Here's good news: installing WordPress for the site you created when you signed up with your web host is nearly as easy as signing up for a WordPress.com account. The only catch is that the process you follow depends on the web host you use. That's because every host uses a different administrative interface—that's the control panel you use to manage your site—so installing WordPress is never quite the same on each host. But it's almost always very similar. With that in mind, the following sections explain the steps you need to follow to get WordPress up and running.
The easiest way to install WordPress is to use an autoinstaller, a special tool that installs programs on your site. Most web hosts offer an autoinstaller as part of their service.
There are several autoinstallers in the world. Two of the most popular are Fantastico and Softaculous, both of which you'll learn to use in this section. Other autoinstall-ers you might come across include Installatron and the less extravagantly named SimpleScripts.
NoTE In an effort to please everyone, some web hosts support more than one autoinstaller. If that's the case for you, you can use either one. However, we prefer Softaculous, because at the time of this writing Softaculous offers a handy backup feature that Fantastico doesn't. Page 78 has the scoop.
All autoinstallers work in more or less the same way: you sign in to your web hosting account and click the autoinstaller icon to see a catalog of the add-on software your host offers. Look for WordPress, and then start the installation. You need to supply the same basic pieces of information during the installation—most significantly, the website folder where you want to install WordPress, and the user name and password you want to use for the WordPress administrator account (which your autoinstaller will create).
The following sections explain how to use Fantastico (first) and Softcaulous (second).
If your web host uses another autoinstaller, the steps are similar and you can follow along with a few adjustments.
NoTE Once you finish installing WordPress, you can safely skip the rest of the setup-oriented discussion in this chapter and go straight to the final section on page 75, "Maintaining Your Site," which will explain how to keep your site rigorously up-to-date.
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Installing WordPress with Fantastico
How do you know if your host offers Fantastico? You could ask, but it's probably quicker to look for yourself:
1. Log into the control panel for your web host.
2. Look for a Fantastico icon.
Some control panels pile dozens of icons onto the same page. To look for Fan-tastico, you can use your browser's Find feature. Just press Ctrl+F (Command+F on a Mac) and type in "Fantastico." Figure 3-3 shows a successful search.
If you can't find a Fantastico icon, you might luck out with one of the autoinstall-ers listed above. Try searching for a Softaculous, Installatron, or SimpleScripts icon. If you find Softaculous, you can use the steps on page 61. If you find another autoinstaller, try following the steps listed here—just mentally replace
"Fantastico" with the name of your autoinstaller.
TIP If you're super-savvy, you may already know that some control panels have their own Find feature, which is even more convenient than your browser's Find function. To use it, look for a Find box on the web page itself (not in your browser's toolbar or menus). If you find one, type in the autoinstaller's name (for example, "Fantastico").
And if you can't find any autoinstaller, try typing in "WordPress." Sometimes, this finds the autoinstaller's setup script even if you don't know the autoinstaller's name.
Figure 3-3 Here, the Google Chrome browser matches your search term by highlight-ing the Fantastico icon.
3. Click the Fantastico icon.
Fantastico's menu page appears, with a list of all the software it can install.
Usually, you'll find WordPress near the top of the list, along with other site-building tools (Figure 3-4).
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Figure 3-4 WordPress is just one of many programs an autoin-staller like Fantastico can install.
4. Click WordPress.
Fantastico displays basic information about WordPress, including the version you're about to install and the space it will take up. Autoinstallers always use the latest stable version of WordPress, so you don't need to worry about these details.
5. Click the "New Installation" link.
Now Fantastico starts a three-step installation process.
6. Pick a domain name and a directory (Figure 3-5).
This is where you decide where to put WordPress and all its files. As you learned earlier (page 53), you have three basic options:
If you want to make WordPress run your entire website, you must install it in the root folder of your web hosting account. To do that, choose the domain name you registered for your website (in the first box) and leave the directory box blank.
If you want to install WordPress in a subfolder, choose your domain name in the first box, and then fill in the name of the subfolder. The example in Figure 3-5 uses the domain reboot-me.com and a folder named blog. Remember, the autoinstaller will automatically create the folder you specify here. (And if there's already a WordPress site in that folder, you'll overwrite the old site with
WorDPress WiTh an
auToinsTaller To install WordPress in a subdomain, you must have already created the sub-domain (by following the steps on page 54). If you have, you can choose the subdomain name from the first box, and leave the directory box blank.
Figure 3-5 Fantastico lets you fill in all the key details about your WordPress site-to-be on a single page.
7. Choose a user name and password for your administrator account.
Pick a name that's not obvious and a password that's difficult to crack (page 37). Doing otherwise invites spammers to hijack your blog.
8. Fill in the remaining details in the "Base configuration" section.
The administrator nickname is the name that WordPress displays at the end of all the posts and comments you write. You can change it later if you like.
The administrator email address is your email address, which becomes part of your WordPress user profile. It's also the email address that you'll use for administration—for example, if you forget your administrator password and you need WordPress to email you a password reset link.
The site name is the title you want to give to your WordPress site ("Wasted Minutes" per Figure 3-5 here). It shows prominently on every page of your site.
WorDPress WiTh an auToinsTaller The description is a short, one-sentence summary of your site. WordPress
displays it in smaller text just underneath the title on every page of your site.
9. Click the Install WordPress button.
The next screen summarizes the information you just typed in (Figure 3-6). For example, it displays the exact location of your new site and the name of the MySQL database that will hold all its content. You might want to double-check this info for accuracy, and then write down the details for safekeeping.
Figure 3-6 is based on the domain name www.reboot-me.
com), and it will create the site at www.reboot-me .com/blog.
10. Click "Finish installation" to move to the final step.
Now Fantastico does its job—creating the folder you picked (in this case, blog), copying the WordPress files to it, and creating the MySQL database. When it finishes, you'll see a confirmation message. This message reminds you of your administrator user name and password you supplied, and lists the administra-tion URL—the address you type into your browser to get to the dashboard that controls your site. As with all WordPress sites, the administration page is your WordPress site's address with /wp-admin tacked onto the end (for example, www.reboot-me.com/blog/wp-admin. You can visit the dashboard now, or wait to explore it in the next chapter.