WordPress installation these days is a piece of cake. With add on script offered by your host like Fantastico, Simple script, it hardly takes more than 2-3 minutes to get started with a WordPress blog. Though, today we are going to learn how we can install WordPress manually. It’s always a good idea to learn WordPress manual installation, if you offer such services or using any hosting which doesn’t offer you such single click WordPress installation scripts.
I’m not going to discuss the benefits of manual WordPress installation, but as added by many expert, manual installation is more secure than installing wp using Fantastico.
Things required to Manually install WordPress Blog:
We need a couple of things handy before we start with the process. So, here is the list of things, which you should be prepared with.
- WordPress software: Download latest version of WordPress from official download page.
- FTP Access of your hosting account
- cPanel access to create Database and DB user and password. (In this tutorial, I’m using www.Hostgator.com as an example)
- So I assume, you have everything ready and you have downloaded WordPress too.
Create Database and Database User:
I believe for non-technical user, this step is the only step where you will be getting little confused. So, follow this step by step guide and screenshot and create your first DB and associate a username and password to it. This is one setting, which we need to change in Wp-config later in this WordPress manual installation tutorial.
Almost, all hosting with cPanel offers MySQL database wizard, which makes it easier. Login to your cPanel and click on MySQL database wizard under database, and create a database.
Creating Database for WordPress Installation
Create next step and give a username and password to your newly created database. My suggestion, use password generator there to create a strong and complex password.
User and pass for WP Database
Once you click on Create user, next step is to give privilege to the users. On the next page, click on all privileges to newly created user and click on next step.
Giving Privileges to Database user
That’s it and you have created a database and username for your new WordPress installation. Make sure, you note down all the details: DB name, DB username and DB password in a notepad, as we will be needing it in next step.
Complete WordPress manual Installation Tutorial:
So, I assume we are all set to move ahead. From here, we can take 2-3 different steps to move ahead with manual installation of WordPress. You can either extract .zip file directly and edit wp-config file, as shown below and upload complete WordPress folder to root of your domain (Public_html), or you can use cPanel file manager to extract and edit the content of wp-config file. Anyways, the only step which we need here is changing the wp-config content and upload it to right folder on your FTP. You can use free FTP client like FileZilla, to do it. But to keep this tutorial simple, I will be using Web hosting cPanel. For Godaddy, the dashboard screen will change a bit, but more or less, steps are the same.
Uploading WordPress to your cPanel:
Now, under your cPanel, go to file manager and upload the WordPress zip file which you have downloaded. Once you have uploaded the WordPress.zip file, click on extract and extract everything to public_html directory. (Note: it should be first WordPress installation on your cPanel). If it’s an add on domain, extract files to the directory which you have given to add on domain. Usually public_html/addon-domain name.
To make this step simple, I’m extracting everything under public_html directory.
Under your cPanel hosting, you can go to Files > File manager and browse to public_html directory and upload the WordPress.zip file.
Usually, file extractor will create a directory name “WordPress’ and extract all files under it. Since we are doing installation on main domain, (www.domain.com) and not (www.domain.com/WordPress), we will move all files to directly under /public_html director by using move command. Browse to /public_html/WordPress using file manager again, select all files and click on move at the top, and move all files to public_html.
Editing WordPress Wp-config file:
Now, next step is to fill out the database information in Wp-config file. You can make a copy of wp-config-sample.php and rename it to wp-config.php. Now, select wp-config.php and click on edit:
In this file, here are couple of things which you have to change:
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name_here');
/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'username_here');
/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here');
/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
Now, replace database_name_here, username_here, password_here with the details which we created in step 1.
Db_host usually remains Localhost in most of shared hosting like Blue host, Dreamhost & Hostgator. Once you have added those details, click on save changes.
Executing WordPress Manual installer script:
Till now, we have done all the basic settings which we need to install WordPress manually. Now, all we need to do is run the WordPress install script, give a user and password to your wp-admin and do some basic settings. Here is last thing which you need to do to have your WordPress blog up and running:
Go to this URL:
http://domain.com/wp-admin/install.php (replace domain.com with your actual domain name here). First select the language of WordPress installation:
On the next screen, give a username and password to your WordPress installation. Try avoiding giving admin as username and use a complex password. Once everything is set, you can login to your admin dashboard by going to following link. Replace domain.com with actual domain name:
http://domain.com/wp-admin
Now, here are some of the basic posts and steps which you should be following to move ahead with it:
- 8 essential settings after Installing WordPress
- How to install WordPress Plugin
- How to Install WordPress theme
- Basic WordPress plugins for every WordPress Blog
and don’t forget to bookmark our WordPress guide, which will give you all basic guide you need to use WordPress.
Anyhow, if you have to select between Fantastico/Simple script vs. WordPress manual install, I would suggest go for script method, which we have already explained earlier : How to install WordPress on Hostgator as it’s easy and will not take 4-5 minutes maximum. Though, some Webhosting companies doesn’t offer cPanel (What a shame!), in that case you can consider using this WordPress manual installation guide.
Incase, for some reasons you can’t install WordPress manually and are stuck at some point, feel free to ask via comment.
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Thanks Harsh! Your article has helped me attach my blog to the website i created.
