How to Install WordPress Step by Step

Introduction

WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world. With more than 40% of all websites running on it, it’s no accident that millions of people pick it every day to build blogs, online stores, portfolios and corporate sites. Its flexibility, its enormous developer community and the sheer number of themes and plugins available make it the right call for beginners and professionals alike.

That said, a proper installation is what separates a fast, secure, stable site from one that gives you trouble from day one. Misconfiguring the database, choosing a weak password or skipping important steps can turn into security holes, performance problems and headaches down the road.

This guide walks you through two ways to install WordPress on your hosting: the automatic method with Softaculous (recommended for most users) and the manual method for anyone who wants full control over the process. By the end, your WordPress site will be ready for you to start creating content.

What you need before you start

Before you begin the installation, make sure you have the following:

Compatible web hosting

Your hosting plan needs to meet WordPress’s minimum requirements:

PHP 8.0 or higher (PHP 8.2 or 8.3 is recommended for better performance).
MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.4+ as the database engine.
HTTPS support (SSL certificate).
At least 100 MB of disk space (though 1 GB or more is recommended for a site with media content).

A registered domain

You need a domain name pointing to your hosting server. If you don’t have one yet, register it before continuing.

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Access to cPanel

Most hosting providers offer cPanel as their control panel. That’s where you’ll manage databases, files and application installs. Your provider will have emailed you the login credentials when you signed up for the service.

Method 1: Install WordPress with Softaculous (recommended)

Softaculous is an application auto-installer built into cPanel that lets you install WordPress in a few minutes, with no technical knowledge required. This is the method we recommend for the vast majority of users.

Step 1: Log in to cPanel

Sign in to your cPanel control panel. You can usually reach it at yourdomain.com/cpanel or yourdomain.com:2083. Enter your username and password.

Step 2: Find Softaculous Apps Installer

Once inside cPanel, scroll down to the “Software” section or use the search bar at the top. Click “Softaculous Apps Installer”. The Softaculous panel will open with hundreds of applications available.

Step 3: Select WordPress

On the Softaculous home screen, WordPress is usually featured right up front. If you don’t see it, type “WordPress” into the search box on the left. Click the WordPress icon and then hit the “Install Now” button.

Step 4: Configure the installation

This is where you define your site’s settings. Pay attention to each field:

Choose Protocol: Select https:// if you already have an active SSL certificate (recommended).
Choose Domain: Pick the domain where you want to install WordPress from the dropdown menu.
In Directory: Leave this field empty if you want WordPress installed at the root of the domain (that is, at yourdomain.com). If you type something like blog, it will be installed at yourdomain.com/blog.
Site Name: The name of your website (you can change it later).
Site Description: A short tagline.
Admin Username: Choose a username other than “admin” for security. Something like your name or a unique handle.
Password: Generate a strong password of at least 12 characters with uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Softaculous includes a built-in password generator you can use.
Admin Email: The email address where you’ll receive WordPress notifications.
Language: Select the language you want the interface in.

Step 5: Start the installation

Double-check that everything is correct and click “Install”. The process takes anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. Softaculous automatically creates the database, uploads the files and configures everything for you.

Step 6: Verify access

When the installation finishes, you’ll see a confirmation message with two links:

Site URL: https://yourdomain.com — to view your public site.
Admin URL: https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin — to access the WordPress dashboard.

Click the admin link, enter the username and password you set up, and confirm that everything works. If you see the WordPress dashboard, the installation was successful.

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Method 2: Manual installation

If you’d rather have full control over the installation, or your hosting doesn’t include Softaculous, you can install WordPress manually. This method takes a few extra steps but gives you more flexibility.

Step 1: Download WordPress

Go to wordpress.org/download and download the latest version of WordPress. You’ll get a .zip file of roughly 25 MB. If you prefer a localized package, head to the corresponding local site (for example, es.wordpress.org for Spanish) to download it ready to go.

Step 2: Create the MySQL database in cPanel

WordPress needs a database to store all of your content. To create one:

Log in to cPanel and look for “MySQL Databases”.
Under “Create New Database”, type a name for the database (for example, wp_mysite) and click “Create Database”.
Next, create a database user with a strong password. Write these details down, you’ll need them shortly.
Finally, add the user to the database and grant it all privileges.

Keep these three pieces of information somewhere safe: database name, username and password.

