Installing wordpress is fairly quick and simple with hosts offering cpanel access.
In order to use these instructions, you will need:
- A hosting provider that offers cpanel access
While it is true that WordPress was created as blog software, it works extremely well for managing a site dedicated to driving more traffic to your online store and can be used by people whether or not they know the ins and out of web site creation.
Finding the WordPress Installer in CPanel
- Log into cpanel
- Locate the “Software / Services” section and select “Fantastico De Luxe”
- Once the fantastico page loads, locate the Blogs section on the left and select WordPress
Installing WordPress in cpanel via fantastico
- Once the WordPress options page loads, select "New Installation"
The WordPress installation page will come up:
- Select the domain to install on
You can choose your main site (recommended) or a subdomain
Subdomains look like http://test.whatever.com/ - Choose the directory to install on
I recommend leaving this empty. - Enter an administrator username
This will be the username you log into wordpress with. - Enter an administrator password
Use a reasonably strong password.
• Creating a strong password- Include at least 2 uppercase letters
- Include at least 2 lowercase letters
- Include at least 2 numbers
- Include at least 1 symbol
- Enter an Admin Nickname
This is the name that will be used as "Author" for posts and comments. - Enter an Admin Email
This is the email admin notifications will be sent to.
Instructions for creating a new email address. - Enter your new sites name
This will be displayed at the top of each page. - Enter a short description for your site
This will be displayed just under the title.
I recommend something short and descriptive using at least one domain keyword. - Select "Install WordPress"
This will take you to the confirmation page.
On the confirmation page, confirm the installation and note whether or not you want the install information sent to your admin e-mail. I recommend not having it sent so as to avoid having your admin account information intercepted. It is rare, but can happen.
Once you confirm the install, WordPress will be installed on your domain.
Verifying that your WordPress install worked
Load your domain to see if wordpress appears to be installed. If your domain is not yet reachable, load the temporary domain your host gave you to check…though be warned that it will look quite garbled until your domain is available directly.
If your domain is working, go to http://yourdomainname/wp-admin and log in.
Recommended next steps
Once you have gotten wordpress installed, you might want to consider doing the following before you start working on your site:
- Hardening the wordpress database against simple script attacks
- Rewriting URLs to avoid being penalized for dual search entries