Keep up the good work 🙂
Hello! Sir, As you explained i did all the basic settings and database created manually bt me but when i search to installation page that is http://www.domain.com/wp-admin/install.php/ i am getting 404 error Not Found. Please can you Tell me why i am getting this error and suggest to how to fix it. This is my first manual install, help me.
@Manjunath
Is your domain name server updated to point to your webserver? Do note, Usually it takes 5-50 minutes for name server propagation.
hello harsh
i have done everything like you have asked but when i go to the link; http://mydomain.com/wp-admin/install.php/ all i am finding is a 404 error page. kindly, if you get this on time please reply
@Daniel
Is your domain pointing to the Hosting??
No Harsh my domain is not pointing to the hosting….
i know this is long to be called a comment but please read,
just now this is what i have done;
instead of putting it like this,..http://mydomain.com/wp-admin/install.php/
i have only included the domain part which is..http://www.mydomain.com/ this is what i have found;
the index of/
wordpress zip
wordpress
i have clicked to open the wordpress par, the second one which have directed me to the “set up for wordpress configuration”
after pressing the continue button, this is what i am getting:
Welcome to WordPress. Before getting started, we need some information on the database. You will need to know the following items before proceeding.
Database name
Database username
Database password
Database host
Table prefix (if you want to run more than one WordPress in a single database)
We’re going to use this information to create a wp-config.php file. If for any reason this automatic file creation doesn’t work, don’t worry. All this does is fill in the database information to a configuration file. You may also simply open wp-config-sample.php in a text editor, fill in your information, and save it as wp-config.php. Need more help? We got it.
In all likelihood, these items were supplied to you by your Web Host. If you don’t have this information, then you will need to contact them before you can continue. If you’re all ready…
Let’s go!
after the lets go button i am taken to a point where i fill my database information, after filling the information all correct this is what i am getting:
This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can’t contact the database server at localhost. This could mean your host’s database server is down…………
and some other information!
kindly Harsh, what should i do??? please
@Daniel
Have you created a database manually?
FRom where have you purchased the hosting?
Yes i have created the database from there
Am using a coldfusion server with Tomcat on Linux. How can i install WP in this scenario ? The coldfusion already runs on Port 80. Can tomcat be configured to allow PHP to run on port 8800 and still have WP URL like http://www.xyz.com/blog ?
Thanks !!!
I always prefer to install WordPress manually, as it gives me more freedom and more options to make my website more secure.
After extracting wordpress.zip to public_html and doing all other basic settings, when i go to http://mydomain.com/wp-admin/install.php, it leds to some random sites. Can you pls tell me what the problem is?
@Surojit
Seems like issue might be with the Name-server or DNS. Could you share the screenshot with us, as it could happen due to multiple reasons.
Thanx for your reply Harsh. I talk to the live support team of hostgator, and the guy told me that the purchase is valid but there is some issue linking my domain with my account. He created a ticket to the billing staff. Hope it will be fixed soon.
Hi Harsh,
Really awesome brief by you. What a guide you provided!!! I really a grt fan of yours. Will see you sometime sure. Thanks buddy for explaining like spoon feeding.
HI Harsh , Here i am getting issue that i am not able to import XML file properly on my theme so could data is not fetching properly from AWS server , So what should i do for resolution.
I have always preferred manual methods because it really makes much more sense in the installation. Thank you Harsh.
Hiya, just got to grips with this and it works like a charm! Thanks for great instructions…I can now install my standard WP setup with my WP Roller “rollup” and it’s FAST. One question, though, does the install.php file present a security risk after installation…should I remove it?
Thanks Harsh,
I too always prefer manual method as it helps us to understand the actual steps that take place to implement particular process.
Hi Harsh, thanks for the great post on WPRoller. Question, can I make use of the WPRoller zip file AFTER using the 1-click install on my cloud server. I don’t want to do the whole thing manually if I don’t have to; ideally I’d just like to use 1-click install, then go to wherever in the File Manager and load/unzip that file. Can I do that? Many thanks for your time…Valerie
inspiring tutorial,i want to transfer from one host to another,kindly tell me should i have to install a new word press on the next host..? what kind of backups should i take into account..? and will i have to reinstall all plugins again in my new hosting,plz.
I always use Fantastico to install wordpress for any new installation, however installing it manually is also quite interesting… will give it a try on the next one.. Thanks for the share 🙂
Generally these days all the hosting provide has an inbuilt 1-click script installer which is very much helpful. And made the wordpress and many other blog script installation just a click away. Still it good for newbie who wants to learn more into wordpress manual installation.
@Harsh as there is no 1-click installation available in windows hosting, it will be helpful for windows hosting user if you can guide them the manual installation using windows control panel like: Plesk, WebsitePanel etc.
how to install wordpress on vps.net cloud server? have u any screenshots please
@Siddharth
You can use cloud ways :
To install WordPress on cloud server (Digital ocean or Amazon)
Cool.. Thats an awesome tutorial.. It almost solved all my problems related to wordpress registration and setup..
i think it is the same thing we do when we try to install wordpress on the localhost..anyways i guess it will surely help newbies who are trying free hosting where wordpress installer might be absent….