How to Install WordPress® With cPanel

Overview

WordPress®, a widely used web-based content management system, empowers users to effortlessly create a website or blog. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how to install WordPress within your cPanel account.

Note: The Onboarding Assistant feature is designed to automatically set up a WordPress® website for new cPanel accounts when the WordPress option is selected during the initial setup.

Install WordPress

Install WordPress from WP Toolkit

WordPress can be installed conveniently through cPanel’s WP Toolkit interface, accessible via cPanel » Home » Domains » WP Toolkit. For detailed instructions on installing, configuring, and managing WordPress sites using WP Toolkit, please refer to Plesk’s WP Toolkit documentation.

Install WordPress Manually

If your hosting provider does not offer a WordPress auto-installer, you can manually download WordPress from the WordPress website and install it on your site.

For more comprehensive guidance, please consult the official WordPress installation instructions and their cPanel-specific guide on creating a database for WordPress.

Manual installations may sometimes encounter challenges, primarily stemming from conflicting .htaccess files or database connection errors. Consider the following important points:

Note: In the subsequent examples, the following conventions apply:

• example.com represents the domain name.
• example represents the account name.
• subdomain represents a subdomain’s directory.
• addon.com represents an addon domain name.

Document Root Issues

To avoid potential conflicts within the .htaccess file, it is crucial not to configure multiple WordPress installations to share a single document root. If you experience difficulties with your WordPress installation, verify the following requirements:

• Each cPanel account user is permitted to host only one installation of WordPress directly within a document root directory.
• Examples of typical document root directories include:
  • /home/example/public_html/
  • /home/example/public_html/addon.com
  • /home/example/public_html/subdomain
• Each such directory should contain only one WordPress installation.
• If subdirectories are not designated as document roots themselves, cPanel account users can install additional WordPress instances within subdirectories under the domain’s home/example/public_html directory.
• The following examples illustrate installations that utilize a wordpress subdirectory:
  • Under the main domain’s document root: /home/example/public_html/wordpress
  • Under a subdomain: /home/example/public_html/subdomain/wordpress
  • Under an addon domain: /home/example/public_html/addon.com/wordpress

For further information regarding document root configurations, please visit the WordPress website.

Database Connection Errors

Should WordPress return a database connection error, ensure that the database’s name and password specified in the wp-config.php file precisely match the database credentials established in your cPanel account.

For an installation residing directly in the document root, the wp-config.php file is typically located in the /home/username/public_html directory, where username corresponds to your cPanel account name.

To modify the database’s username or password, utilize cPanel’s Manage My Databases interface (found under cPanel » Home » Databases » Manage My Databases).

To verify a username and password combination, execute the following command (replace db_user with the database’s authorized username):

mysql -u db_user -p

After entering the command, you will be prompted to enter the user’s password. The system will then indicate whether the connection was successful or failed.