WordPress is considered the world's most popular website builder. It powers over 43% of all websites on the internet. This is largely due to its ease of installation, making it easy for anyone to create a website.
All good WordPress web hosting companies allow you to install WordPress with just a few clicks. In most cases, installing WordPress is very simple and takes less than five minutes to complete.
I have installed WordPress on several websites across multiple hosting companies using various methods.
In this tutorial, our goal is to provide a complete WordPress installation tutorial for both beginners and advanced users based on our experience.
For beginners, we’ll show you how to install WordPress on all the top hosting platforms using one-click installation scripts like Fantastico, Softaculous, and QuickInstall.
We will also explain how to manually install WordPress using FTP for intermediate users.
Finally, for our junior developers and designers, we’ll show you how to install WordPress on your local computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux).
In addition to showing you how to install WordPress, we'll also give you tips on what to do after you install WordPress.
Things you need before installing WordPress
Before you can install WordPress, first you need a domain name and a good web hosting company that understands WordPress.
We highly recommend using Bluehost , as they are one of the largest hosting providers in the world. They are also an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.
Best of all, they give you a free domain name and offer huge discounts on hosting plans. This means you can get started for just $1.99 per month!
Once you’ve chosen your hosting provider, you can install WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to jump directly to the method you want.
- How to Install WordPress on Bluehost
- How to Install WordPress on HostGator
- How to Install WordPress on SiteGround
- How to Install WordPress on WP Engine
- How to Install WordPress from cPanel
- How to Install WordPress Using Softaculous
- How to Install WordPress Using QuickInstall
- How to Install WordPress Using Fantastico
- How to Install WordPress Using FTP
- How to Install WordPress on Your Computer
- How to install WordPress in your language
- How to Install a WordPress Multisite Network
- Things to do after installing WordPress
How to Install WordPress on Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting providers in the world. They know WordPress inside and out and have a very beginner-friendly WordPress installation process.
When you sign up, Bluehost automatically installs WordPress on your domain.
To create a new WordPress site, simply click on the “My Sites” tab in your Bluehost dashboard. Then click on the “Add Site” button and select “Create New Site.”
This will launch the Bluehost-guided WordPress installation wizard.
First, it'll ask you for a site title and (optionally) a tagline.
Click the Next button to continue.
After that, Bluehost will ask you to choose a domain name and location for your website. If you have already purchased a domain name, you can select it from the drop-down menu.
If you don’t have a domain name, then you can purchase one by visiting the Domains page within your Bluehost dashboard.
After selecting your domain name, you can leave the directory path blank and let Bluehost choose it for you. The installer will also display some essential WordPress plugins that you may need to install .
You can then click the Next button to continue.
The installer will set up your WordPress site, which may take some time. Afterwards, you will see a success message with information about your new WordPress site.
Bluehost will also send information to your email address.
To log in to your new website’s admin interface, simply click the “My Sites” tab in your Bluehost dashboard. Then, find your site and click its “Manage Site” button.
On the next screen, simply find the ‘Log in to WordPress’ button.
This will take you to the administration area of your website.
Congratulations, you now have WordPress installed on your Bluehost hosting account.
How to Install WordPress on HostGator
HostGator is another popular WordPress shared hosting provider for beginners . They also make installing WordPress very easy, requiring only a few clicks.
First, you need to log in to your HostGator hosting account’s control panel. From here, you need to click on the ‘Quick Install’ icon under the ‘Software’ section.
On the next screen, you need to click on “WordPress”.
This will start the installer wizard.
Now, you will be asked to select the domain name where you want to install WordPress and enter the directory path.
Most beginners will want to install WordPress in the root directory of their domain. In this case, you will need to leave the directory field blank.
Click the Next button to continue.
The installer will now ask you to enter the details of your WordPress site. You will need to provide a site title, an administrator username, your name, and an administrator email address. Please ensure you have access to this email address as this is where you will receive the WordPress password reset email.
Once all the information has been entered, click on the Install button to continue.
The installer will now run in the background, installing WordPress for you. Once completed, you will see a success message with your administrator username and password.
You can now click on the ‘Login’ button to access the WordPress admin area.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed WordPress on your HostGator account.
How to Install WordPress on SiteGround
SiteGround is a popular choice for WordPress beginners. They’re known for their excellent WordPress support and highly optimized hosting plans.
SiteGround makes it super easy to install WordPress from your hosting account. Simply log in to your SiteGround hosting panel and click on the “Websites” tab to get started.
Next, go ahead and click on the “New Website” button.
If you don't have a domain name yet, you can click "New Domain" and search for the domain name you want to use.
To use a domain you've already purchased, just click "Existing Domain."