Step 3: Upload the WordPress files

You have two options for getting the files onto the server:

Option A: cPanel File Manager

In cPanel, open File Manager.
Navigate to the public_html folder (or your domain’s root folder).
Click “Upload” and upload the WordPress .zip file.
Once uploaded, select the file and click “Extract”.
The files will be extracted into a folder called wordpress. Move all of its contents to the root directory (public_html) and then delete the now-empty folder.

Option B: FTP client

Download an FTP client such as FileZilla.
Connect to your server using the FTP credentials your host provided (server, username, password and port, usually 21).
Unzip the .zip file on your computer.
Upload the entire contents of the wordpress folder to the public_html directory on your server.

Step 4: Run the installer in your browser

With the files on the server, open your browser and go to https://yourdomain.com. WordPress will detect that there’s no wp-config.php file and walk you through the setup wizard:

Select the language for the installation.
WordPress will ask for your database details. Enter the database name, the username, the password, the database host (usually localhost) and the table prefix (you can leave wp_ or change it for extra security).
Click “Submit”. If the details are correct, WordPress will confirm that it can connect to the database.
Click “Run the installation”.
Set the site title, the administrator username, a strong password and your email address.
Click “Install WordPress”.

Step 5: Check wp-config.php

The wp-config.php file is generated automatically during installation and holds your database connection settings and security keys. If you ever need to edit it by hand (to turn on debug mode or change the table prefix, for example), you’ll find it in the root of your WordPress installation.

For extra security, you can generate fresh security keys from the official WordPress API and paste them into wp-config.php, replacing the existing ones.

Once that’s done, go to https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin to log in to the admin dashboard.

First steps after installing WordPress

With WordPress installed, it’s time to handle the initial configuration so your site is functional, secure and professional.

Configure general settings

Head to Settings → General in the WordPress dashboard. From here you can:

Change the site title and the tagline.
Set the timezone for your location.
Choose the date and time format you prefer.
Confirm that the site and WordPress URLs are correct and use https://.

Configure permalinks

This step is essential for your site’s SEO. Go to Settings → Permalinks and select the “Post name” option (/%postname%/). That generates clean, descriptive URLs like yourdomain.com/my-first-article instead of yourdomain.com/?p=123.

Click “Save Changes” even if you didn’t change anything, so the rewrite rules in the .htaccess file are regenerated.

Install a theme

WordPress ships with a default theme, but you’ll probably want to change it. Go to Appearance → Themes → Add New and browse the official directory. Some popular free themes are Astra, GeneratePress and Kadence. Pick one that fits the look of your project and install it.

If you bought a premium theme (Divi, Avada or any other), you can upload it from Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme.

Install essential plugins

Plugins extend what WordPress can do. To get started, we recommend installing the following from Plugins → Add New:

Security: Wordfence or Sucuri Security, to protect your site against attacks.
SEO: Yoast SEO or Rank Math, to optimize your content for search engines.
Caching: LiteSpeed Cache (if your hosting runs LiteSpeed) or WP Super Cache, to improve load times.
Backups: UpdraftPlus, to create automatic backups of your site.
Contact form: WPForms Lite or Contact Form 7, so visitors can get in touch with you.

Don’t install too many plugins. Every extra plugin can affect site performance. Install only the ones you actually need.

Create the basic pages

Every website needs at least these core pages:

Home: The main page of your site. Go to Settings → Reading and select “A static page” as your front page.
About: Introduce your brand, your story and your team.
Contact: Include a contact form, your email address and, if applicable, your address and phone number.
Privacy policy: Required in many countries. WordPress includes a starter template under Settings → Privacy.

To create each page, go to Pages → Add New, write the content and click “Publish”.

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Conclusion

Installing WordPress is a straightforward process you can finish in under 10 minutes with an auto-installer like Softaculous, or in roughly 30 minutes if you go the manual route. What matters is following each step carefully, especially setting up secure credentials and the database.

Once it’s installed, don’t stop there. Take the time to configure permalinks, install a good theme, add the essential plugins and create your site’s core pages. These first steps lay the groundwork for a professional, fast and secure website.

If you want to skip the complications and start off on the right foot, Truobox offers WordPress Hosting plans that include one-click automatic installation, optimized LiteSpeed servers, a free SSL certificate and technical support available 24 hours a day. That way you can focus on what actually matters: creating content and growing your project.

Your WordPress site is ready. Time to start building!