We already learned about WordPress, the most popular CMS tool used for website publishing. In this article, we will be learning about How to Install WordPress Manually in cPanel Using FTP. This article will guide you through step by step procedure on installing WordPress manually in cPanel using FTP.
The WordPress installation only requires five steps to be followed:
- Download the latest version of WordPress from WordPress.org.
- Extract and Upload those core files to your web server, using FTP.
- Create a MySQL database and user for WordPress.
- Input the database information to configure WordPress to connect to the MySQL database.
- Complete the full installation and setup your new website.
Note: This tutorial is for manually installing WordPress in your web hosting account. If you want to know how to install WordPress using other Automated Scripts like Mojo Marketplace, Softaculous etc, or even locally in your computer, then click on the appropriate link below:
How to Install WordPress Using MOJO Marketplace
How to Install WordPress using Softaculous in cPanel
How to Install WordPress Locally on XAMPP
Why Install WordPress Manually?
I know you are wondering that if there is a facility to automate the installation process, then why in this world someone would install WordPress manually? Here I would show you why to install WordPress manually and provide reasons for not using the automated installation scripts.
There are certain steps of the WordPress installation that are not adequately covered by most of the automated installation tools. Those areas are as follows:
- MySQL Database Password: Automated tools set the database password in an automated way, you can't choose your own password. You don't know if the password is at least 12 wide, contains a combination of alphanumeric, uppercase, and lowercase letters or if it contains dictionary word in any language?
- WordPress MySQL Database table prefix: You can't choose a custom prefix to tighten the security and would be using the widely known default of “wp_”.
- Admin User id: In automated install, you are not given the option to create a custom user and you would be using the default “admin” user. This is a security threat and hackers know that. So Change your admin user immediately if you are using automated scripts.
- Domain Password: As in case of admin user id, there is no way to choose the default login password. Hence change the password immediately after installation, if you are using automated scripts.
Automated installation systems usually do not give you full control over the installation process. Most of the automated scripts may not implement secure MySQL database password, do not turn on PHP error logging, may not set up an appropriate temporary directory for PHP sessions, may not create a proper .htaccess file or may use the default one, and so on...
[If you are unable to find .htaccess file after installation then follow our guide How to Fix the .htaccess File Missing Problem in WordPress?]
Things you Require Before Installing WordPress:
1. First, you need a Web Hosting Account: A good web hosting account can be purchased from any of the hosting provider listed below. These providers have optimized service for WordPress hosting.
- Bluehost
- SiteGround
- A2 Hosting
- Hostgator
- Hostinger
- Interserver
- InMotion
2. Second, you need to have FTP access to your web server, which would be given by your web hosting provider.
3. Third, you’ll require an FTP client to transfer files from your desktop to your web server or vice versa. Some well-reputed FTP clients are FileZilla, Cyberduck, WinSCP etc. Personally, I prefer using FileZilla due to ease of use and periodic security update.
4. Forth, you will need a text editor. You may use anything like Notepad or Wordpad, but instead, I prefer to use Notepad++ for easy code editing feature.
5. And last, any web browser of your choice (SNI supported browser preferred ). My personal preference is Chrome but Firefox and Safari would also perform well, as all of them support the latest HTML5 and CSS3 web standards. If you use IE then use IE 11+ or Microsoft Edge.
Preparing for Installation (System Requirement):
If you have done the above steps, then it’s the time to check if the minimum requirements for WordPress installation are met. Below list shows the recommended & minimum requirements for WordPress Installation.
Recommended Requirement:-
- PHP version 7.2 or higher
- MySQL version 5.6 or higher / MariaDB version 10.0 or higher
- HTTPS support (optional)
- Apache or Nginx server is recommended. (Though WordPress works on almost any web server technologies)
Minimum Requirement:
- PHP 5.2.4+
- MySQL 5.0+
Though it can run on legacy technologies, it’s not recommended as this may expose your site to security vulnerabilities.
How to Change PHP Version in cPanel for Web Hosting:
It is often seen that the base PHP version provided by web hosting providers is PHP 5.2 or PHP5.4 (Runs in Apache mode). [Also Check Out: How to View Full PHP settings of Your Server?]
In that case, most cPanel has the option to run a higher version of PHP on top of that (Runs in CGI Mode). There is a switch (button) called “Select PHP Version” available in most of the cPanel interface. You can go through below steps to change your PHP version.