On the next screen, enter the domain you want to use.
And then, go ahead and click on the “Continue” button.
On the next screen, click Start a new site.
Now you can choose the software you want to install. Since we want to use WordPress, click “WordPress”.
After that, enter the email address and password you want to use for your WordPress administrator account.
If you are satisfied with the information you entered, click "Continue".
After this, you can choose to add some extras to your account.
You can skip this step and simply scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Done.
SiteGround will now proceed with creating your website, which may take several minutes.
Once you are done you can click on the 'Log in Admin' button.
This will open a new tab where you can enter the administrator username and password you just created and log in to your new account.
The SiteGround website setup wizard will automatically launch to help you get started with WordPress. Click the “Get Started Now” button to continue.
First, the startup wizard will ask you to choose a design for your WordPress website.
It will show you a curated selection of design templates categorized into different categories like fashion, health and fitness, and photography.
We recommend that you choose a clean design that matches the desired look of your final website. Remember, every theme is customizable, so you can make fine adjustments.
Next, you’ll be asked to select the features you want to add to your website. SiteGround automatically selects “Contact Form” because every website needs a contact form.
If you want to start an online store, then you can choose Store. Other options include Calendar and Jetpack.
After selecting all the features you want to use, click the Next button to continue.
Now you can add some marketing tools to promote your website. SiteGround will install MonsterInsights for Google Analytics, AIOSEO for SEO, and OptinMonster for lead generation .
All three of these tools can help your website grow, so we recommend choosing all of them.
Once completed, click "Finish" and the startup wizard will complete the installation for you. After a few minutes, you will see a success message with a "Go to Dashboard" button.
Access your WordPress admin dashboard with just the click of a button.
Here you will see different menus that you can use to create content, customize the site design, and start working on your website.
That’s all. You have successfully installed WordPress on your SiteGround hosting account.
How to Install WordPress on WP Engine
WP Engine is a popular WordPress hosting provider . A managed hosting account is essentially a concierge service for your WordPress website.
They’ll manage your WordPress website updates, installation, and performance optimization while you focus on growing your business.
As a managed WordPress hosting company, WP Engine automatically installs WordPress when you sign up. Depending on your hosting plan, you can also create additional websites as needed.
Simply log in to your WP Engine dashboard and visit the Sites page. You will see a list of all your WordPress sites. Click the Create Site button to add a new WordPress installation.
On the next screen, you will be asked to provide a name for your production environment.
Enter a name that will help you easily identify this site and click on the Create Environment button.
WP Engine will now install your WordPress environment. It may take some time for the DNS changes to take effect.
After that, you will be able to access the WordPress admin area by clicking the link in the sidebar. You will also be able to see your login credentials on the same page.
To add a domain to your website, you need to click on the “Add Domain” link. Since WP Engine is not a domain registrar, you need to point your domain’s DNS settings to WP Engine.
To do this, you'll need your website's IP address and CNAME. You can find this information on your website's overview page.
Now we'll show you how to enter this information at Network Solutions. The basic setup is the same at all domain registrars; you just need to find the DNS settings.
Log in to your Network Solutions account dashboard and click on the Domains tab in the left column.
Then, go to your domain settings, scroll down to the Advanced Tools section, and click the Manage link next to Advanced DNS Records.
On the next screen, first, you need to change the A record to one with the @ symbol as its name.
Click the Edit button to change its settings.
After that, you need to enter the IP address provided by WP Engine as the value of this record.
Then, click the Edit button to store your changes.
Next, you need to check if there is a CNAME record with www in the name. If so, you need to edit that CNAME record.
Otherwise, go ahead and click the Add Record button.
Add the CNAME subdomain provided by WPEngine in the Alias field and click the Add button.
That's it. You have successfully pointed your domain to your WordPress website hosted on WP Engine.
How to Install WordPress from cPanel
Cpanel is a software that is popular among many web hosting companies. It provides website owners with a simple web-based interface to manage their hosting accounts.
It provides one-stop access to several useful utilities, including an autoinstaller script that helps you install WordPress.
Hosting companies choose which auto-installer script they want to use. Typically, Softaculous, QuickInstall, and Fantastico are the most popular choices.
We will show you how to install WordPress using these three auto-installers. You can follow the installer that appears in your cPanel dashboard.
How to Install WordPress Using Softaculous
Softaculous is a popular auto-installer script. It allows you to easily install popular web applications like WordPress with just a few clicks. Hosting companies like SiteGround and InMotion Hosting use Softaculous in their control panels.
Simply log in to your cPanel account and look for the Softaculous or WordPress installer icon. You can find them in the Auto-Installers section.
Clicking on either icon will launch the Softaculous auto-installer for WordPress.
