WordPress is known as the most popular website builder in the world. It powers over 33% of all websites on the internet. The main reason for that is because WordPress is easy to install which makes it easy for anyone to create a website.
Under most circumstances, installing WordPress is a very simple process and takes less than five minutes to complete. Many web hosts now offer tools (e.g. Fantastico) to automatically install WordPress for you. However, if you wish to install WordPress yourself, the following guide will help.
First of all, why are there different methods for installing WordPress in the first place? The answer is simple… Because of WordPress’ popularity, there are a number of helper tools that make it easier to install the platform on different servers and hosts. As a result, there’s not simply one choice for how to install WordPress but multiple alternative ones.
n this tutorial, our goal is to offer a complete WordPress installation tutorial for beginners and advanced users alike.
For beginners, we will show you how to install WordPress on all top hosting platforms by using 1-click install scripts like Fantastico, Softaculous, and QuickInstall.
We will also explain how to install WordPress manually using FTP for our intermediate users.
Lastly, for our beginner developer and designers, we will show you how to install WordPress on a local computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux).
Things You Need Before Installing WordPress
Here’s the quick version of the instructions for those who are already comfortable with performing such installations. More detailed instructions follow.
Download and unzip the WordPress package if you haven’t already.
Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL (or MariaDB) user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
(Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, then edit the file (see Editing wp-config.php) and add your database information.
Note: If you are not comfortable with renaming files, step 3 is optional and you can skip it as the install program will create the wp-config.php file for you.
Upload the WordPress files to the desired location on your web server:
If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (excluding the WordPress directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
Here are a few recommended hosts that will pre-install WordPress for you:
Bluehost – affordable and comes with pre-installed WordPress. Starts from $2.95 a month for one site using this link.
SiteGround – has tons of WordPress-specific features that make your life easier. Starts from $3.95 a month for one site.
Also, many managed WordPress hosts will pre-install WordPress for you, but the price tags on those can be higher.
Don’t worry if you already picked a different host, though. Most other hosts still make it super easy to install WordPress. But you will need to click at least a few buttons. More on that in the next section:
How to Install WordPress on Bluehost
Bluehost is an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider and one of the largest hosting companies in the world. They know WordPress inside out and have the most beginner friendly WordPress installation process.
Log in to your Bluehost cPanel account.
Find the Website section and select Install WordPress.
Click the Install button.
Choose the domain name to install it to.
n the field next to the domain, you can enter a subfolder such as 'blog' or leave it blank if you want the site's main page to be the blog.
If necessary, you can edit the email address, username and password for the new WordPress installation. Click "advanced options" and you can change those settings.
Read through the license and service agreements and check the boxes.
Select the Install Now button.
How to install WordPress via cPanel
cPanel is the dashboard that most web hosts give their customers. When you sign up for hosting, your host should provide you with login details for cPanel. And for most hosts, the cPanel interface looks something like this:
n order to allow users to install WordPress as a cPAddon, hosting providers must enable the WordPress cPAddon via WHM's Install cPAddons Site Software interface (WHM >> Home >> cPanel >> Install cPAddons Site Software).
To enable WordPress installations as a cPAddon, perform the following steps:
Navigate to WHM's Install cPAddons Site Software interface (WHM >> Home >> cPanel >> Install cPAddons Site Software).
Select the WordPress row's checkbox.
Click Update cPAddon Config.
Enable Moderation
To moderate installations for the WordPress cPAddon, perform the following steps:
Navigate to WHM's Manage cPAddons Site Software interface (WHM >> Home >> cPanel >> Manage cPAddons Site Software).
Select the cPanel::Blogs::WordPress checkbox.
Click Update Moderation.
How to Install WordPress on HostGator
HostGator is another popular shared WordPress hosting provider among beginners. They also make it super easy to install WordPress with just a few clicks.
First, you need to login to your HostGator hosting account’s dashboard. From here, you need to click on the ‘QuickInstall’ icon under the ‘Software’ section.
On the QuickInstall page, you need to select “WordPress’ on the left side. In 2019, HostGator also offered services that will cost you a lot to Install & simply setup a Theme. I would suggest skipping that option, & just follow this guide to setup everything of your own. (It’s easy & doesn’t take much time)
Now, you will be asked to select the domain name where you want to install WordPress and enter a directory path.
Most beginners want to install WordPress in the root of their domain name (for example, wpbeginner.com). In that case, you need to leave the directory field blank.
Click on next & now configure rest of settings as directed below.
Make sure that you don’t use “admin” as username, as this is a security risk. Rather use your email address or your nickname.
The point is to make it hard to guess. Before hitting the magic button Install WordPress, Cross check if you have done everything right. Else rolling back things will consume time.
You can now click on the ‘Login’ button to access the WordPress admin area.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed WordPress on your HostGator account.
