Installing WordPress
How to install WordPress
Installing WordPress for the first time is actually pretty simple and all you need to do is follow the ‘How to Install WordPress‘ Tutorial below. You will be surprised at just how easy this actually is and it shouldn’t take you longer than 5-minutes to complete. During the WordPress Setup, you will be asked to fill in the Site Name and Site Tag line, so it is a good idea to decide what this will be before you start the installation process. If you simply want to install wordpress and decide on the Site Name later; you can do so, as the Site Name & Tag Line can bechanged later, within the WordPress General Settings Tab.
[Note] This tutorial only covers the process of installing WordPress into the ‘Root Directory’ (The primary/default or WWW folder) of your domain. More advanced users my prefer to install WordPress in a sub-folder, but this is NOT discussed here. Furthermore, this tutorial does not go into any detail about configuring WordPress or how to install WordPress Themes. This is purely a basic tutorial on ‘How to install wordpress’. For details on Configuring WordPress and Installing WordPress Themes, please see Main Menu for links to the relevant pages… [/Note]
- Login into cPanel:
To get started with installing WordPress, you need to login to your cPanel Control Panel. The Login URL and for your cPanel Control Panel and the necessary UserName and Password should have been provided by your Web Hosting Provider. Usually, the URL is your domain name followed by either: /cpanel or :2082 (eg. www.yourdomain.co.za/cpanel or www.yourdomain.co.za:2082)
- Enter UserName
- Enter Password
- Press Login Button
- Close the cPanel Wizzard / Welcome Message
If the Welcome message appears you need to close it to get it out of your way. If you wish, you can disable the Wizard by placeing a tick in the ‘Don’t show this again‘ checkbox…
- Close the Getting Starter Wizzard using the ‘X’ (top left Corner) or via the ‘No, I’m Fine…’ Button
- Go to the Software/Services Settings Section within cPanel
- All you need to do in this step is click on the Fantastico De Luxe Icon (as shown in the image above).
if your cPanel doesn’t have this option – Contact your Hosting Company and ask if it’s available.
- Starting the WordPress Installation (into the ‘Root Directory” of your domain)
After clicking on the Fantastico De Luxe Icon, you are faced with a page that shows all the different applications and/or tools made available for you to use. I cropped the below image to show only a few of these tools, but you should see a much longer list. Within the left-hand column of this page, are several headings, under which you will find related applications. WordPress is usually found near the top, under the heading ‘Blogs‘, as indicated in the image below.
- All you need to do is; click on the WordPress link, which will take you to the WordPress Installation Screen.
- WordPress Installation Screen
- There is NOT much to do here, other than to click the link: New Installation (3.3.1)…
Note: The (3.3.1) next to the Install Link is the WordPress Version Number currently available.
- WordPress Basic Setup Page
This is probably the most complex part of installing WordPress and as you can see, all it takes is for you to fill out a simple form…
Installation location
- This should show your default domain name – Leave this as it is!
- Since we are installing into the ‘Root Directory’ – Leave this field Blank.
Admin access data
- Insert an Admin UserName – I usually use the same name as my cPanel UserName (This makes it easier to remember)
- Insert an Admin Password – Again, I use the same password as my cPanel Login
[Note] You can use another UserName/Password if you wish. It is probably safer to do so, however, as you build up a number of different website, trying to remember UserNames & Passwords becomes a nightmare and you may need to start using a Password Management Tool! [/Note]
Base Configuration
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Insert an Admin Nick Name – You can insert the same name as used for the Admin UserName, or make it something more personal. The Admin Nick name will be displayed on the Blog when you post items/comments…
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Admin e-Mail Address – Insert the e-mail address the Site Admin will be using for general communication and notifications from the Blog/Website. Although not essential, I do recommend using an e-mail address on your own domain – See the article: How to setup e-Mail using cPanel
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Insert the Site Name – The site name could simply be the Domain Name without the HTTP and/or WWW bits; or It could be the name of your business, the name of your Niche (Blog Topic) and/or the product(s) you are marketing. This websites ‘Site Name’ is simply: EarnMore.co.za
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Insert the Site Description (or Tag Line) – This is a brief description of what the website/blog is all about. I would suggest using a short description of 3-5 words and it is preferable to use keywords related to your sites Niche. (eg this sites Description is: “Earn More Money Online”)
[Note] The Site Name and Site Description can be changed later, within the WordPress Dashboard. Although very easy to do, these do have some influence on your sites overall Search Engine Optimisation, so think it through and don’t change it too often…[/Note]
- You’re almost done with the base configuration: Click the ‘Install WordPress Button‘
- Confirming the WordPress Installation Details
This next step is merely a case of clicking a button, but before doing so, check that your WordPress Installtion details are correct…
In this instance, WordPress notifies you of the MySQL Database & MySQL User Account that will be created. The MySQL User Account is the Admin Account specified in the previous step. You will also see a confirmation that the Database (called glassrep_wrdp1) will be created in the main directory (‘root directory’) of the domain.
In this demo installation of WordPress; I am installing WordPress onto a domain called: www.windscreenrepairer.co.za. WordPress had previoulsy been installed and/removed from this domain, hence the notification in the image (screen-dump) about renaming a file to get WordPress to work – Don’t worry about this note as it won’t appear in your fresh installation of WordPress!
- Click the ‘Finish installation‘ button
- Finalising the WordPress Installation
Quite simply put, the next screen confirms that the instructions from the previous step have been carried out. It also confirms the location of the configuration files: wp-config.php and data.sql. Furthermore, it confirms the Wordpess UserName & Password (as specified before).
- Most importantly; this screen shows you the URL you need to logon to the WordPress Dashboard, which in this case would be: http://windscreenrepairer.co.za/wp-admin. In this step, make sure you record this information, or optionally; insert your e-mail address and send a copy of this information to your e-mail address for later use.
- Click the ‘Back to WordPress overview‘ Button
- Current WordPress Installation Overview
Technically, you are done – Congratulations: You have successfully installed WordPress!
The image below shows that WordPress Version / (3.3.1) has been installed!
- The version number is shown & options/links to visit your website and/remove WordPress are provided
- Reminder: to access your WordPress Console/Dashboard you need the WordPress Dashboard URL (as per the previous step).
[Alert] Throughout the last few steps, there is mention about Support NOT being Provided. WordPress is Open-Source Software and as such end-user support is NOT provided by WordPress.org. Your Web Hosting Company will provide some support for the functionality of the cPanel Fantastico Tool used to install WordPress, but for WordPress specific support you will need to scout the Internet for Forums both on WordPress.org and other websites. [/Alert]