First, you’ll see an overview of WordPress. You’ll need to click on the ‘Install’ tab to proceed.
Softaculous will now ask you where you want to install WordPress. You need to select http://or http://www.as the protocol.
If your website has SSL and HTTPS, then you can select https://or https://www.as the protocol.
After that, you’ll need to select the domain name you want to install WordPress on. Most users will want to install WordPress in the root directory of their domain, such as example.com. In this case, you’ll want to make sure the “In directory” field is empty.
Scroll down a little and you will see the Site Settings section.
In this section, you will first need to provide a title and description for your WordPress site. Don't worry, you can easily change them in the WordPress admin interface after the installation is complete.
Next, you'll need to choose an administrator username, password, and email address. Softaculous automatically fills in the username and password fields for you. It uses non-dictionary words for usernames and strong passwords.
You can change your password if you want to make it easier to remember. However, we strongly recommend that you always use a strong password.
Make sure you enter the correct email address in the Admin Email field. If you forget your password, WordPress will send you a notification with a password reset link.
The remaining options on the screen are optional. You can now click the "Install" button to run the installer.
Softaculous will run the installer using the settings you provided. You will see a progress bar showing the status of the installation. The installation process will take several minutes.
Do not close the window until the progress bar reaches 100%; otherwise, this may affect your WordPress installation.
Once the installation is complete, you will see a success message.
It also displays links to your website and WordPress admin area.
How to Install WordPress Using QuickInstall
QuickInstall is another popular auto-installer used by many hosting companies like HostGator. We’ll be using HostGator ’s cPanel control panel in the screenshots here, but the process is largely the same if you use another host that supports QuickInstall.
First, you need to log in to your hosting account’s cPanel control panel. Scroll down to the “Software” section and click on the “QuickInstall” icon.
This will take you to QuickInstall's One-Click Installers page. You'll see that it offers installations for the most popular web applications, including WordPress.
You need to click on WordPress to launch the WordPress installer.
The installer will now display an overview of WordPress. You will be asked to select your domain name from the drop-down menu.
Most beginners will want to install WordPress in the root directory of their website, such as wpbeginner.com. In this case, you will want to leave the directory field blank.
Now click on the Next button to continue. The installer will now ask you to enter your WordPress details such as username, email address, and website title.
After filling in all the information, click on the Install button.
QuickInstall will now install WordPress for you. Afterwards, you will see a success message with your login details (such as username and password).
You can now click on the Login button to enter the WordPress admin area.
That’s it. You have successfully installed WordPress using QuickInstall.
How to Install WordPress Using Fantastico
Fantastico is an auto-installer script used by several WordPress hosting providers. It's similar to the other installer scripts in this guide, but offers an easier way to quickly install WordPress.
First, log in to your cPanel control panel and scroll down to the “Software and Services” section. There you will find the Fantastico icon.
Clicking the Fantastico icon will launch the autoinstaller script.
Some hosting providers are still using older versions of Fantastico. In this tutorial we will show you screenshots of Fantastico F3 version.
Don't worry if Fantastico looks different on your host. The basic installation steps are the same and you should be able to follow them easily.
On the Fantastico home screen, you'll see a list of web applications on the left. You need to click on "Blog," and you'll find WordPress listed there along with many other applications.
Clicking on WordPress will display an overview of the application with an Install button.
Simply click on the ‘Click here to install WordPress’ button to proceed.
The Fantastico WordPress auto-installer will now ask you to fill in the installation settings. First, you need to select the domain name where you want to install WordPress.
If you would like to install WordPress in a subdirectory, enter the subdirectory name in the field below. Otherwise, make sure this field is empty.
Under the Admin Details section, you’ll need to provide your administrator user account information. Enter your WordPress administrator account username, password, and email address.
Click the Submit button to continue.
Fantastico will now install WordPress for you. Once the installation is complete, you will see a success message.
How to Install WordPress Using FTP
Manual WordPress installation is also known as the famous 5-minute install. It requires a few extra steps, and you'll need an FTP client to manually install WordPress.
Check out our beginner's guide on how to upload WordPress files using FTP .
The first thing you need to do is download the latest version of WordPress .
The WordPress installation package comes as a Zip file. You need to unzip the file and find a WordPress folder inside. This folder contains all the WordPress files you need to upload to your web server.
Now, go ahead and connect your FTP client to your hosting server.
Once connected, use an FTP client to upload the WordPress files from your computer to your web server.
If you want to install WordPress on your root domain (such as example.com), you need to upload the WordPress files to your website's root directory. Typically, this directory is called /public_html/.
On the other hand, if you want to install WordPress in a subfolder (like example.com/blog), then upload it to the folder /public_html/blog/.