WordPress installation issues
This common WordPress problem most often occurs when adding code snippets to your site via functions.php. Upon reload, instead of your site you see something like the screen above. No good!
To solve it, you should first of all not paste code snippets into your live site! This kind of thing needs to first be tested in a development environment, that’s what it is for. However, if you already see the error above, you will need to go back in and correct whatever is wrong with your syntax.
Luckily, this isn’t too much of a guessing game as the browser will tell you exactly which file it has issues with and even in which line the parsing error occurs. Now all you need to do is dial into your server via FTP, browse to the file in question, right-click to edit, and find the line the error message is pointing out.
Then, either correct the syntax (if you know how) or delete or disable the code in question.
After that, save and re-upload the file, then go back to your site, refresh the page and you should be all set.
Database connection errors
If WordPress returns a database connection error, ensure that the database's name and password in the wp-config.php file are identical to the database credentials in your account.
For a document root installation, the wp-config file exists in the /home/username/public_html directory, where username represents the cPanel account name.
To change the database's username or password, use cPanel's MySQL Databases interface (cPanel >> Home >> Databases >> MySQL Databases).
To test a username and password combination, run the following command (where db_user represents the database's authorized username):
mysql -u db_user -p
After you enter the command, enter the user's password. The system will respond with a success or failure message.
White Screen of Death
rdPressers.
It simply means your site is gone and your browsers shows a screen with nothing on it.
The WSOD can affect your entire site but is also sometimes only be present in part of it.
Besides the adrenalin rush of having your site offline, the most annoying part of this problem is that you don’t have any error message pointing you to the issue.
For that reason, you often need to try several things before you can find the cause for this error.
Solution
Here’s what to do when facing the dreaded white screen of death:
1. Increase the memory limit
A common cause of this problem are memory issues. Therefore, the first step to fix it is to increase the amount of available memory.
Refer to the description above on how to do that.
2. Disable all plugins
If a plugin is the problem, it might be necessary to disable all of them and bring them back one by one to find which one is causing it.
We have talked about how to do that further up as well.
3. Use a default theme
A faulty theme can also be the problem and you can test this by using one of the WordPress default themes (anything with “Twenty” at the beginning of the theme name).
Enable debug mode
Should neither of the above help, you can put WordPress into debug mode via the following line of code inside wp-config.php:
Change it from false to true and update the file on your server to start debugging. This will output warnings, errors and notices on the page, which will help your narrow down the exact problem.
Under most circumstances, installing WordPress is a very simple process and takes less than five minutes to complete. Many web hosts now offer tools (e.g. Fantastico) to automatically install WordPress for you. However, if you wish to install WordPress yourself, the following guide will help.
First of all, why are there different methods for installing WordPress in the first place? The answer is simple… Because of WordPress’ popularity, there are a number of helper tools that make it easier to install the platform on different servers and hosts. As a result, there’s not simply one choice for how to install WordPress but multiple alternative ones.
n this tutorial, our goal is to offer a complete WordPress installation tutorial for beginners and advanced users alike.
For beginners, we will show you how to install WordPress on all top hosting platforms by using 1-click install scripts like Fantastico, Softaculous, and QuickInstall.
We will also explain how to install WordPress manually using FTP for our intermediate users.
Lastly, for our beginner developer and designers, we will show you how to install WordPress on a local computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux).
Things You Need Before Installing WordPress
Here’s the quick version of the instructions for those who are already comfortable with performing such installations. More detailed instructions follow.
Download and unzip the WordPress package if you haven’t already.
Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL (or MariaDB) user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
(Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, then edit the file (see Editing wp-config.php) and add your database information.
Note: If you are not comfortable with renaming files, step 3 is optional and you can skip it as the install program will create the wp-config.php file for you.
Upload the WordPress files to the desired location on your web server:
If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (excluding the WordPress directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
Here are a few recommended hosts that will pre-install WordPress for you:
Bluehost – affordable and comes with pre-installed WordPress. Starts from $2.95 a month for one site using this link.
SiteGround – has tons of WordPress-specific features that make your life easier. Starts from $3.95 a month for one site.
Also, many managed WordPress hosts will pre-install WordPress for you, but the price tags on those can be higher.
Don’t worry if you already picked a different host, though. Most other hosts still make it super easy to install WordPress. But you will need to click at least a few buttons. More on that in the next section:
How to Install WordPress on Bluehost
Bluehost is an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider and one of the largest hosting companies in the world. They know WordPress inside out and have the most beginner friendly WordPress installation process.
Log in to your Bluehost cPanel account.
Find the Website section and select Install WordPress.
Click the Install button.
Choose the domain name to install it to.
n the field next to the domain, you can enter a subfolder such as 'blog' or leave it blank if you want the site's main page to be the blog.