How to Install WordPress Manually in cPanel Using FTP:
Step 1 - Download WordPress Installation Files:
Download the latest WordPress installation files from WordPress.org official download site.
Step 2 - Unzip the Installation File:
Now go to the download folder to Unzip and extract those installation files in a local folder. You may use the default extract option windows or may use any application like 7-Zip, Winzip, Winrar etc.
Step 3 - Open FTP Application:
Now open the FTP client (we would be using FileZilla) and connect to the FTP site of your hosting using the username & password provided. By default, in FileZilla, the local drive shows at the left side and the remote server is shown at the right side.
Step 4 - Upload WordPress Files to Web Hosting Space:
Now browse to the server’s root folder in the right panel. Depending on Server setup, the root upload folder name would be either “public_html” or “htdocs”. Upload extracted files to your web hosting server’s root folder, by selecting all the local files from the left side panel, right click on it, and selecting upload. [Note: Don’t upload the WordPress Folder you have downloaded, upload files & folders that are inside the WordPress Folder]
Step 5 - Create MySQL Database:
Now again go to the cPanel to create a new MySQL Database in your online hosting account with a username & password. Follow the steps below to create a MySQL database. The process may differ if you are using a free hosting service. In that case, you may not be able to choose to create your own MySQL User, so you will not found step (iii) & (iv).
(i) Go to cPanel and Click on MySQL Database icon
(ii) Under Create Database option, input a Database name & Click on Create New Database. Note down the database name.
(iii) Back to the MySQL database page and scroll toward the bottom until you can find “MySQL Users”. In that choose a Username & provide a complex password for better security. Note the username and password.
(iv) Then again come back to the MySQL database window and scroll down till you can find “Add User To Database”. Here Select the newly created database and user to map them, then click Add.
(v) Now again come back to the MySQL database page and scroll to “Current Databases”. Check here if any MySQL hostname is given or not. If MySQL hostname is given then note it down, you will require it for installation. If not given then the default is “localhost”.
(vi) Otherwise, you may check the database hostname from within the PHP MyAdmin console.
Step 6 - Starting the WordPress 5 Minute Installation:
Now Open the Web Browser of your choice and type in your website name (http://yoursite.com). This will open the most famous 5-minute WordPress installation wizard. If this doesn’t open after typing the website URL then type the full path like - http://Yoursite.com/wp-admin/install.php. Or if you want to install WordPress n any subdirectory then that name to be included in the website path like - http:// Yoursite.com/subdir or like using the full path http://Yoursite.com/subdir/wp-admin/install.php
Step 7 - Select WordPress Language:
The Installation wizard with start and ask you for the language, select your preferred language and click “Continue”.
Step 8 - Make Yourself Ready With All Information:
In this step, the wizard will show you the information needed for setting up WordPress before proceeding with the installation. You need to keep this information handy with you. Information needed are Database name, database username, database password, database hostname, and table prefix (if you want to change the default one). If you have all the information with you, click “Let’s Go!”
Step 9: Provide WordPress Database Information:
In this screen, you need to enter all the information you already have, such as Database name, database username, database password, database hostname, and table prefix. Then click “Submit”.
Step 10 - Run The Final WordPress Installation:
After pressing Submit button the WordPress will check the database connection. If it can connect to the database, it will show you the next screen where you need to press “Run the installation”.
Step 11: Provide the Site Title and Admin Account Information:
Next window will appear that will ask you for administrative information such as Site Title, Username, Password, Your Email, Privacy.
- Site Title - Enter the desired name of your website (it is the name, not the URL).
- Username - Enter the admin username which you want to use while logging in your site.
- Password - Enter password (two times) for your admin account to protect your site.
- Your E-mail - Enter your e-mail address (need for receiving notification & to recover the admin password if you forget anyhow).
- Privacy - It is for setting the option if you want search engines like google, bing etc to index your site.
Step 12 - WordPress Installation Complete:
After a successful installation, you will get the final screen stating you the success and asking you to login to the website.
Step 13 - Login to WordPress Admin Area:
Click on the “Log In” button to log in to your site and enjoy!
After login to your site, you may like to customize all the necessary things like, if you want to use www version or non-www version of your domain name in URL, or if you want to use http or https for opening the website etc. Those I’ll cover in future tutorials.
We hope that you have enjoyed the above article about installing WordPress Manually in cPanel using FTP. Be with us to explore free training on Leading Technologies and Certifications.
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