Once you've uploaded WordPress, go to your hosting control panel and create a database. We'll show you how to do this using cPanel. If your hosting provider has a different control panel, you can simply search for the MySQL database. The rest of the setup is largely the same.
On your cPanel dashboard, click on the MySQL Databases icon.
You will see a field to create a new database. Enter the database name and click Create Database.
Now that you have created the database, MySQL still needs a username. This username will have permissions to perform operations on the database.
In your cPanel account's MySQL Databases page, scroll down to the MySQL Users section. Simply provide a username and password for your new user and click the Create User button.
This new user still cannot access the database you created earlier. To do this, you need to add the user to the database and grant them permissions to perform all operations.
In your cPanel account, on the same MySQL database page, scroll down to the "Add User to Database" section. Select the database user you created from the drop-down menu next to User, then select the database and click the "Add" button.
Now you will be asked which permissions you want to grant to this user. Select all permissions and click on the “Change” button.
Your MySQL database and user are now ready. Make a note of your database name, MySQL username, and password. You will need this information later.
Simply go to the URL where you uploaded WordPress. If it is in the primary domain, then enter your domain name in the browser window, such as yoursite.com or www.yoursite.com.
You will see the language selection page. You can select a language here so that the rest of the installation will be displayed in your language. You can also use English temporarily and change the language later.
Click the Continue button to proceed.
You will now be presented with some installation instructions. Basically, WordPress will now tell you that you need a database name, password, and MySQL host information.
Click the Start button to continue.
WordPress will now display a form. You will need to enter the database information you created earlier.
Fill in the information and click the Submit button.
WordPress will connect to your database and show you a success message.
Click the Run Installation button to continue.
WordPress will now create the tables in your database and then send you to the next step of the installation.
Now you need to provide some information so WordPress can set up your website. This information includes a website title, username, password, and administrator email address.
If you don't want search engines to see your site, check the box next to "Search Engine Visibility." You can change this setting later from your WordPress settings when you're ready. If you're unsure, just uncheck it.
Click the “Install WordPress” button to continue. WordPress will set up your website and complete the installation.
You will see a success message showing your username. You can now click on the 'Login' button to log in to your WordPress site.
How to Install WordPress on Your Computer
Many users ask if they can install WordPress locally on their Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. The answer is yes, but most beginners don’t need to install WordPress locally.
A local site exists on your computer, not on the internet. It's ideal if you want a private space to build WordPress plugins and themes, and test different WordPress features.
If you want people to visit your blog, then you shouldn’t install WordPress on your computer. Instead, you’ll need to purchase web hosting and install WordPress using one of the methods we’ve covered above.
That being said, if you do want to create a private WordPress blog or website, we recommend using Flywheel's Local, a local web software that lets you install WordPress on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer with just one click.
After you install WordPress locally, you'll have access to the administration interface, which works exactly like any WordPress site. From here, you can install WordPress plugins , change themes , and experiment with various WordPress features.
Sometimes you might want to publish your local website to the internet so that others can access it. The good news is that migrating WordPress from your local server to your production website is very simple.
To learn more, see our guide on how to install WordPress locally on Windows or Mac .
How to Install WordPress in Your Language
Just like Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android, you can use WordPress in your own language.
WordPress is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Korean, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Portuguese, and more.
You can select a language during WordPress installation or change it by visiting Settings » General page in your WordPress admin area.
WordPress is also widely used to create bilingual and multilingual websites.
How to Install a WordPress Multisite Network
WordPress comes with multisite functionality built in. A multisite network allows you to create multiple WordPress sites using the same WordPress installation. It can automatically create new sites on subdomains or subfolders.
This is especially useful for businesses, nonprofits, and governments that have subsites in different locations or regions. Many educational institutions also use WordPress multisite networks to allow students to create their own blogs.
Things to do after installing WordPress
Now that you have successfully installed WordPress, here are some actions to help you get started with your new WordPress website.
Select a theme
The look of your WordPress website is determined by its theme. There are thousands of WordPress themes to choose from. With so many options, it can be a bit overwhelming for beginners. Therefore, we've put together a guide to choosing a WordPress theme to help you choose the best one for you.
Installing and using WordPress plugins
The real power of WordPress lies in its vast library of plugins. These are like apps for your WordPress website, allowing you to extend its functionality and add new features.
There are over 59,000 free plugins in the WordPress plugin directory alone. Additionally, many more plugins are available as paid plugins from third-party websites.
If you're wondering which plugins to install, take a look at our hand-picked selection of WordPress plugins .
in conclusion
We hope this WordPress installation tutorial helped you easily install WordPress. You can also refer to our guide on how to get started with a WordPress website or check out our list of the best WordPress plugins .
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