. Take note of the fact that “Yoursite” must be replaced with your domain. To fully customise your dashboard, ensure that everything on it is labelled.
Figure 9: WordPress Default Dashboard
Conclusion
Contrary to what you might think, installing WordPress on a local computer is quite easy. If you are not comfortable about installing WordPress manually, you can as well find auto-installers, which will help you install the platform in less than five minutes.
Arguably, the most significant step in the installation process is ensuring that you work with the most recent WordPress version. Likewise, even after you have installed WordPress, you shouldn’t leave it at that. Instead, go ahead and customise the site to suit your preferences.
