People say that it’s better to host our blogs ourselves than host it with WordPress. They say self hosted blog gives us more freedom to show our creativity, our innovation and etc. In fact, what I think is that the statement remains true only if you have certain level of knowledge in web hosting and computing. Fortunate enough, installing WordPress has become very simple with Fantastico and everyone could do it in a split second nowadays. Thanks to BlogKori that I am given an opportunity to show you the easiest way to install WordPress on your hosting.
There are many different web hosting deals in the market. However in this guide, I assume that the hosting plan you have has Fantastico embedded. For your information, Fantastico is a script library collecting all sort of software to satisfy your website needs.
First thing first, log into your hosting account and look for Fantastico in your main page. It is a smiley face icon in blue color located somewhere under software category.
Second you will see a list of available software at the side of Fantastico page. Well, these are all the software that you can use. Identify the “Blogs” category and it is not difficult to see there is a WordPress word there. Click on it and it will bring you to the installation page.
There are some descriptions and explanation on WordPress. Read through it and then continue with “New Installation”. It will lead you to the setup page.
At the set up page, you will be asked which domain you would like to install the blog at. Let’s say you would like to have a blog with the blog domain http://webhostingdeals.org/myblog. So you will need to choose webhostingdeals.org from the drop down domain. After that in the next column you are asked which directory to install your blog. In this example, “myblog” is the directory so type in “myblog”.
Under the access data, you will need to choose a user name and password. These username and password will be used to log into your blog dashboard later on. So be sure to choose a good username and remember the password.
Under base configuration, there are 4 columns to be filled up.
The first requires you to key in your name, your name that you would like to use to address yourself to readers.
Second column requires you to fill in your email address. This email address will be used for communication purpose. For example if you receive a comment, the software will send a notification to this email address.
For the third and fourth columns, you need to choose a name and description for your blog. However if you would like to decide later, you can always leave them blank.
Click on the “Install WordPress” button after you are done filling up the form.
A summary page is then shown. Please make sure all data are correct before clicking the “Finish installation” button.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed WordPress. At the final page, you can see your username and password highlighted in blue color. Please make sure that you will not lose them. It is also a good practice to have your details emailed and kept safely.
You can now access your blog at the URL you have chosen earlier on.
Now you are ready to post anything online. You could start writing as well as customizing your blog design with WordPress themes now. Here are some reminders for you along your blogging time. Do remember to upgrade your WordPress version from time to time to avoid any chaos and being the target of hackers. Also do backup your blogs as you never know when you will need it.
With that I believe you are ready to self host your blog on your web hosting now. Good luck!
This is indeed the absolute quickest way to install WordPress…it only took a few seconds!
It was actually Hostgator’s support team who originally told me about this and at first I was a bit angry that I didn’t know about Fantastico earlier on….all that frustration from figuring out how to install it on my own.
Oh weel, the learning experience was worth it!
@krjx: I use HostGator’s baby plan and I’ll recommend it not because it offers unlimited bandwidth, storage and domains, but because of their support team. They are very sincere and they solved lots of issues with my blog.
@krjx As Tamal says, Hostgator is defintiely a great host. what I love them most is their passion in providing the best. not only that, their CEO Brent does do a very good role model with customer support.
Daren’s latest blog post..Who Is Web Hosting Pad?
Thanks Tamal and Daren. I am currently using a free host but I will definately check out HostGator when I decide to move to a paid host.
One thing I still didn’t get. Where to login in order to get that Fantastico smiley icon?
It’s located at your Cpanel; if not, that means your host does not have Fantastico.
Hi Tamal, Thanks for that excellent tutorial on WP and i have now started my first ever blog. I am hosted by HostPapa, have u heard of them and are they any good ?