WordPress is one of the most popular open source blogging platforms on the Web today. WordPress sites have an admin backend that affords the administrator with a range of functionality for updating the content and design of the sites. The WordPress infrastructure enables the administrator and designated users of the site to create posts, add plug-ins and widgets and alter the appearance of the site without editing the PHP code.
CPanel
You can make a WordPress website in a matter of minutes as long as your web hosting company provides the CPanel dashboard. The CPanel dashboard is used to manage domains and web properties on Linux hosting plans. The dashboard offers several apps and features that enable you to perform management tasks, such as creating email and FTP accounts, transferring files, creating and managing subdomains, creating backups of your sites and creating and interacting with databases. Another useful feature of CPanel is the software installer. The name of the software installer varies because web hosting companies use different installation software installer apps. These installer apps include Softaculous, Fantastico Deluxe and QuickInstall.
Software Installers
Software installers like Softaculous, Fantastico Deluxe and QuickInstall enable you to deploy a wide selection of web apps in just minutes. Not only can you deploy one or more instances of WordPress to your web space, but you can also install other forums and blogging apps such as phpBB, b2Evolution and PHP-Nuke. However, you can do so much more! Install well-rounded CMS applications like Joomla, Mambo or Drupal, or deploy a full-blown a ecommerce site by installing CubeCart, Zen Cart or OS Commerce. You can even create an open source ticketing system with osTicket, Help Center or PerlDesk.
Software installers keep track of the version of your installations, and notify you when an update becomes available. You can choose to automatically update your installations, too. When you get ready to decommission a site, you can perform a full backup of the site, and then uninstall it through the software installer. Though the names and appearances of software installers may differ, they function in basically the same manner. For our step-by-step tutorial below, we will use Fantastico Deluxe.
Deploy a WordPress Site Using a Software Installer
Follow these simple steps to deploy a WordPress website in just a few minutes.
1. Log into your CPanel dashboard, and then click the icon for your web host’s software installer
Look in the “Software/Services” section of the dashboard. You will find one or more software installer apps in this section. Click the icon to launch the installer.
2. Click “WordPress” in the left side panel to launch the WordPress installation function
Notice that the left sidebar lists several applications. These are all of the apps you can deploy using the installer. When you deploy any of these packages, the software installer automatically creates the backend database and copies all code files to the location you specify. When you click the “WordPress” option, you are redirected to the WordPress Overview page. This page describes the package and notifies you regarding how much hard drive space you need to install the software. This page also lists any WordPress instances that are currently installed.
3. Click the “New Installation” or “Install” option
When you click the “New Installation” or “Install” option, the Configuration form opens.
4. Complete the Configuration form
Enter the required data into the WordPress installation. Choose the domain where you want the WordPress site deployed. Type a name for a new directory if you want to install the application in a location other than your root web folder. If you do not enter a name in the Directory field, WordPress will be installed at the root of your domain.
Type a username and strong password for the administrator of the site, and then type a nickname for the administrator. This name should be different than the administrator’s username. Next, provide a valid email address for the administrator. Note that WordPress will post the text “Admin” in the Admin Username field by default. You really should change the administrator’s username because WordPress sites that use “Admin” as the administrator user ID are easily hacked and exploited.
Type a name and description for the site in the corresponding fields. Note that if you do not type a new site name, the software installer will name your site some variation of “My Site” by default.
Finally, double-check all of your form data. Once the site is installed, you cannot change the location of the deployment without migrating the site. Make sure that everything is correct before you proceed.
5. Click the “Install” link or button
When you are sure all data is correct, click the “Install” or “Install WordPress” option, depending on your software installer. A confirmation page displays, showing where WordPress will be deployed and confirming that a MySQL backend database and user will be created. The confirmation page also displays what the URL of the WordPress site will be once the package is installed.
6. Click the “Finish Installation” option
WordPress is installed to the location you specified in the configuration page. When the installation is complete, the resulting page notifies you that the installation was successful. This page displays the current URL for your new WordPress site, your administrator password, and administrator URL to manage the site. In Fantastico Deluxe, you can click “Send Email” on this page to email the administrator all of the installation details.
That’s all there is to it as long as you have a software installer available through CPanel. In just 6 easy steps, you can make a WordPress website to use for any purpose. You can now add pages, posts, widgets and plug-ins to your site to add functionality and content. Change the look and feel of your WordPress deployment by installing additional themes.
