INSTALL WORDPRESS WITH SOFTACULOUS

Last Update: Jun 9, 2017 @ 11:07 am

 

Log in to cPanel. Scroll until you see the Softaculous Apps Installer section. For Skookum Monkey hosting accounts, it’s found at the very bottom of cPanel. Click on the WordPress icon. Then, click the blue “Install Now” button.

 

Install WordPress with Softaculous: Software Setup

 

1) Choose Protocol: Which protocol you use depends on if you have an SSL certificate.

 

For Skookum Monkey hosting customers: All Skookum Monkey hosting accounts come with autoSSL. This means, an SSL certificate is installed when the hosting account is created and nameservers are pointed to our servers. By default, the Softaculous WordPress installer should detect the SSL certificate and have “https://” as the pre-selected protocol. If this isn’t the case, select “https://”. Note: Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for the nameservers to resolve and the SSL certificate to be issued. Contact us if you are unsure if your domain has its SSL certificate. We are happy to check on the status and immediately issue the certificate if necessary.

 

Non-Skookum Monkey customers: If your hosting account has an SSL certificate, the above should also apply.

 

You also have the options of “http://www” and “https://www”, but we don’t recommend you use them.

 

2) Choose Domain: By default, it will have your main domain selected. This where you can select a subdomain or add-on domain (s) if you have one set up. The above example is a subdomain WordPress installation.

 

3) In Directory: This dictates the Softaculous WordPress install directory. By default, Softaculous want to create a folder called “wp” as the WordPress install directory. Unless you are tying WordPress into a non-WordPress website, we recommend you delete the default “wp” and leave it empty so that WordPress installs into the root directory.

 

Installing WordPress in something other than the root directory will require extra configuration steps in order for people to visit your website by simply typing the URL.

 

Install WordPress with Softaculous: Site Settings

 

4) Site Name: This field is pretty straightforward. What is your site or company named? Delete the default “My Blog” and change it to that name. If you are creating a personal blog or portfolio site, using your name is a good choice.

 

5) Site Description: This field is a little bit tricky. It’s your company’s tagline and you want it to be descriptive and SEO-friendly. Skookum Monkey’s site description reads, “Big Business Solutions for Small Business Budgets.” Once you’ve figured that out, remove the default “My WordPress Blog” and enter your tagline.

 

If you can’t come up with something during the Softaculous WordPress install process, then keep the default. You can always change this later in your WordPress dashboard under “Settings –> General”.

 

6) Enable Multisite: Do you plan to have a bunch of different sites under the same domain? Do you want your blog section or shop to have a different theme than your main website? If so, then select this box.

 

Skookum Monkey has WPMU installed, and each Skookum Monkey Demo has its own setup, but it’s all managed in the same WordPress dashboard, instead of needing to log into multiple dashboards to manage a bunch of sites.

 

Important: If you plan to install WPMU, then it must be in the root directory. If you didn’t erase ‘wp’ from the ‘In Directory’ field and leave it blank, go back and do that now.

 

Install WordPress with Softaculous: Admin Account

 

7) Admin Username: For security purposes, give your admin username something other than the default “admin.” The admin username is the first account brute-force attacks go after.

 

8) Admin Password: Click the key to give strong password. Copy it somewhere.

 

9) Admin Email: If you want to use a different email than the default address it generates, enter it here.

 

Install WordPress with Softaculous: Choose Language and Select Plugins

 

10) Select Language: You have a lot of languages from which to choose. After you’ve installed WordPress with Softaculous, you can change to a specific type of English, like Canadian English, in your WordPress dashboard under “Settings –> General”. There are five different English language choices, six if you include the default American English.

 

11) Select Plugins: It is very important that you select the check-box in “Select Plugins” area. This will give you minimum protection against brute-force attacks.

Install WordPress with Softaculous: Advanced Options

 

When installing WordPress with Softaculous, it is in the “Advanced Options” area that the gold is found. It is also the area most often overlooked because it is closed by default, yet is is probably the most important.

 

12) Click the + sign to the left of “Advanced Options”.

 

Databases

13) Database Name: For security reasons, change the “wp” prefix. You can keep the numbers if you want, or change those too. For example, we would change “wp915” to something like “smwpag915”. The “wp” prefix is one of the first things hackers look for.

 

14) Table Prefix: Softaculous has gotten better at not giving the prefixes the old default of wp_ which left sites vulnerable. For extra security, change this to something that doesn’t begin with “wpxx_”. For example, we would change “wpip_” to “pagwpwm_”.

 

Updates

15) Disable Update Notifications: Do not select this box. You want to be notified of updates so that you can make sure everything is always up to date and secure.

 

16) Auto Upgrade: Check this box. It will help keep your site secure and save you time and peace of mind knowing your WordPress installation will always have the latest fixes, which often include security updates. When WordPress 7.0 was released, auto upgrades for security releases became core. This adds a little extra insurance.

 

17) Auto Upgrade WordPress Plugins: Check this. For the same reasons as 16.

 

18) Auto Upgrade WordPress Themes: Check this. For the same reasons as 16 and 17.

 

Softaculous WordPress Backups

19) Automated backups: You really want to do this. This enables WordPress auto backups and easy restoration. The default is “Don’t backup.” We always change to “Once a day,” but you have the options for once a week and once a month.

 

20) Backup Rotation: This will tell Softaculous how many WordPress auto backups to save. The default is “4”. You have the option to choose “Unlimited” (we don’t recommend this because it will take up a lot of your storage space), or a number between 1 and 10. A good host will run nightly backups of all of your files and databases, but they normally only keep one backup. If that one backup is also corrupted, the Softaculous WordPress auto backup rotation settings will allow you to restore your WordPress installation beyond one day in the past.

 

Install WordPress with Softaculous: Select Theme

 

21) If you want to install a theme other than the default WordPress theme, you can spend hours browsing themes here.

 

22) Click install. If you want to email yourself installation details, which includes your password and database information, enter your email address.

 

23) You may receive a message that reads:

Select the checkbox and continue. Don’t worry. You won’t break anything. When the domain was added, an .htaccess file was automatically created to block traffic until such time as a site is created in order to prevent access to your account’s file system. This option deletes that autogenerated file and creates a new .htaccess file specific to work with WordPress.

 

 

Congratulations! Remember, when you install WordPress with Softaculous, always double-check the options. Softaculous is updated regularly to add new options and to improve on the default security.

 

Don’t forget to check out Skookum Monkey hosting plans. Each hosting plan comes with cPanel, Softaculous, free SSL certificates and more.