If necessary, you can edit the email address, username and password for the new WordPress installation. Click "advanced options" and you can change those settings.
Read through the license and service agreements and check the boxes.
Select the Install Now button.
How to install WordPress via cPanel
cPanel is the dashboard that most web hosts give their customers. When you sign up for hosting, your host should provide you with login details for cPanel. And for most hosts, the cPanel interface looks something like this:
n order to allow users to install WordPress as a cPAddon, hosting providers must enable the WordPress cPAddon via WHM's Install cPAddons Site Software interface (WHM >> Home >> cPanel >> Install cPAddons Site Software).
To enable WordPress installations as a cPAddon, perform the following steps:
Navigate to WHM's Install cPAddons Site Software interface (WHM >> Home >> cPanel >> Install cPAddons Site Software).
Select the WordPress row's checkbox.
Click Update cPAddon Config.
Enable Moderation
To moderate installations for the WordPress cPAddon, perform the following steps:
Navigate to WHM's Manage cPAddons Site Software interface (WHM >> Home >> cPanel >> Manage cPAddons Site Software).
Select the cPanel::Blogs::WordPress checkbox.
Click Update Moderation.
How to Install WordPress on HostGator
HostGator is another popular shared WordPress hosting provider among beginners. They also make it super easy to install WordPress with just a few clicks.
First, you need to login to your HostGator hosting account’s dashboard. From here, you need to click on the ‘QuickInstall’ icon under the ‘Software’ section.
On the QuickInstall page, you need to select “WordPress’ on the left side. In 2019, HostGator also offered services that will cost you a lot to Install & simply setup a Theme. I would suggest skipping that option, & just follow this guide to setup everything of your own. (It’s easy & doesn’t take much time)
Now, you will be asked to select the domain name where you want to install WordPress and enter a directory path.
Most beginners want to install WordPress in the root of their domain name (for example, wpbeginner.com). In that case, you need to leave the directory field blank.
Click on next & now configure rest of settings as directed below.
Make sure that you don’t use “admin” as username, as this is a security risk. Rather use your email address or your nickname.
The point is to make it hard to guess. Before hitting the magic button Install WordPress, Cross check if you have done everything right. Else rolling back things will consume time.
You can now click on the ‘Login’ button to access the WordPress admin area.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed WordPress on your HostGator account.
WordPress installation issues
This common WordPress problem most often occurs when adding code snippets to your site via functions.php. Upon reload, instead of your site you see something like the screen above. No good!
To solve it, you should first of all not paste code snippets into your live site! This kind of thing needs to first be tested in a development environment, that’s what it is for. However, if you already see the error above, you will need to go back in and correct whatever is wrong with your syntax.
Luckily, this isn’t too much of a guessing game as the browser will tell you exactly which file it has issues with and even in which line the parsing error occurs. Now all you need to do is dial into your server via FTP, browse to the file in question, right-click to edit, and find the line the error message is pointing out.
Then, either correct the syntax (if you know how) or delete or disable the code in question.
After that, save and re-upload the file, then go back to your site, refresh the page and you should be all set.
Database connection errors
If WordPress returns a database connection error, ensure that the database's name and password in the wp-config.php file are identical to the database credentials in your account.
For a document root installation, the wp-config file exists in the /home/username/public_html directory, where username represents the cPanel account name.
To change the database's username or password, use cPanel's MySQL Databases interface (cPanel >> Home >> Databases >> MySQL Databases).
To test a username and password combination, run the following command (where db_user represents the database's authorized username):
mysql -u db_user -p
After you enter the command, enter the user's password. The system will respond with a success or failure message.
White Screen of Death
rdPressers.
It simply means your site is gone and your browsers shows a screen with nothing on it.
The WSOD can affect your entire site but is also sometimes only be present in part of it.
Besides the adrenalin rush of having your site offline, the most annoying part of this problem is that you don’t have any error message pointing you to the issue.
For that reason, you often need to try several things before you can find the cause for this error.
Solution
Here’s what to do when facing the dreaded white screen of death:
1. Increase the memory limit
A common cause of this problem are memory issues. Therefore, the first step to fix it is to increase the amount of available memory.
Refer to the description above on how to do that.
2. Disable all plugins
If a plugin is the problem, it might be necessary to disable all of them and bring them back one by one to find which one is causing it.
We have talked about how to do that further up as well.
3. Use a default theme
A faulty theme can also be the problem and you can test this by using one of the WordPress default themes (anything with “Twenty” at the beginning of the theme name).
Enable debug mode
Should neither of the above help, you can put WordPress into debug mode via the following line of code inside wp-config.php:
Change it from false to true and update the file on your server to start debugging. This will output warnings, errors and notices on the page, which will help your narrow down the exact problem.