How to Install WordPress, Step by Step

Method 1: Install WordPress from the control panel

Control panels such as cPanel and DirectAdmin usually include an app installer or a WordPress management tool. With it, installation takes a few clicks:

1. Log in to your control panel and choose WordPress in the app installer.
2. Pick the domain to install on. Leave the directory field empty for the main address, or enter a folder name to install at yourcompany.com/blog.
3. Choose https:// as the protocol.
4. Enter the site name, an admin username, a strong password and the admin email. Don't use admin as the username; it is the first name automated attacks try.
5. Start the install. The installer copies the files, creates the database and configures WordPress.

When it finishes, log in to the dashboard at yourcompany.com/wp-admin.

Method 2: Install WordPress manually

If your panel has no app installer, or you prefer to do it yourself:

1. Create a database. In the control panel's MySQL Databases section (MySQL Management in DirectAdmin), create a database and a user, and give the user all privileges on the database. Note the database name, user name and password.
2. Download WordPress. Get the latest version as a .zip from wordpress.org.
3. Upload the files. Using the panel's file manager or FTP, upload the .zip to public_html and extract it there. Make sure the files sit directly in public_html, not in public_html/wordpress.
4. Open the setup wizard. Visit your domain in a browser. WordPress asks you to pick a language, then for the database details. The database host is usually localhost.
5. Enter the site details. Fill in the site name, admin username, password and email to finish.

The wizard creates wp-config.php automatically. If file permissions prevent that, WordPress shows you the file's contents so you can save it as wp-config.php yourself.

First settings after installing

1. Check the site address. Under Settings > General, WordPress Address and Site Address should start with https://.
2. Set up permalinks. Under Settings > Permalinks, choose Post name. Your addresses become readable and search-friendly, like yourcompany.com/post-title instead of ?p=123.
3. Delete the sample content. Remove the "Hello world!" post, the sample page and default themes you don't use.
4. Set the time zone and language under Settings > General.
5. Choose a theme. Pick a lightweight theme that is actively maintained; heavy themes packed with features slow your site down.

Making WordPress faster

• Use caching. On hosting that runs the LiteSpeed web server, install the LiteSpeed Cache plugin. It caches pages at the server level and is usually more effective than other caching plugins.
• Compress images. Large images are the most common cause of slow pages. Resize them before uploading and prefer modern formats like WebP.
• Cut down on plugins. Every plugin is code that runs when a page loads. Don't just deactivate plugins you don't use; delete them.
• Use a current PHP version. Newer PHP versions are noticeably faster. Choose a current PHP 8 version in the control panel.

Keeping WordPress secure

WordPress is so popular that it is also the most common target of automated attacks. These steps remove most of the risk:

• Keep everything updated. Don't put off updates for WordPress core, themes and plugins. Most attacks use known holes that were fixed long ago.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Install a two-factor plugin for admin accounts.
• Only install plugins from trusted sources. "Nulled" (cracked) premium plugins often contain malicious code.
• Take backups. Check your host's automatic backups and take an extra one before major updates.

If you want to manage your own server and set up WordPress with Nginx or Apache from scratch, a VPS is an option too; but for most WordPress sites, web hosting where the provider manages the server is both easier and cheaper. We compare them in What is web hosting?

WordPress at Nodesty

Nodesty web hosting runs WordPress sites on AMD Ryzen 9 7900 servers with the LiteSpeed web server and NVMe storage. Plans are managed with cPanel or DirectAdmin and include free SSL; Imunify360 protects against malware and attacks, and JetBackup gives you your backups in the panel.